Note: Hi! Another chapter for you tonight (or whatever time of day it is for you). I almost forgot, but not quite! Maybe I was trying to pretend it wasn't Sunday cause tomorrow starts finals week. That should be fun . . .

Nya got back from Ignacia on Wednesday, which gave her a few days to contemplate how to approach the subject of the rumors with Jay.

The logical side of her argued that she needed to be harsh with him, cut all ties and never see him again. But she knew she could never go through with it. It was maybe just a little too late, and she was maybe just a little too in love with him. Her heart would only betray her.

But then, what to do? She couldn't tell him the truth–that would only create more problems, more rumors, more things she couldn't deal with. But she knew she couldn't simply stop seeing him without reason. It would break her heart. She was in way over her head, and she didn't know what to do.

By the time Monday came, Nya still didn't know what to do. She hoped that maybe Jay wouldn't come. Maybe he had heard the rumors and decided to stop seeing her. And at first, she let herself hope that maybe he had. He didn't come at the usual time, and by noon he still hadn't come, and Nya ate a small lunch. He didn't come during lunch, or during the two readings Nya did after lunch, both of which luckily went smoothly, since the clients had traveled such a long way and she really didn't need more problems on her plate.

Sometime after noon, the rain, which had been coming down all day, became harder and harder. Nya closed up her shutters against the cold winds and made tea, deciding that surely Jay wouldn't come in this weather. She hadn't seen such a storm in years. It was probably shaping up to be a hurricane near the coastline, but she knew that she was safe here. She had experienced these storms before, and she knew that her house was built to withstand anything the weather could throw at it, so that it remained intact for generations of thread-mages.

Nya curled up with a book, and nearly forgot about Jay. In fact, she almost thought that the pounding sound she heard was just the storm. But then she realized someone was knocking, and jumped up to open the door. He was standing there, soaked to the bone, smiling sheepishly at her. And although she was rather horrified to see him, especially in this condition, she couldn't help but smile back.

"Come in!" Nya said quickly, after only a few seconds of staring. "What possessed you to go out in this weather?" She asked as she led him to the fireplace.

"I don't know. My mother kept me so long this morning–she was baking for a party, and needed help–and afterward she gave me some cookies and told me to run along while she packed up the rest. And I didn't want you to worry about where I was, so I came here. I brought you these, but they may be a little wet." He handed her two cookies, which were indeed a little wet, and also crumbling from being jostled around in his pocket.

"Thank you. But you shouldn't have come, you know. I'm more worried for you now than I was before. You're freezing, you know." She took his hand for example. It was very cold and wet. She felt awkward holding it, so she dropped it quickly. "And the rain's coming down so hard, I'm surprised you even made it here!" She added.

"Well, I did." He said sheepishly. "And now that I've seen you, I'd better go back before my mother starts to worry."

"But it's so cold outside!" Nya protested. "And you're all wet. At least take off your coat so I can dry it for you."

Knowing she was more stubborn than he was, he gave her his coat, which she hung before the fire. She also made him take off his shoes and stockings, which were also soaked. The bottoms of his pants, where the coat had not covered, and the ends of his sleeves were wet as well, but she couldn't do anything about that but make him stay by the fireplace.

Nya fetched a blanket and sat beside him.

"So, how was your trip home?" Jay asked.

"It was good to see my brother." She said. She knew she should mention something about how he couldn't come any more after this, or at least that he should come in the evenings, but she couldn't quite bring herself to. She was so happy to see him, despite her worry at his pitiful state.

"What about your parents?" He asked. "Do they live there, too?"

She should've known he'd ask that sometime, but she still wasn't ready to talk about it. Most people didn't care about the fact that apart from those horrible powers of hers, she was just an ordinary girl, who had once had parents just like every other child.

She shook her head, hoping he'd get the point. "They're . . . not with us any more."

"Oh," He looked down. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright." She watched him carefully, while he deliberately looked away from her. "It was a long time ago."

She hadn't realized what a long time it had been, but they'd been gone for a third of her life now. It had been so long since she'd explained to anyone about them–she'd nearly forgotten the pain of it all.

She took a deep breath. "I actually don't know where my parents are–they could still be alive," She explained, and the words sounded as strange and impossible as always. "They just . . . disappeared one day, and eventually, we stopped hoping."

Jay shuddered. "I'm so sorry," He repeated. "That's awful. But . . . maybe you'll find them someday."

She sighed slightly. "I doubt it. I can never leave here, after all. But I know they're still with me," She gestured to the ebony sideboard, where two paintings stood. One of a man and a pregnant woman, and one of a vase of blue flowers. "Those are them."

He finally looked up. "Your mother . . . she's as beautiful as you are." He mumbled. "I'm sorry. But it's a nice way to remember them–the forget-me-nots, and all." He shook his head. "I'd really better get home."

"I don't think you should go out in this weather." Nya said. She shook herself out of her reverie and stood, opening one of the shutters and looking out. The rain was coming in sheets, turning the unpaved road to a muddy river. The wind whipped through the trees and into the house, tousling Nya's hair. And to make matters worse, it was now dark.

"You'll never make it home. I can hardly see across the road, and it's only getting darker." Nya said. "You shouldn't've come at all, but I can't let you go back now."

"What will I do, then?" Jay asked as she bolted the shutter. "I can't stay here all night."

Nya didn't want to think about it, but it was a slightly better option than sending him back in the dark deluge and hoping he'd survive and get home without illness or injury.

"I guess so." She said. "There are extra rooms, after all." She remembered that when she was living with Mei Tao, guests and clients had sometimes come to stay in those rooms. Nya hadn't had many guests herself, a fact which she appreciated since she didn't find herself qualified to take care of other people, and especially to cook for them.

Jay paced back and forth in the sitting room while Nya made a fire in one of the bedroom fireplaces, and then went to the kitchen to cook dinner. She was nervous about her cooking–she hadn't cooked for anyone but herself (and Kai, occasionally) since Mei Tao was alive. And Jay was always bringing her something from his mother's kitchen–surely he was used to having good food, even if it was simple and not enough, as was the case for nearly everyone in the village. She decided to prepare a recipe her mother had taught her when she was a little girl–just a simple rice stew with vegetables. It wasn't fancy, but it would warm him up. It wasn't as if she needed to impress Jay with food, it seemed–if he was willing to walk through a storm of this magnitude just to see her, she was in even deeper than she'd thought with this whole soulmates dilemma.

They sat by the fire again while they ate, and Nya began to recount her trip, hoping she could bring herself to mention what Kai had said about the rumors. But since she was already doing all she could just to keep Jay at her house and not let him go out into the stormy night, it didn't seem to be the best time to mention them not seeing each other any more. By the time they finished eating, their conversation had dwindled into awkward silence, which was strange, since they usually had plenty to talk about.

"You'd better get to bed, so I can return you to your parents tomorrow before they go looking for you." Nya said finally. And before people come by and see you leaving and tell my brother, she added in her head. She didn't like how matronly she sounded, but she was anxious to get to bed herself. Maybe after a good night's sleep she could find the courage to tell him . . . something. She still wasn't sure what.