Part Ten:
 

Rating: PG
 

Ash glanced at Arianna. She was staring out the bus window with such a look of sadness that it almost broke his heart. It was as if she lost herself during these moments of quietude, and was remembering everything. How she managed not to have a nervous breakdown was beyond Ash. He realized just then how strong she must be. Just a few hours earlier she had managed to sit through the news report stating that Arianna Blaze of the Bronx, New York, had been killed on a mountain road in a three car crash, which had also taken the lives of her friends and family. She had watched the photograph of her own smiling face appear on the television screen, shown to hundreds of people, announcing to her that she was dead at the age of fourteen. All she had said was, "My hair looks good."

She had maintained the look of a happy, upbeat teenager until now, when, lost in her own deepest thoughts, her face showed her true emotions.

Ash hadn't given much thought to how she must be taking all this. After her last crying spell she hadn't talked much about the accident or her friends. Ash had assumed she'd gotten over it and was moving on. Now, seeing the look of ineffable sadness on her face, he knew he'd been wrong.

I've been so insensitive, he thought, reprimanding himself. I should have paid more attention to her feelings.

"It's not your fault," Arianna said in a somewhat detached voice. Startled, Ash turned to stare at her. He was sure he hadn't spoken aloud. He hadn't even been projecting his thoughts. "You don't know me well enough," she continued, still gazing out the window. "I always conceal my feelings like this. I hide my emotions to avoid getting hurt. It's what gets me through the hardest of situations. It's what keeps me strong." She looked at him now, and granted him a small smile. "I'll be fine."

Ash blinked. She could hear his thoughts without even realizing it! And that time in the kitchen...

"Oh, I forgot to tell you," he said. "You remember how you picked out the right number to reach Quinn?"

"Yeah." She nodded. "What about it?"

"Quinn only has one phone number. And only a few people know it."

She stared at him. "You said he had five!"

"I know." Ash grinned. "I lied. I wanted to see if you could figure out which one it was by using your powers. I just made up the other numbers."

Arianna flicked his arm with her thumb and forefinger. "You jerk! Who do you think you are? The nerve, having me do cheap parlor tricks, as if I were some kind of magician."

"I thought you were a witch," he said smugly. "Don't you work magic?"

Arianna scowled. "I'm not a magician."

Ash gave her a charming smile. "But you'd look so cute in a cape!" She rolled her eyes.

Ash leaned back in the seat and tried to stretch out his long legs. The seat in front of him was reclined. Using his power to influence people, Ash told the person in front of him to lift the seat into a sitting position. A second later there was a soft thud as the chair back moved up. Ash smiled in satisfaction and stretched his legs, reclining
comfortably in his own chair. What was someone else's relaxation to him?

"Arrogant snob," Arianna muttered next to him. Ash glanced at her. She was doing it again - reading his mind without intending to. It must happen when she was deep in thought; when she was so lost in her own world that it connected to other people's minds.

Oh, she'd be powerful someday. Ash could tell. And being trained by Quinn would make her the perfect Night Worlder: strong, powerful, and ruthless.

And she was his.

Ash grinned.