Getting her powers back

Going back to Dashen's was a nightmare. It was as if she had never lived there. The children had taken over her living quarters. When she walked in the door, it was like a war zone. A children level kind of war zone where toys had exploded everywhere. Her living room was turned into a huge pillow and blanket fort. She recognised the designs of the blankets, all of it were hers.

The two children were jumping up and down and running around screaming. When they saw her, they started screaming her name and ran towards her, jumping at her.

"Aunt Sabrina!! Aunt Sabrina!"

"Okay, okay, chill kids, it's not like you haven't seen me for years, it's only been a few weeks," she told them.

"Aunt Sabrina, we have a secret to tell you," Zi An half whispered to her.

Xin Yi nodded, grinning her gap-toothed smile.

"Come, come, sit with us in our special dragon palace," Zi An pulled her towards the pillow fort and she crawled in with him. Xin Yi followed them and all of them squeezed into the small, cramped space, sitting cross legged.

The two children giggled as Sabrina shifted to try to find a comfortable position. She had to sit with her head bent low so as not to pull out the blanket that served as a roof for the fort. Once she has settled in, she looked at them. Both of them are staring at her, their eyes large.

"Okay, so what's the big secret?" she asked. She is sure it is something frivolous. Like maybe Xin Yi lost another tooth or Zi An grew a new tooth. They had been excited over smaller things before.

Zi An cupped his mouth, kneeled and went to her ears.

"Xin Yi got her magic powers," he whispered into her ears.

Her eyes widened. She must have heard wrong. Xin Yi is only eight. Dragon offsprings only attain their powers at the age of 12, if at all.

"What?"

"Xin Yi has got magic now!" Zi An repeated louder into her ears. He sat back down and grinned at her. "Ask her to do something!"

"Is it true Xin Yi?" she asked the little girl. Xin Yi just turned eight years old. It was highly improbable for a dragonling so young to have acquired her powers. There have been late bloomers but she has never heard of anyone younger than 12 years old acquiring their powers.

The little girl nodded, her eyes large and round and slightly nervous.

"Show me something," she said gently. Maybe the kids were playing make belief. They sometimes do that. Maybe she will whip out a plastic toy wand and use it to 'cast spells'.

Xin Yi pointed at the blanket over their head and it suddenly snapped and flew up before billowing down gently and settling back to the way it was.

So it's true. Dashen's little girl has dragon powers. And for her to acquire it at such a young age, she is going to be a powerful one, she assumed. She had not exactly paid attention during those dragon history classes or the history of dragon powers classes.

An idea sneaked into her mind insidiously. Maybe Xin Yi can cure her own mother. Then Sabrina need not beg Dashen for help and all will be solved. Except that young dragons don't actually know how to control their powers. Sometimes it can go awry. This was why the moment young dragons acquire powers, they will be sent to the sea jade palace to learn how to harness their powers safely. She discarded the idea at this thought. Xin Yi might kill her mother instead of curing her. All it will take is just one zap.

"Why didn't you tell your dad or mom?" she asked them.

Xin Yi shook her head.

"No, no, they will send me away," she said, tears threatening to spill over.

"Xin Yi, you have to go, it's the only way for you to learn how to use your new powers," she told the little girl gently.

"No! I don't wanna!!!" the girl screamed and a pillow next to them exploded, feathers flew everywhere.

"Look, Xin Yi, see what you did," she pointed at the pillow.

"I don't care about the stupid pillow, I don't wanna go!" she said petulantly. She swiped her tears away. "I wanna stay and take care of mommy!"

Wait. What did she mean?

"Take care of mommy? Why do you think you need to take care of mommy?" Sabrina asked carefully.

"Mommy is sick, I know it, I can feel it!" Xin Yi said.

Sabrina gasped. Xin Yi really has special powers to be able to sense the condition of a human being. Even she, after training for over 1,500 years, can't sense or detect the conditions of the human body. She has heard of some special dragons that are gifted with this, it is very rare but not unheard of.

"She said mommy will die if we don't take care of her…" Zi An said sadly.

"Did you tell your dad this?" she asked. If Dashen found out, he will definitely force Meera to become an immortal. Immediately.

Both children shook their heads.

"We don't want him to know about Xin Yi's powers…he will send her away, he is so strict," Zi An said.

"But Xin Yi, it is dangerous for you if you don't learn how to use your powers properly, you could kill people around you, you could kill Zi An and even your mom," she said gently.

The little girl's eyes widened in alarm.

"Kill? But we are good dragons, we don't kill people!" she said.

"Yes, that's why you need to learn not to accidentally kill anyone," she said.

Xin Yi shook her head.

"No, I can control my powers, I won't accidentally kill anyone," she said. "See,"

She made a twirl with her hand. All the pillows and blankets started flying and shifting. Within minutes, all of it are neatly piled and folded on the sofa. Sabrina stared at the little girl in awe. It took her at least a year to learn this kind of control when she was in training.

"Hmmm…how about you give me some powers then?" she joked.

Xin Yi shrugged. She held Sabrina's hands and she felt a slight tingle. When the girl removed her hands, she felt a hum within the centre of her being. It was the core of her powers and she could feel power coursing through her again. She had been feeling so empty without her powers and suddenly to have some of it back, she felt full, complete, whole.

She looked at the little girl with renewed respect.

"How did you learn to do all that?"

Xin Yi shrugged.

"I watched dad and you do it for years…it was rather easy actually so I don't see why I need to go to the palace to be trained,"

"I don't know what to say…it took me years to learn how to control my powers," Sabrina told the little girl. The girl beamed at her.

"Does this mean I am a power genius? Zi An said I am a power genius,"

Sabrina laughed. That's one way to term it.

"Please don't tell mom and dad!" the girl begged her.

Sabrina considered it. The little girl obviously has a good control of her powers so she supposed she could keep it a secret for a while.

"Okay, I will, maybe for a little while but you will have to tell your parents eventually," she said.

The siblings cheered.

"So I can heal mom first!" Xin Yi said.

"Wait, Xin Yi…don't, let me do it," Sabrina told her. The little girl may have good control of her powers but it is still risky. It is one thing to be able to control pillows or even transfer powers to another dragon but quite another to cure a human of a major disease like cancer.

"You don't even have powers…what happened to yours?" the little girl asked curiously.

"It was taken away because…er..I was naughty so it was my punishment," she said.

The little girl widened her eyes in surprise.

"They can take away your powers? That's not fair!" she said.

"Yes, that's why you have to be careful not to use it on a human," Sabrina told her.

"But I wanna help mommy," Xin Yi pouted.

"What if you did a mistake and mommy become worse? You don't want that,"

The girl thought about it for a while. Then she smiled at Sabrina.

"You do it then. I will give you my powers, I never seem to run out of it, and you can do it," she said, happy to have found a solution.

Sabrina was also glad that she has finally stumbled upon a way to help Meera. She only hoped the power transferred from Xin Yi could actually work.