He just couldn't quite put his finger on it.

He decided to put aside the nagging feeling in the back of his mind for later. It always happened to him when there was something important he needed to figure out. It was as if a puzzle, riddle, or clue was right in front of him, begging to be solved.

Instead, he decided to focus his intentions on Helaine. The Earth clothes that Score had gotten for her were ripped in multiple places. Plainly visable were numerous bruises, cuts and scrapes over every part of her legs and arms that were exposed; obviously made from bad spills. Although it was hardly surprising to find that bicycle-riding did not come naturally to the medieval warrior, he never expected her to injiure herself in the process. He couldn't help noticing the subtle way she clutched her lower abdomen.

"Helaine! Are you all right?" he asked, concerned. Years ago when Pixel had first met Helaine, (and quickly saw through her male disguise) he had formed an instant crush on the adventurous, brave fighter. It was short lived, however. He soon become deeply smitten with another magic-user, Destiny. Unfortunately, she had turned out to be a psychopathic killer out to rule the Diadem. Ever since, Pixel had washed his hands of romantic connections. Helaine was no more than a sister figure to him, and seeing her bloody and bruised did not make him happy. Pixel couldn't stop himself from shooting a dirty look at Score. It was him, after all, who had provoked her into trying such a stunt with that bet.

But who was he kidding? They were both pretty equal to blame.

Helaine smiled her confident warrior smile at him. "Of course I am! It took some doing, but eventually I rode that contraption."

Pixel couldn't hide his look of surprise. He knew Helaine was stubborn, but he had trouble imagining her successfully riding a bicycle. Horseback riding, fencing, archery... no problem. But anything from Score or Pixel's world always threw Helaine for a loop.

Pixel smiled mischievously at Score, then back at Helaine. "So, have you picked out the dress?"

Helaine blushed. That's when Score decided to join the conversation. He had remained uncharacteristically quite beforehand. "She's leaving out one itty bitty detail -- she didn't really learn how to ride. She crashed head first into a tree. That's hardly mastering bike-riding."

Pixel could sense something different about Score's usual jubilant and sarcastic tone. The words were said only half jokingly. He sounded... concerned. Troubled. That was new.

"So we decided to call it a draw." Score finished.

Pixel smiled, pleased that a reasonable agreement had been made between those two, for a change.

Helaine nodded in agreement. "And I for one am looking forward to returning home. I'll never get used to your home world."

"Good idea," Pixel agreed. Together, the Triad reborn created the Portals necessary to return.

Once back to the purple skies and electric green grass of Dondar, Helaine announced that she was going for a quick shower before fetching them all dinner.

[Helaine usually made herself in charge of dinner and would do some hunting for fresh meat. Pixel handled breakfast, (as always, Score slept in), and Score handled lunch. It was a nice arrangement given their schedules and abilities.]

Score watched her as she walked up the stairs. Was she limping? No, it must have been his imagination. Or at least, he hoped so. Score let out a big sigh and sat down hard on the lounge chair in the living room of their castle. Score had made sure to make multiple trips to Earth in order to furnish the castle to his tastes.

Score's watchful glance did not escape Pixel's notice. Pixel had to admit Helaine looked exhausted, although she was hardly one to admit it. The nagging feeling in the back of his mind was especially strong, as he was on the verge of solving the puzzle.

"Score, what really happened on Earth?"

"What do you mean?"

Pixel gave Score a critical look. "I'm not blind. Obviously something happened between you and Helaine there."

Score fidgeted in his seat. "What are you talking about? Nothing happened... other than me having the biggestscareofmylife. Stubborn princess...." Score trailed off mumbling.

"What scare?"

Smooth move, dummy! Score berated himself. There was no avoiding Pixel's pointed question. He let out a deep breathe. "I'll tell you Pix, Helaine's last crash was really scary. She was heading out of control down this hill, and when she crashed and-- and -- it was bad. Of course she's too stubborn to admit if she got hurt or anything, you know Helaine. I think she's okay, though."

All Score could see in his mind was a mental playback of Helaine crashing hard into a tree, being flown several feet and landing even harder on the ground, face first.

Understanding was beginning to dawn. "You thought you almost lost her, didn't you?"

"Yeah! I mean -- ", Score began to fidget again. He did not like how this conversation was heading. How was it that he could never manage lying to Pixel? Probably his damn innate ability to solve things. He seemed to unconsciously compel people to be truthful when around him. "She's our friend. Of course I wouldn't want her to get killed or anything."

Pixel sat down next to Score. "But you really care about her, and not just as 'friends'. Am I right?"

"What?! That whining, royal, pain-in-the-ass?"

