Hours passed. Days passed. To Jakira, time seemed to fly faster the older she got, whether what she was doing was fun or not. That part, she wasn't sure she liked.

Either way, another Friday afternoon found her in the evacuated streets of her city, waiting for the arrival of her best friend and her worst enemy.

Maybe it was just her, since she'd transformed earlier than usual, but Night seemed a little late in his literal appearance. Otherwise, he was his normal self; much more focused and clear-minded than he'd been last time. That, and her subsided worry about her own punctuality, left her completely unprepared for the overwhelming confusion that would soon overtake her.

She and her shadowy partner were making their way through the midst of the streets, waiting and ready for the regular explosions or sounds of chaos. Both remained silent, not wanting to distract themselves or each other.

But all that silence was shattered when Preciser materialized right across the street from them and, before either of them could blink, picked up a massive truck and hurled it at them.

With her greater speed in all areas, Sunray was able to register the sudden danger in time. Within a millisecond she'd dived inside, grabbed the terrified owner, and pulled him out to safety, all before the vehicle touched anything. But when she looked back, all she saw was the look of stunned fear crossing her partner's face right before the heavy metal slammed into him and crash-landed upside down in the back of an alley.

After the creaking of metal ceased, silence reigned once again.

No one was moving. Sunray was left staring into the darkness, frozen, shocked by what she'd just witnessed. There . . . was no way that could've hurt him . . . right? Night wasn't exactly the rough-tough type of guy, but he was definitely strong enough to have survived much worse than this.

Then . . . why was everything so quiet?

She gazed anxiously at the underside of the truck. Come on, Night . . .

The silence continued.

Alarmed now, she started blindly rushing into the dark alley, but had to leap back again as suddenly the truck came flying right back out, flipping through the air and almost knocking Preciser flat if he hadn't moved quickly to the side. Standing half-crouched in the empty space, arms extended, eyes narrowed to slits with fury, was Night.

But the almost insane rage in his eyes, which she'd never seen in him before, wasn't the only thing about him that startled her away from relief and to a new emotion eerily similar to fear.

His eyes had physically changed. His irises had turned pure black, and his sclerae dark gray. There was a somewhat chilling aura of darkness enveloping him as he sprinted up to Preciser and attacked him with more force and fury than she'd ever seen.

Stunned and confused beyond belief for the second time in less than five minutes, she just watched, paralyzed, as the two fought. Her partner's offensive style had altered as well; every attack seemed driven by his sudden unnatural anger, and his defense had disappeared. Not that he needed it in the first place. He wasn't letting Preciser get in a single blow for almost a full ten minutes . . . until he finally slipped up somewhere and nearly got sliced in half. Suddenly, the villain was pressing down hard on top of the superhero's lifted blade, raised for the first time that day as protection. The force Preciser was using should've crushed him, but somehow, Night was successfully resisting it with a continual parry much stronger than should've been possible.

Now jump in and help! Shaking herself back to reality, Sunray grabbed her bow, circled around the struggling pair, and leapt up onto Preciser's shoulders. She was just about to hook her weapon around his neck when he looked down at Night, his eyes glinting strangely, and whispered the last thing she ever thought she'd hear him say.

"One day you'll win. You'll keep your gems and never have to worry about me again."

What the . . .

Her bewilderment was what stopped her. Apparently, the enemy's words had some effect on Night as well. His eyes gradually began to widen, then suddenly changed back to normal. She pulled her bow back against Preciser's throat, which startled him into gasping, but her partner kept his blade lifted and his wide-eyed gaze high as if he were still looking at his enemy, although at this point Preciser had stumbled away. Sunray tried to keep him in sight as she continued to balance on the giant's shoulders, and tensed when she realized how pale he looked. His forehead was beaded with sweat, and he'd started trembling. His steady breathing had changed to heavy panting.

Something was definitely wrong. His arms had slipped to his sides, his face had gone ashen, and he was struggling to breathe. The realization of what was happening entered her mind too late; she stiffened in terror when his shoulders slumped, his eyes rolled up, and he fell backwards to the road.

