Amber opened her eyes and looked around her. It was almost automatic now, wanting to know if she was awake or not. It might be a few seconds before she could be sure if she was in her own room or in the crystal throne room. Or, recently, in a room in the local hospital that smelled of strange chemicals, with bleeping machines making a background noise that seemed to continue even when she tried to block it out.

This time she was home. That was a good thing, she thought as she woke up. It was a couple of days since she'd returned from her last adventure, but as her memories came back she knew that today was the day she'd be going back to school. She still had no idea what people would say to her; the only people she'd talked to had been the doctors and the police, both of whom she'd given the same story. She'd heard people screaming, and seen a monster, and she'd run as far as she could. The monster had followed her to the woods, and then she thought she might have tripped and hit her head, but she wasn't quite sure.

She pulled herself out of bed and quickly got dressed, stretching her arms and trying to get her body as awake as her mind. It was a little strange to be back in uniform after a break, like it was every holiday, but she was determined that she wouldn't be late on her first day back. She was fully awake by the time she padded down the stairs, but she wasn't running today.

"You okay?" Mom asked, standing by the stove and making pancakes. That was a rare treat, and one that told Amber her mom might be more nervous than she was. Treats without a reason usually meant something was wrong and Mom didn't know what she could do.

"Yeah, back at school today."

"You could sound a bit more excited, dear."

"I'm scared," Amber started, "Not the monster. I don't know who got hurt. I'm scared I'll find somebody got hurt, I don't like not knowing."

"I know," Mom came over and put an arm around her shoulders, a half hug. "You care about other people so much, and sometimes that can be hard. But I think if anyone was hurt bad, you'd have heard by now. Try not to worry until you know more. It's hard, but you can try, right?"

Amber thought about that for a few seconds. She knew that Mom was right, as she usually was, but that didn't make it any easier to stop worrying. Or to stop feeling guilty, now she was sure it was her the Enemy had been hunting for. But that was something she couldn't share, even with her family.

Before she could find something else to say, there was a nervous knock at the door. Mom went to answer it without a word, while Amber hurried to finish her stack of pancakes. She could hear the words 'thank you' more than once, so she was pretty sure she could guess who was visiting.

"Guess who it is, honey!" Mom seemed a little more cheerful, "Do you remember this guy?"

"I think so," Amber mumbled, not quite sure what would be the right thing to say here. Mel was standing behind her Mom in the hallway, and winked quickly. He seemed cheerful as well.

"Hi," he said, offering a hand to shake, "My name's Mel. I heard you were feeling better now."

"Yeah, thanks," she shook his hand, and on impulse added a little curtsey as soon as he let go. "You already know my name don't you? Do I still need to say it?"

"Mel is the guy who found you in the woods," Mom explained, "He took you to the hospital when you were hurt. You looked like you might be hurt bad, so he was worried and he wanted to see for himself that you're all better now."

"Thanks," Amber grinned nervously, not quite sure what she was supposed to say. She was sure she'd never be a spy or something, she wasn't good at stories. But Mom seemed to assume it was just nerves because she was meeting somebody new, and that worked fine.

"You're welcome. You know, you remind me of my niece. I wonder how much you two got in common."

Amber started to speak, but Mom interrupted her almost straight away: "As much as I'd like to let you two get better acquainted, I think Amber needs to be heading to school. We don't want her to be late on her first day."

"Ohh, I'll get my bag!" Amber stuffed a whole pancake, folded over, into her mouth and attempted to chew it as she ran back up to her room. Really she had everything she needed, but she figured that giving the two grownups a while to chat would probably be a good idea. By the time she came down again, they seemed a little more relaxed. Mom was talking: "...good with kids."

"Yeah, I babysit for my sister when she wants some time to herself. Her husband wasn't the most reliable guy in the world."

"Was he an inconsiderate cunt?" Amber asked, trying to conceal the sudden wave of laughter that rose up her throat as she saw the shock in Mom's eyes.

"You could say that," Mel nodded, "But a little girl your age shouldn't know words like that, let alone say them. Where did you learn that?"

"I... uhh..." Mom stammered, "I might have used those words an awful lot over the course of divorce proceedings. Amber, you shouldn't say those words in front of other people."

"I know. And I shouldn't say any of the words Daddy uses either. There's loads of those."

"I bet there is. He's sounding more and more like someone I used to know."

"Maybe Amber and your niece have a lot in common," Mom grinned behind her hand, "But like I said, this one needs to be heading to school some time soon."

"I wouldn't want to make her late," Mel shrugged, "I can give her a lift if that's easier."

"That's a very generous offer," Mom nodded, but it was easy enough to see she wasn't really comfortable with it. She was just being polite now. "Would you be okay with that, Amber?"

"Yeah, sure!" Amber grinned. She turned to give Mel the biggest smile she could manage at that point, so she didn't see her mom's reaction.

"You sure, honey? I know you're nervous meeting new people, so maybe it's better if you–"

"I like Mel!" Amber declared, and ran over to give him a hug. After that, there didn't seem to be any more opportunity for debate.