Pixel laughed inwardly. It would be up to him to help his two equally blind friends. "I guess you're right. I mean, who in the Diadem could ever care about Helaine? Let alone fall in love with her?"

Score took the bait. "What do you mean?! There's nothing wrong with Helaine! Yeah, so she can be pushy, and arrogant and stubborn. But she's brave, and loyal, and attractive and..."

Pixel grinned devilishly. "I thought so."

"Hmm?" Score was not following this conversation.

"Let me spell it out for you, Score. You. Love. Helaine."

Score jumped out of his seat, completely shocked. "I do NOT!"

"Please. Let's not forget how I can find the truth and figure out even the most obscure facts... But it hardly requires my ability to see you love her."

Score was silent, unsure of how to deny the feelings that had started to develop within him. He hated how Pixel was always right.

In a whisper, Pixel continued. "You know, she feels the same way about you."

Score unintentionally let his guard down. "Really?" Hope was smeared across his face.

Pixel nodded in confirmation. "I started to suspect it for some time now. Haven't you picked up on it?"

Score stood there, trying to think coherently. Helaine felt that way about him? When he stopped to think about it, he recalled all the instances when they were alone together. His mind wandered to the adventures he and she had shared on Zarathan.

"Well?" Pixel prodded.

Score shrugged. He wasn't about to admit to Pixel how correct he might be. "What do I care? I think I'll go take a shower myself. I've heard enough crazy talk for one day."

Helaine was glad to be back home. She was exhausted and ached all over from her multiple spills. Cleaning out her cuts and scrapes wasn't fun either, but at least she had the privacy to do so herself -- and not have to hide the inevitable flinches the pain caused.

She looked at the full length mirror in front of her critically. At this point in her life, she had entirely given up her male disguise as "Renald". Out of adolescence, her face had became even more feminine, and her developed chest could no longer be hidden effectively by the weight of her armor. Only magic could make anyone think she was anything but female. At first, she had become angry with herself for her appearance. Eventually, she grew to accept it. She was female, after all. On some worlds, it made absolutely no difference--although it did on Score's world.

Why do I keep thinking about him?

A tiny voice in the back of her mind answered: because you care about him.

She knew she cared about him, and Pixel. But it was starting to feel different with Score. She was starting to become attracted to him. When she fell and he had looked her over with such concern... feelings she had refused to come to the surface began rushing out. So much so, that it had taken her mind off the pain of her fall and the embarrassment of her situation.

Helaine sighed. What was she thinking? Score could never grow to like her that way... could he?

She stared at herself critically in the mirror. She wasn't ugly, but she wasn't beautiful like Shanara, either. Helaine frowned at the recollection of how Score, and sometimes even Pixel, would stare at Shanara's voluptuous body. It was disgusting, but something she was used to from her own home world. Some things were universal in the Diadem, and male mentality was one of them.

The pain in her lower right side--which had begun after she landed badly in the crash-- was increasing. It was starting to worry her. The pain had started near her navel but had moved down and to the right. The pain increased with each movement or deep breathe. Aches, bruises and scrapes she expected, but what was this intense, sharp pain? She was starting to suspect she had hurt herself more than she originally thought. Her pride refused to let her mention it to anyone -- especially Score. He'd never let her live it down. Though, at the same time, he genuinely seemed concerned about her. His behavior of late had been odd, but at the same time endearing.

Her mind flashed back to one of the adventures she and Score had shared on Zarathan.

"You idiot! Be alive!" Score had shouted after a nearly fatal cave-in, while dealing with a wyrm.

"I am," she managed to say, between coughs. "Just."

"You crazy fool," he snapped angrily. "Whatever made you do a dumb trick like that? You could have killed yourself," Score said, his expression halfway between relief and anger. "... don't scare me like that again."

"Why, you'd almost think you cared about me," she had said. Now she was wondering the same thing. Her thoughts wandered to the spell she had used for "Guidance from the Soul". She never expected it to show her that ! Could it possibly be coming true? What she saw...

The increasing pain in her side brought her back into reality. Maybe there's a spell to take care of that, she thought. Back in her room, Helaine opened her Book of Spells, searching for anything resembling a healing spell. According to Shanara, healing magic was a rare art and the spells involved were complicated.

She was right, thought Helaine, glumly to herself. She had searched the entire tome without finding much help. The Book mainly described how vital it was to find a person gifted in the healing arts. The few healing spells listed performed such menial tricks as dispelling warts. The closest she came to a true healing spell was "Revealing the Source of Illness". It wouldn't perform any actual healing, but it would reveal the exact source of illness or injury. Yet the spell required that the caster be someone other than the target, which meant she would be forced to ask for help from Pixel or Score. That was not an option she wanted to consider.

