A/N: Well. This is a first-hand example of how bad I am at updating. Oh and - *ahem* - I have tons of hits, and not one...single...review? I would love to know how sucky or awsome I am, suggestions for new chappies, mistakes, just plain comments, etc. It always feels nice for an author to know people care enough about their works to review on it.

~Rylee

CHAPTER 9

EMPATHY

KAILEN thought the woman looked a little strange, with the frizzy black hair and the electric smile, her dark skin stretched on her face, making her look starved. Her eyes were dark brown, and they were unnaturally wide. Even though her voice had sounded stern a second ago, the same smile was plastered to her face. Kailen looked at her grandfather, who was looking at Tylea-Mia confused.

"Um…" He started, looking uncomfortable. "It's me, Tylea-Mia. Ameronn."

The woman squinted at him. "Ah, I see it now. I thought you looked familiar." She turned to Kailen and Io. "And who would these kids be?" Her chipper tone make Kailen flinch.

"This is Kailen," Her grandfather said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "And that is Io. Kailen is my granddaughter."

Tylea-Mia's smile faded. "Your granddaughter? You had kids…here?" She said "here" like it was some garbage or something, and Kailen knew she meant Earth.

Kailen's grandfather caught on to Tylea-Mia's tone of voice and changed subjects. "We have a Cahayan after us, we were wondering if we could stay here a night or two, just until I gain enough strength to teleport us to Cahaya."

Tylea-Mia's hard expression was making Kailen nervous. The woman set her glass down on a small table and sat down on a chair. "Yes, you may. On one condition."

"What would that be?"

Tylea-Mia's eyes swept over Kailen. "I want to know what you have been doing for the past 45 years here on Earth. Obviously," She looked back at Kailen's grandfather. "Not what you came here to do."

He looked like he wanted to object, but he said yes. Tylea-Mia stood. "Very well. Carl will show you to your rooms, children. Ameronn, you can stay."

Kailen started to protest, but Carl came in, and Io gently pushed her out the door, her grandfather assuring her he would be all right. Carl closed the doors behind them, and gestured for the two of them to follow him.

"I don't want to leave him with her." Kailen said quietly to Io, making sure that Carl didn't over hear.

"He'll be fine," Io assured her. "But I think she's still aligned with the president of Cahaya. Hopefully she doesn't get too angry when she finds out he doesn't support the president anymore."

Kailen was thought for a second. "How long does the president stay in office?" Kailen asked. "If she was the president when grandfather left…"

Io shook his head. "She wipes people's memories every few years, I assume. They are only supposed to be president for 10 years." He stopped talking when Carl stopped in front of a door.

"The young lady can stay here." He said, opening the door. Kailen went inside, and looked around the room in shock. It was so clean and orderly; she was going to be afraid to touch anything. The big windows would let in plenty of light in the daytime, and the canopied bed was queen-sized, covered with about a million pillows. Clean clothes were on the foot of the bed.

"Mistress Tylea-Mia said you could take a shower or bath in the washroom." Carl told her before closing the door, probably leading Io to his room.

Kailen went over to the bed and picked up the clothes. They looked a little big; there were some pajama bottoms and a tank top and a dress, which Kailen assumed was for the morning. A dress? Yeah right. Totally practical when she was running from aliens trying to kill her. Kailen took the bag with the object that was going to get her killed in it and set it on the bed next to the clothes. Io said it had told him her ability was empathy, but how did that work? It didn't seem too useful. Not like teleporting, force fields, or controlling nature.

She sighed and looked at the dress. It was kind of pretty; blue and it would probably go down to her knees. Not too flashy, admittedly. But a dress? She hadn't worn a dress since she went to her mom's friend's wedding a few years before. Kailen set it on the dresser and took the pajamas into the bathroom.

After the shower, Kailen felt as good as new. Even with the new bruises and scrapes, and her sore shoulder, she felt fine. She got dressed and took a look at her hair. It was hanging down, wet and tangled, and she got the hairbrush she found in the bathroom and went to work on the tangles, which would probably been better to do before she got in the shower.

A few minutes into the tiring and painful task, she heard a knock at her door. "Who is it?" She called.

"Io."

"Come in." Kailen called back, and continued with her hair.

He had sweatpants on and a t-shirt. His hair was wet, so she assumed he took a shower also. "What are you doing?"

