We stare in shock as Tricia starts to gasp for breath after exerting herself. She looks as stunned as the rest of us.

  "I... I thought they were gone! That's the first time I've managed to reverse the gravity of ANYTHING since I got hurt!"

  I reach down and pluck one of my scales off the end of my tail. "Try again!"

  I drop the small white scale, surprisingly heavy for its size, and Tricia's hand shoots out. "Hnnngh!"

  The scale halts, gravity nullified for it as it hangs there, spinning end over end zily. I beam at her, before plucking the scale out of the air.

  "Okay, we didn't just hallucinate that! Tricia's back!"

  Philippa rushes to the door.

  "DAAAAAAAAAD! COME QUICK! TRICIA'S POWERS ARE BAAAAACK!!!"

  The sound of feet thundering up the stairs fills the house, and dad bursts into Tricia's room, wide-eyed.

  "Are you serious??? Can you show me, Tricia?"

  I smile, showing dad the scale I'd plucked, then drop it from the highest I can reach. He gawps in shock as the scale halts, slowly turning to his daughter as she smiles at him, even as the strain of testing herself after months of recovery shows on her face.

  When she lets the scale fall, I catch it. It's about the size of a 50-cent coin, and I start carefully rubbing the edge of one cw against it, shaping it delicately. I needn't have worried, since I doubt there are many things on Earth that could damage my scales but my own cws, and, once I've shaped it to my intentions, I bore a little hole through it with the tip of the same talon.

  Carefully crossing the room to prevent a repeat of my tail knocking things over, I rummage in Tricia's jewellery case, hoping against hope...

  "Rika, what are you doing?"

  I reply, still rooting around, "I'm looking for a chain. Do you have a loose one, or one from a broken bit of jewellery you kept?"

  Tricia nods, and, quizzically, she limps over and finds it easily, even amongst the overflowing case of fashionable adornments.

  "Here you go. But, what do you want it for?"

  Dropping my dragonshift, I fiddle for a few moments.

  "Thank god for opposable thumbs!" I giggle, before turning round and holding what I'd made out to her. "Here, Tricia! I made it for you, as a gift, to commemorate you re-awakening your powers!"

  Hanging from the chain... is my scale. It's been worked into the shape of a heart, and glitters like hoarfrost in the morning sun. Tricia gasps as I pce it in her hand.

  "Rika, that's...!"

  I smile at her. "Yes. One of my scales. It's nearly unbreakable, and it'll grow back in a couple of days. And we ARE family, so I hope you'll wear it. You're the only person in the world to own a pendant made from genuine dragonscale, Tricia!"

  Tricia stares at the pendant I'd made for her, before slipping the chain over her head. The glittering scale hangs against her chest, and she gasps, giggling. "Fuck, it's cold! Is that normal??"

  I raise an eyebrow. "I'm a frost-dragon, sis. You tell me!"

  Then I smile at my other sisters. "Do you guys have a chain each, as well?"

  Philippa dashes off, while Niko blinks slowly, her eyes wider than usual, before following suit, albeit at a less-hurried pace.

  While they disappear, I partially dragonshift, my tail coiling round. Carefully, I test for loose scales, before plucking three more from their pces. My hands shift next, and I start carefully shaping each scale in turn, my cws scraping tiny shavings away from the freed scales, boring a single hole through each, as the sound of feet hurrying back fills the hallway outside.

  Niko is the first back, since her room is closest, but Philippa is right on her heels. I take the bck leather choker, shifting my hands back so I can attach the dragonscale heart to it. Niko takes it and loops the newly-adorned band of leather around her throat.

  Philippa's brought a charm bracelet, and I hang the white heart on it, csping it around her slender wrist as she gives me a kiss on the cheek. Then, I turn to dad.

  "You too, dad. Do you have a... a leather cord, or something?"

  His eyes widen slightly, and then he nods. Reaching up, he tugs a small locket from around his neck. Removing the chain from it, he shoves the little locket into his back pocket and holds it out, a loop of dark-grey steel links, smiling as I take it and fasten my handmade heart to it.

  "Thank you, love. Now your old man won't worry so much when you're away from him."

  I hug him, and he wraps his arms around me, holding me close, and murmurs, "I'm so goddamn proud of you, Rika. My beloved daughter..."

  That night, I try to sleep in my own bed, but, no matter how I toss and turn, I can NOT drift off. My mind is occupied with many different thoughts, all racing along on their own tangents, and something about the mattress feels... off. Uncomfortable. Like it's been damaged or moved.

  And there's more to it than just discomfort. A sense of loneliness, or something close to it.

  I... I miss Skadi, and it's only been one day. I miss my friend.

  There's a quiet creaking of floorboards just outside my door. Niko's halting voice softly drifts through the night air.

  "Rika.... are you.... awake...? May I come in...?"

  I sit up, my eyes shifting to their draconic form.

  "Yeah, Niko. I'm awake. Come in."

  The door opens silently, and the dark, looming shadow of my eldest sister enters. Or rather, it should have. To my dragon eyes, Niko is as clear as day, her pale skin, bck hair and eyes pin for me to see. The leather choker, bearing the scale I'd given her, is still fastened around her neck.

  She slowly approaches my bed, wearing an enormous t-shirt, her short-cropped sable hair falling over one eye.

  "You.... can't sleep, little sister...? Me neither..... I feel very....."

  She stops, searching for the right words, as she sits on the edge of my bed. Even when I'm in my dragonshift, Niko still looms over me. And when I'm in human form, she seems even taller, like a living statue. She gently pces a hand on my head, slowly running her fingers over my hair in a soothing motion.