Panicking now, Sunray dropped her weapon and with light's speed raced to catch him before his head hit the pavement. His weight forced them both to the ground, but she stood up again, her arms firmly beneath his, and dragged him across the sidewalk. Gingerly she propped him limply against the wall. Preciser was too distracted with the bow-shaped brand on his neck to bother them as she did so, but he attacked as soon as she let go of her unconscious partner, who squeezed his eyes shut tighter and started moaning as she fought the giant once again.

She managed to defeat him swiftly by leading the fight around a corner and trapping him in a narrowed-down version of lightsweep, which effectively drove him away. Once he was gone, Sunray whipped back around the corner and skidded to a kneeling halt beside Night.

He'd woken up, sort of; he was frowning in confusion at the road and slowly rubbing his head. When he looked at Sunray, his bewilderment only seemed to deepen.

". . . What happened?" he asked eventually. His voice sounded disoriented.

"Basically . . ." She took a deep breath. "You just passed out in the middle of the fight."

"The fight . . ." He seemed dazed and puzzled.

"Everything's okay now."

Still, his perplexment only appeared to grow with every word spoken to him. Her own confusion grew as well when he replied faintly, "The last fight was . . . Friday."

"Today's Friday," she pointed out.

"I mean Monday —" He shifted slightly and lowered his hands to the road, staring at her anxiously.

Once again, she inhaled deeply, then looked him right in the eyes. "The last fight was just a few minutes ago," she told him, trying to keep the worry out of her voice. "You don't remember?"

His brow furrowed, and he dropped his gaze once more as he thought. At last he muttered, "There was . . . something about a truck . . . That's all."

Something about a truck . . . ? His vocalized memory echoed in her incredulous mind. He'd been hit by a truck!

Her thoughts were interrupted as he started struggling to stand, and continued trying even after he fell back multiple times. His hands were literally shaking, but it took her a moment to realize it was from exhaustion. "Okay, settle down," she protested at last, easing him back to the ground before he slipped for the fifth time.

He pulled his knees to his chest and stared silently at the ground, this time in frustration. "I don't get it."

"Get what?"

"Everything that apparently went on in the last twenty minutes," he replied quietly. "And why I can't . . . remember it."

"That truck hit you," she told him softly, and his eyes widened slightly. "Preciser had thrown it at you. But you threw it right back at him. The two of you were fighting for a while, but then Preciser said something that . . ." She frowned, trying to figure out their enemy's strange words. "You looked really out of it while you were fighting, but you looked furious, too. He said that one day we would defeat him, maybe to calm you down . . . which made you lose control of your power and pass out." The explanation slowly dawned on her as she spoke. "All we need to do now is figure out what that power was."

Night seemed at a loss for words. She could barely read the mix of emotions in his eyes: confusion, desperation, and even a bit of guilt, even though he'd done nothing wrong in that fight.

"Hey, it wasn't like—"

"Please, don't," he muttered, and she fell into silence. She knew he was easily disappointed in himself. Whenever he got like this, staying quiet was the best and only way to help him.

"You can leave now if you want." His words were hardly audible, and he was avoiding her searching gaze. "I'll get up whenever I'm . . . whenever I can."

Purposefully, she moved a little closer to him, stuck her hand on his shoulder, and told him firmly, "You should know me well enough to know I'm not going to leave you in this condition."

He glanced at her, and she was relieved to see a playful glint flickering to life in his eyes. "But you should know me well enough to know I can take care of myself," he replied.

"But you should know that we're partners and should never leave each other's side," Sunray retorted gently.

He looked away slightly, but nearly all of her worry faded away when she saw him wearing his little smile once again. "Okay, you win," he sighed in fake exasperation at last. "Could you help me stand?"

"Yeah, of course!" She shifted into a crouch and used her own strength to help bring him back to his feet. He staggered a few steps once he was up, but seemed to be able to support himself by holding on to the wall.

"You gonna be okay?" she questioned.

"Yeah," Night answered, briefly checking the sky, then looking back at her. "Honestly, I just feel really tired. I'll probably grab a three-hour nap when I get home."

