O.K. A wee bit more so it's not on such a cliff-hanger. ^_^

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

	"eh?" It should have happened by now! Owaru opened one eye cautiously, 
blinked as a silly grin formed on his lips. The fire had been blown out 
around them in a seventy meter circle though he could see it burning to 
his right and left. Why hadn't Amaru's power hit them? He looked up as 
he heard Amaru's roar, saw a few coils of lightning edged scales break 
the clouds as rain drops hit his face. He looked down at his brother as 
he sat back on his heels.

	"Hajime?" He was so still. The aura of power around him had gone from a 
flicker to a steady glow. He reached down, jerked back as Hajime's power 
shocked his fingers. He was going to change!

	He heard running footsteps closing fast, whirled and surged to his feet 
just as the rain started to come down in earnest. The warning that he 
meant to shout to Elenora or Jasmine never formed.

	"Matsuri-chan?" He yelled in unbelief and shock as she slid to a stop 
beside him.

	"Oh, Hajime..." Her voice quavered as she dropped to her knees, reached 
out.

	"No! Don't touch him, Matsuri-chan!" Owaru leaned down, had both arms 
around her waist and wondered if he could get her clear before Hajime 
went off. "eh?" He stopped, watched with narrowed eyes as she didn't 
jerk back as her hand hit the white-blue glow. In fact, it seemed to 
part around her fingers, let her in.

	Hajime hung in a gray place between life and death, between his 
humanity and the dragon. The invisible sphere that had formed to keep 
Amaru's power at bay had come from his need to keep at least one of his 
brothers safe and unchanged. Yet that had broken his focus and he 
couldn't get his lungs to work and his heart had stopped. They faced 
each other in the void, human and dragon, and regarded each other. 

	Owaru's surprised yell came to him from a distance. *Matsuri? Matsuri 
was here?* He heard her call his name, her voice so full of concern and 
anguish. *Matsuri?* He would allow nothing to hurt Matsuri. He felt her 
hand wrap softly around his own. Nothing! He reached out and touched the 
blue muzzle that stretched out tentatively. *We will not Change. It is 
not the Time.* The dragon cocked it's head, nodded. *I will breathe. My 
heart will beat.* He snapped out of that grey place as he drew a 
pain-filled breath, felt his heart give a shuddering jump then 
reluctantly resume it's task. He was back into the agony of his healing 
body, yet Matsuri was here with him and it made the pain bearable.

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

O.K. Thoughts?

Thanks for reading it!

Windlily

trich@iu.net