Kailen rolled her eyes. "Untangling my hair. One of the bad things about having long hair."

"It looks like it hurts." He said, observantly.

"No kidding." She finally got the last knot out. "What did you come in here for?" Kailen set the brush on the dresser and leaned against it.

"I just thought you might want to know how to use your power." Io said. "It's important to learn how to use it as soon as you can before it gets out of control."

Kailen led him over to the little sitting area in front of the closed windows and they both sat. "You know how to use my ability?"

"I've known other empaths. There aren't many, but they knew how to control their abilities. I could tell you a little."

Kailen shrugged. "Okay." They sat down in the sitting area across from each other.

"Now, Empathy is one of the rarest abilities on Cahaya." Io started. "There are thousands, maybe millions of different abilities a Cahayan can be born with, and the rarest of all are the powers based solely in the mind, with no physical effects." He sighed. "They are also the most difficult to control, and the most dangerous, depending on the strength.

"Now concentrate on reading my emotions." Kailen looked at him warily, but closed her eyes, and concentrated. Or tried to, anyways.

So. I'm supposed to read his emotions, huh? Interesting. I can't concentrate on a test, much less somebody's feelings. Concentrate…concentrate…

She sat for a few more seconds, and then opened her eyes and gave a frustrated huff. "Yeah…no. I don't think this is going to work."

Io looked at her, probably trying to figure out what was causing her trouble. And then, in the back of her mind, came a buzzing noise. It was soft, barely noticeable, but so different that anything she had ever felt before.

Determination.

The word was barely a suggested whisper in her mind. Kailen blinked. Almost against her will, she mumbled, "Determination."

The buzz suddenly stopped, followed by a twisting, turning feeling.

Confusion.

"What's that?" Io asked, looking at her in concern. "What did you say?"

"Confusion." She said it a little louder. "You're - you're confused. I…I think I did it." The twisting feeling grew in her mind, as Io's expression turned more and more confused. "I read your emotions!" Kailen was now bouncing up and down in her chair, grinning. The confusion in Io abated slightly, but it was now confusion about something else.

"What?" Kailen asked. "Now what are you confused about?"

Io just shook his head. "Abilities work in strange ways. You never know what they are going to do." He looked down at his hands. "My abilities showed up my 22 day of school, on my first year of school. Usually, powers don't show themselves until you are about 10. They took special interest in me. They took me from my family for a couple of years…and after that, I don't remember much. Then I went back to my normal life." Io sighed. "The point is, you just need to keep practicing. Eventually you'll figure them out all the way."

He glanced at the bag on her bed. "The SIT will be safe here. You should probably get some sleep."

Kailen felt tears come to her eyes. Her abilities were going full swing now, and Io's deep sadness, and emptiness, was overwhelming her. Something bad had happened to him when they – whoever they were – took him. When he got up to leave, Kailen got up too, and hugged him. He seemed surprised at first, but hugged her back. "I'm sorry." Io said quietly, but Kailen just shook her head.

"I guess I'm just a little emotional right now." She mumbled, and pulled back. Io smiled down at her and went out the door in a slightly better mood. Now Kailen couldn't help but smile. After a little bit, Io's feelings faded from her's, and she sighed in relief. It was like pressure had been building up in her head the more emotions she got from Io. Kailen hoped it wasn't always going to be like that.

After she shut the lights off, she crawled into the huge, weirdly comfortable bed, and thought about the hug between her and Io. It felt…right. Like she was supposed to hug him. Kailen thought back to what emotions she had been getting from him, and something itched at the back of her mind when they had hugged, an underlying emotion that Io had buried down deep inside. She felt her face go red. Kailen thought back to the times where he had looked at her a certain way, or the tone of his voice.

They barely knew each other, but somehow Io had feelings for her. How long had he been watching her before they met in the forest that one day? Kailen cleared the thoughts from her head. He had been looking for the object that had crash-landed. He was probably just watching out for it after her and Monte had discovered it.

Kailen's feelings towards Io were mixed. She barely knew him, yet they had been thought a lot together, connected by a mission to go to Cahaya. Kailen could call him a friend, but didn't think she…well liked him. She sighed. Everything was so confusing.

Her thoughts drifted to her grandfather. What was he doing now? What had he and Tylea-Mia been talking about? Was he alright? Her thoughts grew muddled, and she fell asleep.

A/N: Review if you're just cool like that.

~Rylee