For once, he didn't seem to be lying about his welfare. Normally, he always insisted he was perfectly fine even when he obviously wasn't.

"Okay, then," she said briefly. "So you can get home alright?"

"With a shadow portal, yes. Although," he added, "I should probably stop being lazy. Assuming next Monday ends differently, I need to start running home again. 'Cause I've been playing the whole 'Let's see how far I can reach out of bed to get that thing' game every day lately."

Sunray laughed. "Have to say I relate." She hesitated. "Should we be heading off now, then?"

"Yeah . . . probably." He took a single step down the sidewalk, then glanced at her and waved. "Bye, Sunshine."

"Bye, Night Hawk," she replied, returning the wave, then turned and sprinted through the streets in her race back home.

-

After she'd detransformed and gotten settled comfortably back in her house, Jakira tried contacting Alex, but he didn't respond. When she tried his mother, the explanation she got was that he'd just arrived home—looking like a zombie— and immediately crashed asleep on the couch.

The sun was down by the time he finally texted her. She was curled up on her bed with a book and a blanket, waiting for dinner, when her phone vibrated and went off in her pocket. Pulling it out as she set her book down, she read his message: hey Jakira! the twins b-day party is tomorrow. Annah wants u to come. R u available?

sure, she texted back. What time does it start?

11, his response flashed a moment later.

cool. c u there! Quickly adding a smiley face, she hit Send. His reply, though, confused her at first glance.

Annah says food

Smiling as she realized it was probably a typo, she teased, r u sure that wasn't you talking/texting? XD

His next message made her giggle: blah that was supposed to say good. She laughed even harder when he added, stupid phone.

Uh huh, she replied, still teasing him. Blame it on the phone. She put in a bunch of food emojis and sent it.

stop being so adorably mean or i will run over there and steal your phone.

After staring at his compliment/insult, and not knowing how to take it, she decided to ignore it and answered playfully, id like to c u try. Youd be too worn out by the time u got here to even make it up the steps.

AN INSULT!! Jakira could almost hear his exaggerated gasp. im an amazing athlete. Beside the text was an emoji with its tongue sticking out.

yeah right, she sent back sarcastically.

ouch

okay prove it.

HAVEN'T I ALREADY????

no. XD

ok . . . then i WILL at some point! Hang on a sec, someones calling me—

Okay. She lowered her phone slightly and stared at the screen expectantly, but the next message she got was even more confusing; it was a bunch of random emojis all crammed into one giant text. Bewildered, she ventured, uh . . . Alex?

Another huge text flashed up, except this time it was a crazed scramble of an explanation that read, AAAA!!! that wasnt me!! Bad sissy stole my phone cuz apparently she played a prank on me by saying that May was calling for me but i should've known better cause May NEVER calls me and the next thing I know anna is tearing down the hall with my phone sending u a flood of emojis and i am SO so sorry and wow I think im rambling. Is it possible to ramble in a text??

Giggling again, she replied, . . . if someone said it wasnt, u just proved them wrong.

His responses came as XD, and then, I didn't interrupt u from anything, right?

No, she answered, but i think we're having dinner soon.

ok... bye.

bye.

She put her phone down in better spirits than before, and when her mother called her for dinner, she came with a smile on her face.

• • •

Early afternoon the next day, Jakira found herself back on her friend's doorstep, this time by herself, since her mother was staying home. It only took a couple knocks to get a response, which turned out to be much friendlier than the last one had been. Annah opened the door, Alex right behind her, and flung her arms around Jakira's waist. "You're here!" she squealed.

"Yep!" Jakira replied with a smile. "Happy birthday! How old are you two turning?"

"Seven," Annah answered proudly.

"That's awesome!" Jakira exclaimed.

Alex led the two girls inside and closed the door. Jakira glanced over when he leaned closer to her and said quietly, "You mentioned you want to be an elementary school teacher at some point, right?" She nodded, and he added, "I think you'd do it beautifully."

". . . Thanks, Al." Jakira smiled and looked away slightly as he straightened again; she was surprised to feel her face heat up at his encouraging words.