She lay down, hoping a nap would rejuvenate her energies and ease away the suffering at her side. As the pain steadily increased, she reconsidered her decision to tell her friends.

Oh, well. If It still hurts after my nap, I might mention it to them. Maybe. After dinner... were her last thoughts as she drifted off to sleep.

--- Funny, thought Pixel. Helaine usually isn't late for dinner.

Pixel looked at the meager offering of food on the table. There was only salad, which he himself had brought. Helaine never let her normal routine of training and visiting unicorns interfere with her other duties.

Although it was possible to conjure food by magic, it never tasted as good or was as satisfying as the real deal. That was why Helaine always took on dinner duty; she would hunt and provide freshly cooked meat to supplement their diet. It also gave her a chance to exercise her skills.

Score joined Pixel at the table and looked around.

"Where's Healine? Didn't she come back yet?"

Pixel gave a gesture that clearly communicated 'Haven't a clue.'

"Let me check," he said. Pixel pulled out his ruby. He didn't normally try and keep tabs on his friends, but in times like these his magic came in handy. The clear image of Helaine's room popped up in his head. That's odd. He thought.

"She's up in her room." Pixel looked slyly at Score. "Would you go check on her?" Pixel knew fully well how to manipulate his friend.

Score was glad for the excuse to go see Helaine by himself. He tried his best to hide his feelings, though. With a shrug he replied, "Sure...sooner she gets here, sooner we can eat, right?"

Pixel smiled to himself. It was up to him to help his friends see what they refused to acknowledge.

He recalled the first (and last) time he had made the mistake of intruding on Helaine's privacy. In the excitement of showing off a new spell, he had barged into Helaine's room--to find her barely half-dressed! An angry and shocked Helaine quickly cast a spell of invisibility over herself, (to maintain her modesty), then proceeded to yank his arm, wrench it behind his back, and literally throw him out of the room. He had sported bruises for a week.

Score smiled to himself ... it had been worth it. Before then, he had never known she held such an attractive figure under her garments. For the most part, he had pushed that image of Helaine out of his mind. He had refused to deal with the thought that Helaine was anything other than a tomgirl friend of his. Thinking of her as a n attractive young woman was too complicated an idea to deal with-- until recently.

Careful to avoid another incident, Score knocked before entering. There was no answer. Cautiously, Score pushed the door the rest of the way open and peeked inside. "Helaine?"

Helaine was in her bed, curled into a fetal position. Her hands were clenching her lower waist and her face was contorted in pain.

Without a second thought, Score rushed over to Helaine's bedside.

Sweat was dripping off her forehead from fever. Score spotted The Book of Spells, laid uncharacteristically across the floor, open to a chapter discussing healing. I should have known she was hurt worse than she was letting on. Dammit!

Upon the gentle touch of his cool hand on her forehead, Helaine awoke.

"What are you doing here?", Helaine asked, her voice weak and drowsy with sleep.

"You were late for dinner. Why didn't you tell us you were hurt this bad?" His voice was laced with concern and guilt.

Helaine sat up, and couldn't help but wince in pain. The effort made her dizzy.

"I was planning to... after dinner."

Helaine tried to stand up, clutching the bedside for support.

"Gods, what's the matter with me?" She said to herself, unintentionally speaking aloud.

"Lie down!" Score commanded, upset.

Helaine flashed Score a look of anger-filled defiance that normally would have cut through him, but not this time. His anger at seeing her in pain was stronger than hers.

Helaine couldn't stand being given an order, especially one by Score. Her immediate thought was to rebel and jump up, proving to him that she was all right. Unable to even manage standing effectively, she settled for a scowl and complied.

"I don't know what's wrong with me," she told him. Her anger slowly starting to dissipate, "but I was looking for a way to fix it. I found a spell that can identify any medical problem, but it requires someone else to cast the spell on the desired body."

Score nodded in understanding as he read the spell in The Book. To cast the spell, the caster had to enchant his hand and touch the other person on the different areas of the body until the location of the problem was revealed.

Score blushed. He had to touch Helaine...in areas she would never normally allow any physical contract.

"Uhhh, Helaine? Did you read the specifics of this spell?"

"Yes. I know what you have to do. I...trust you."

Score couldn't help but feel shocked and delighted. Helaine trusted HIM? Miss supermodest Helaine trusted HIM to touch her? Now he knew she must not be feeling well. That fever must be impairing her judgment.

Helaine tried her best to smile her threatening smile. "Just don't abuse the privilege, or else!" she threatened.

Score smiled. He could never help smiling whenever Helaine put on her tough girl act.

He casted the spell and his hands began to glow a soft bale blue. Freaky, Score thought to himself. Despite the fact that he was one of the strongest magic users in the Diadem, magic continued to weird Score out on occasion.

