"OH? With?" She asked as the water on the fire began to warm . She felt the temperature again, it wasn't quite ready for the tea leaves .

"Mally was injured during the fight today . I need help to heal her . " Kyera didn't bother das.h.i.+ng around the question . It would do nothing for either of their nerves .

Advertis.e.m.e.nt"I see . You know I am not a healer . That was always your gift . " Akira replied cooly, her eyes dancing with mischief . She was well aware of what she had that would help her daughter in this escapade . There were so few people she could ask, of course she came here . Akira felt a twinge of disappointment in her chest .

"I need you to lend me some spiritual energy . The Shadows have lent me all that I can command from myself . However, I need more to truly heal Mally . Her wounds are the worst from today's attack . " Kyera replied coming to stand a few feet from her mother . There was a child like unsurety hidden by the desperateness of a woman out of options . The shame in her eyes was painful for both Kyera to feel and Akira to see . Very few people would realize this was a child asking her mother for help not a beggar asking for a hand out .

"I see . That . . . You do realize what it would mean for me to replenish your aura?" Akira asked raising a elegant eyebrow watching her daughter's eyes . The woman before her was so foreign, beautiful, with very few remnants of the little girl she had left sleeping so long ago . She never dreamed that night would be the last time she saw her sons, or it would be so long before she saw Kyera again . No matter how the body had changed however, those golden eyes still held the same soul as the child from years pa.s.sed .

"Yes . I am aware . I can't express how much I did not want it to come to this, but it has . " Kyera replied tense as the woman kept her eyes . There was sorrow in Akira's face, and it caught kyera off guard . The amount of emotion in those blue pools was disquieting . Was she imagining things, or did it look vaguely like regret?

"Alright, I suppose I can help, if you will do something with me . " Akira replied, a idea sparking in her mind . She wanted to help, but if she could achieve something small from this it would make Kyera less suspicious .

"What's your price?" Kyera asked tensing as she waited . This was to be expected . Very few tigers would do such a lofty favor without something in return . Years had change the woman but not the heart .

"I want you to reveal yourself to the Empress Dowager . " Akira replied and Kyera froze a growl ripping from her throat at her mother's words . That growl turning to dark laughter as she turned to face the door .

"If you didn't want to help, just say so . Don't try to send me to my death . " Kyera's words were sharp and filled with mockery and pain . Akira was shocked, as though she had been slapped across the face with the icy hand of winter . Her daughter headed back for the door, having every intention of leaving . A hand gripped her wrist and held her lightly, while a voice implored her not to leave .

"Kyera, do not be so closed minded . You are my only child, the last thing I wish to see you you joining your brothers so soon . " Akira chastised her gently, the pain in her voice nearly moving her daughter's heart . Kyera stopped, hesitating to walk on while her mother spoke . That break in motion was enough to give Akira hope . "You would not be breaking jungle law . The Empress Dowager has seen our kind before… she knows what I am . " she persisted in explaining to Kyera . The shock on the child's face was enough to make her falter for but a moment before admitting the truth .

"She knows about your forms?" Kyera asked softly, her mind whirling with the possibilities of this news .

"Yes . I am also concerned she may be suspecting you as well . It's better to tell her then try to hide it . " Akira replied shaking her head . The logic of her statement made so much more sense and yet Kyera desperately wanted to say no .