Glancing around the living room, she couldn't help but feel a little confused as she noticed the couches rearranged in a lopsided pattern, and the dining room table lying on its side in the middle of the room. She looked at Alex inquiringly, and he explained, "It's for a game later on."

She nodded in acknowledgement, and a moment later, Mrs. Sameron emerged from the hall wearing an outfit that looked like a mix between a clown and a princess. May and Annah burst into laughter as their mother declared, "Let the party begin!"

-

Most of the party went by smoothly, but two happenings made her remember the confusing sense she felt that she'd known Alex much longer than she actually had.

First, about halfway through the party, she realized she'd left her card for Annah's gift at home. When she'd retrieved it and was approaching their house once more, she spotted Alex in the backyard, sitting cross-legged on the dock over the little pond behind their house. His head was tilted up, as if he was looking at the sky.

Smiling a little at the scene, Jakira changed directions and came up behind him. "Hey," she said softly, and he jumped and turned around.

When he saw it was her, he relaxed and smiled faintly. "Hey, Jak."

She walked up and sat down beside him, barely brushing his side. "Why are you out here all alone?" she inquired.

"Well . . ." He shrugged. "We were having some storytime while you were gone. And Annah decided she didn't like my story, so she put me in timeout with her 'birthday girl authority'." He made air quotation marks with his last words, and she giggled quietly.

"I'll give you some company, then," she told him, and his gaze returned to the gray heavens. "What are you looking at?" she added.

"Just the sky," he replied simply. "I like clouds."

"Me too . . ." she agreed distantly, acknowledging their common ground. She did like rainy days because it made her home feel extra cozy, but the main reason was because it dissipated the barrier at least for a little while.

"Okay, I officially end your 'timeout' with my 'guest authority'," Jakira said at last, shifting to her knees. "We should get inside; it looks like it's gonna rain soon."

"Yep," Alex muttered distractedly, then began rising to his feet along with her. But the edge of the deck must've been slippery; he'd hardly stood up when he lost his balance and toppled awkwardly over the edge. Yelping in surprise, he crashed into the water.

"Alex!" Jakira quickly leaned over the edge, not sure whether to be amused or anxious. "You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," he sighed, crawling onto the grass. He stood up and looked ruefully down at his dripping clothes. "That's happened an embarrassing amount of times before."

But Jakira hardly heard him. Every time she'd seen him before, he'd kept his hair combed neatly back, but now that it was all messed up and hanging in his eyes . . . it made him look familiar in a new way, not the way she knew him as a friend . . .

By then, however, he'd caught her staring at him and was smiling slightly in confusion. "What?"

"Nothing!" she answered quickly, reflecting the grin as if she wasn't suspecting anything. She must've been trying too hard, though; the thoughts slipped from her mind, and she could not pick them up again no matter how madly she grasped.

-

The second happening was what startled her the most. Almost an hour later, they were inside playing a game where they blindfolded one player and sent them into the obstacle course in the living room, with another player guiding them by voice alone. In the second round, Jakira was the one blindfolded, and Alex was directing her. Completely unable to see, all she could do was listen to his voice while May and Annah sang at the top of their lungs in the background.

"A little to your left . . . Okay, you're good. Now slowly crouch down until I tell you to stop."

It was pretty easy, since his sisters' voices were so high-pitched compared to his, but she was only half-focusing on his words.

That . . . voice . . .

It was his, but it wasn't at the same time. Now that she could only hear him, she could clearly picture another face, an eerily similar one, matched with the gentle voice she was listening to.

Logic finally began to settle in. She'd only known one other boy in her entire life. Only one other friend. Which meant the only possible reason Alex could seem so familiar to her was . . . if he was the same person as . . .

Her heart nearly stopped and her eyes widened as the pieces began to fall together. It was . . . He was . . . Ni—?!

"You did it!" Alex's change of tone made her jump, scattering her thoughts. Suddenly the blindfold was off, and she blinked in puzzlement. Her mind went blank of all the thoughts it'd just been harboring, and she was left in unhappy oblivion once more.

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plz don't kill me.