Andie woke up because of a cramp in her leg, which had become stiff from remaining still for so long. She winced as she slowly moved to stretch her leg. Hannah was still shivering slightly, but seemed sound asleep. She brushed her forehead with her fingers. Her forehead was still a little warmer than it should have been, but was much less so than it had been earlier. Andie sighed in relief. It seemed her intervention had helped. But she still couldn't understand what was going on with Hannah. Before she could ponder the matter further, however, her hands stung sharply, demanding her attention. Wincing, she quietly slipped out of the room and into the bathroom, where she ran some cold water on her hands.

How ironic, Andie thought with a small smile as she examined them. I control fire, and yet I get burned by it...

Once her hands were soothed, or a little at least, she turned around, sat on the edge of the sink, and whispered:

"Adena?"

She appeared instantly.

"I'm afraid I have no further answers for you," Adena said.

"No, I know." Andie answered. "I just wanted to know... Adena, Hannah burned me. That can't be normal, right?"

Adena hesitated a moment before replying.

"... No... I don't believe it is." she admitted.

"Then what's happening to her? Why is it happening to her and not me?"

"I wish I could tell you..."

"She can't be dragged any further into this." Andie told Adena. "I couldn't stand it... she's ten years old, she should be able to enjoy it..."

"And she will." Adena interrupted, putting her hands on Andie's shoulders. "There is nothing to indicate she's involved..."

"Oh, don't give me that, Adena, you don't even believe it yourself!" Andie retorted shortly. "Fire never burns me, yet when I touch Hannah, it scalds my hands! How else can you explain that?"

"... I can't... I suppose your powers could have rubbed off on her slightly..."

"How? And why?"

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

"If Zorak gets to her, I..."

"I know, Andie. I know you're worried about her. But she's safe with us. Okay?"

Andie sighed, and nodded. Then, a thought occurred to her.

"Why only Hannah, then? Jessica and Isabelle all have siblings, and they haven't mentioned anything weird happening!"

"I have no idea, Andie..." Adena said. "We'll just have to see how things evolve."

Andie almost shot back that she clearly hadn't had a sister or she would have shown a bit more concern, but stopped herself. It was unfair. Of course Adena was concerned, she was just trying not to let panic take over. And she had a point, there was nothing Andie or any of them could do without more information.

"You're right..." Andie finally said. "But she's my little sister... she's everything... I don't want Zorak getting his paws on her..."

"He won't. Not as long as we're here."

Andie nodding, hoping she was right. She exhaled to calm herself. Nothing would change in the next few hours... She would call an emergency meeting at school tomorrow. Until then, she needed to get some sleep.

"Is Hannah all right?" Bane asked.

It was early next morning in a corner of the hallway. The noise was enough to cover their conversation, while remaining low enough to not drown their voices out.

"Poor thing, she must have been terrified..." Emily said in concern.

Andie looked at the floor, leaning into Bane, who had his arms wrapped around her.

"I think she'll be okay..." she said finally. "I think the flu idea will stick."

She only hoped the doctor wouldn't think it was anything strange and alarm her parents even more...

"Well, that's a good thing, right?" Emily asked.

"Of course it is," Andie agreed. "What worries me is that I had the exact same thing at her age and Adena told me it was my powers waking up."

Isabelle was the first to catch on.

"... Wait, you're thinking..."

Andie nodded somberly.

"What? What is she thinking?" Jessica asked.

"We're beginning to wonder if Hannah might have powers like mine."

Jessica's eyes wide even wider than Isabelle's.

"But how's that possible...?" Bane asked. "Hannah wasn't chosen, you were. And it can't have anything to do with when Adena chose you, because Hannah wasn't born..."

"We don't know," Andie said with a helpless shrug. "But I do know that it's scaring the hell out of me."

Hannah had felt better the next morning, but still wasn't quite back to normal, so Andie's parents were calling a doctor that morning. She just hoped her temperature would be normal. She remembered getting temperatures that were almost too high to be possible. Of course, she know knew that due to her powers, but didn't know what she was supposed to do if Hannah went through the same.

"But what does that mean for my brothers? Or Isabelle's sisters?" Jessica asked.

"We don't know... so far it only seems to be affecting Hannah, though we don't know how, why or to what extent..."

There was a silence as they processed the news. They had been so used to it being the five of them. Five elements, five former guardians, five chosen. It made sense. Now, everything was thrown out of balance.

"Well, whatever happens, we can't let Hannah get involved." Andie said.

"No, of course not." Isabelle agreed.

"What are you going to tell her?" Bane asked, squeezing her.

Andie sighed, letting her head fall back against him.

"I don't know..." she said. "I'll have to think of something..."

"Need a hand?" Bane offered.

Andie looked up at him and kissed his cheek.

"Thanks for offering. But I'll be okay."

There was a pause.

"So d'you think Zorak knows?" Jessica asked. "About what Hannah did?"

"I have no idea... but if he does..." Andie looked up and looked from one to the other darkly, "things are only going to get worse."

It took every ounce of effort for Andie to not try and keep Hannah in her sight at all times. For one thing, it would arouse her parents' suspicions, and Hannah wouldn't be thrilled either, no matter how close they were. Not to mention that it would only draw attention to her, which was the last thing she wanted. She kept training, asking Adena to keep an eye on Hannah. But something bothered her. Why was Zorak waiting? The way she looked at it, there were two options. One, he was waiting for them to lower their guard to strike again, or two, his last attempt had cost him too much energy and he needed time to restore it. Either way, he would come back. It was clear now that he wouldn't stop until he'd gotten what he wanted. Their powers.

"Hey, Andie!"

Jumping slightly, Andie looked around. Eric stood before her, leaning against the lockers.

"Hi, Eric," she smiled. "How are you?"

"Good. Hey, my parents are bugging me to invite you and your family for dinner sometime, can you please give me a date so they can get off my back?"

Andie laughed. He had mentioned it a couple of times but she'd always been otherwise engaged.

"All right, all right." she said. "How about tonight?"

He seemed slightly surprised, but smiled happily.

"Great, I'll call my mom. She'll be thrilled."

Andie smiled. Just then, she saw Bane looking at them, his eyes guarded, his hands in his pockets. He seemed unsure how to react. She smiled and waved at him. He smiled back and waved, but she could tell it didn't quite meet his eyes.

"Bane's waiting for me, I'd better go. Call me about tonight, okay?"

"Sure." Eric said.

But as Andie meant to leave, he leaned forwards and kissed her cheek. She froze and watched him walk away, unable to decide what to do or think. But shock turned to apprehension when she remembered that Bane had seen the whole thing.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," Andie said as he kissed her.

"What was that about?" Bane inquired, glancing over her shoulder after Eric.

"Oh, nothing, his parents wanted to invite my family over for dinner," she answered.

"Oh. I see."

Andie knew that tone. It was Bane's "I look like I don't care, but I do" tone.

"Bane, he's just a friend..."

"I know."

He wrapped his arm around her and kissed her hair.

"I just can't help thinking..."

He didn't finish.

"... Thinking what?"

He shook his head as the bell echoed around them.

"Nothing." he said. "Come on, let's get to class."