  I close my eyes, letting them revert back to human, and lean gently against Niko's side. "Thank you, Niko...."

  "Any time.... Rika....." Niko's husky murmur barely disturbs the quiet. When she makes to stand, I gently grab her hand.

  "Could you... stay? Please?"

  Wordlessly, Niko slowly sits back down, then swivels herself into my bed, her arms wrapping warmly around me.

  ".... Of.... course...."

  I smile and close my eyes, rexing into my big sister's embrace. For all her stoicism and reticence, Niko still feels things. She just tends to keep them to herself. She rarely emotes as openly as she did when she confronted... our mother. For anyone else, that would have been furious shouting and open anger.

  But for Niko, even raising her voice that much, hearing her voice flow more smoothly than I'd ever heard of her doing before, must have been even more shocking, considering who that anger was coming from.

  It's hard to reconcile the thought of Niko being visibly enraged with the calm, quiet woman I've known my whole life, her hands on my back as she slowly breathes in and out, her higher-than-average body heat thawing my heart a little more.

  We always joked that, since Niko doesn't vent her thoughts and feelings to us, she must be warmer than most from all the trapped heat and friction of all those emotions rubbing together. But, whatever the reason, I'm grateful for her closeness and evident love.

  That's all I needed, the one thing I needed to bring deep, dreamless sleep....

  When I wake in the morning, Niko's still in my bed, her strong arms wrapped around me as she snores softly, her face almost catlike in sleep. I smile and snuggle a little closer into her embrace, trying to deny the fingers of daylight tugging at the edges of my curtains.

  I don't know if I slept again, or merely dozed, before a knock at my door rouses me. Niko's eyes snap open, and she sits up, almost reluctantly letting me go.

  Philippa's cheerful voice calls, "c'mon, Rika! Breakfast! And have you seen Niko? She's not in her room."

  Niko blinks slowly, before calling, "Good.... morning, Phili..."

  Philippa's silvery ugh comes through my door. "Ah, well, that expins it! You, too, Niko! Get ready, we're going to look at a few apartments today, as well as a couple of colleges not far from them!"

  I blink, already scrambling out of bed in nothing but my panties and an oversized sleeping-shirt. "Does dad know??"

  "Yep! And he's already sworn himself to secrecy, just in case! He's not going to ask WHERE, only that we pick somewhere that's right for the four of us! Now get your butts in the kitchen!"

  I dart into the shower, emerging shortly with a towel wrapped securely around myself, and Tricia follows, still grinning her head off about her powers coming back. Even though she'd said many times that she was fine being a normal girl, it looks like she HAD missed them.

  Dad's already at the kitchen table when I get downstairs, dressed in a cute outfit that Philippa had bought for me, right before I'd gone to the Drakeblooded Cities. He smiles at me, lowering his coffee cup.

  "Morning, Rika. I guess Philippa told you the pn?"

  I nod, giving him a hug. "Yeah! And she said you were going to not ask where, so we can't be tracked down by you-know-who?"

  He sighs. "That's right. I feel like the best thing for you is for you girls to have your own pce. And, if I don't know where you live, I can't accidentally let it slip or be talked into sharing. I can't give away what I don't know, right?"

  I nod. "Thanks, dad. I love you!"

  He smiles, patting my back. "Love you too, sweetheart. Never apologise for being yourself, okay? You deserve happiness."

  Philippa bustles in, carrying the coffee-pot and milk, her hair no longer purple, but a striking shade of snow-white that catches the light and sends luminous flecks dancing around her, almost like a halo.

  Niko ambles in, gently resting her chin on the top of my head for a moment, before taking her seat, dressed entirely in bck as usual, picking up her coffee cup and adding six lumps of sugar to it, then stirring.

  Dad smiles at his eldest. "Good morning, Niko! Sleep well?"

  She pauses to look at him. "Very well.... thank you. And you?"

  Dad's eyes brighten. "I slept well enough, thanks for asking. So, while you girls are out, I'm going to take the van to an old mechanic friend of mine. He never asks questions, so I can trust him to fix the damage."

  I wince. "Oh yeah, I forgot I trashed the van. I'll pay for it-!"

  "No you won't, Rika. You did what I told you and went loud! Bme Julia for trying to pull that stunt. She never mentioned it to me, probably because she knew I'd put a stop to it. Anyway, put it behind you. Enjoy yourselves today, girls!"

  Tricia joins us, using one crutch instead of two, grinning as she limps slowly into the kitchen. "Morning, guys!"

  I smile at her. "Morning!"

  Lowering herself into her seat, Tricia reaches for her coffee cup, then, after sipping, wrinkles her nose. "Hmm. Needs sugar."

  I'm already giggling as she winks, before Philippa reaches out, and tosses a sugar-cube towards her. Tricia's hand flicks up, index finger raised, and the small block of sucrose comes to a halt in mid-air as she alters the gravity around it, before holding her cup up and scooping the sugar out of the air with it, her proud smirk widening.

  "See? I can only do small things for now, but give it time, and I'll be able to fight again!"

  I smile at her. "Just be careful, sis! She-who-shall-not-be-named keeps bming me for 'stealing' your powers, but this is proof that I didn't! Plus, if you get hurt again, I don't know what I'd do!"

  She grins. "Don't worry, I've learned from my mistake! And, now there are FOUR of us, we can go out to defeat monsters in pairs, rather than going solo!"