Score began by touching Helaine's forehead. Suddenly he knew her fever to be 100 degrees. He couldn't explain how he knew, he just did. Was this how the spell worked? He took a deep breath and moved his hands down to her shoulders, then carefully he trailed his hands across to the center of her chest, consciously keeping away from her feminine attributes. Still nothing. Frustrated and nervous, Score continued down to Helaine's ribs. He felt a pulse in his hands. And stopped. More slowly he placed his hands over Helaine's ribs. They were bruised. In fact, most of her was bruised. For an instant he could see her bruises, even though she was fully clothed. Again he had no clue how the spell was working, but he would doubt his own name before doubting the images and information sent to him.

Score felt like hitting himself. Her crash on the bicycle on Earth. The accident he unintentionally caused her to have. Guilt swam over Score.

"You're pretty bruised up," he managed to say.

Helaine shook her head. "That's not the problem."

Score nodded and continued further down. His face blushed a deeper red at the thought of how close his hands were to-- well you know.

It wasn't until Score reached the lower right side of her abdomen that the pulse in his hands again appeared. Placing both hands carefully on that side, he gently pressed. Helaine winced and bit her lip to keep from crying out. Score knew what was wrong, just as before.

He paled. "Helaine, this is serious! You have appendicitis." Again Score cursed himself. That hard a crash...it easily could have injured something internally. Why hadn't he insisted on examining her afterward? Of course she would deny any discomfort. It was her way. He wasn't sure who he was more mad at: Helaine for not saying anything, or himself for not insisting on doing a thourough check beforehand.

Helaine's eyes widened, worried and puzzled. "What is appendi-di-- what is it?"

Score forgot about how Helaine, coming from a technologically primitive and medically ignorant world, would know knowing about appendicitis.

There was an unfamilar look in Helaine's eyes. It was genuine fear. Only once before had she shown that side of herself to him, and that was on Zarathan.

Score tried to ease her fears. "Well, it's really serious if you don't catch it in time, but it's easy to fix. On my world, people have their appendicitis removed all the time."

Instead of easing Helaine's worry, it only seemed to increase. "It's removed? Like a liver or a spleen?!"

"Uh, kinda. But you don't need an appendix to live or anything. I don't know much about medicine, but all we have to do is remove it."

Helaine thought back to the primitive medical techniques of Ordin. How many times had she seen soldiers internally injured, never to awake again from the care of a physician's hands? Helaine paled at the thought of having someone remove one of her organs. It was a far cry from the honorable death she wanted.

"How..how is this possible?"

Score, starting to understand her fear, answered. "Using magic, I can just shrink the appendix until it no longer exists. No surgery required."

Helaine still looked skeptical.

"You said you trusted me. Were you lying?" he accused.

"I am no liar, Score! I meant what I said." She looked at him hard, then turned her eyes away. "I thought you knew me well enough not to think of me as such." Helaine had always taken honesty seriously, as it was a matter of honor on her homeworld. She was not one to go against her word.

Score was upset. He didn't mean for Helaine to take it that way. Her and her touchy honor! He was hoping to get her mad, as usual, and have her demand that he go ahead as proof that she trusted him. He never meant to hurt her feelings!

"I-I didn't mean it that way."

"Then --" Helaine was cut off by a spasm of pain. She closed her eyes and took a deep breathe. She refused to show any weakness.

Score looked on, worried. "I'd never do anything to hurt you, Helaine. I only want to help." If she didn't give him permission, he was going to go ahead and do it anyway. He couldn't stand to see her in pain.

Helaine was surprised at the tenderness and honesty in his voice. The look in his eyes, it was the same as before. Intense compassion and concern. She couldn't say 'no' to those eyes.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

Score was concentrating on the image the spell had implanted in his mind. Her inflammed appendix, a finger-like glandular piece of tissue, was clearly visible to him. It reminded him of the few times he had flipped channels back home on Earth and had caught glimpses of live surgery or diagrams of the human body at school.

"Yes."

Helaine clenched her fists, not sure what to expect next. In a soft voice she answered, "I trust you. Go ahead."

Score bent down and placed his hands on her right side again. She flinched, but didn't cry out.

"It'll all be over soon," he whispered, as much to himself as to Helaine. He focused through his amethyst, and with the clear image of the infected organ, concentrated on shrinking it to nothing. He could clearly see what was happening inside of her, while at the same time he was able to see the curves on her face and the small winces of pain that marred her features.

In less than an hour, the job was done. Both Score and Helaine were covered in sweat from the ordeal.

Helaine opened her eyes, (which she had held shut for the entire procedure), and sat up. The pain was gone, as was her fever. She felt a bit woozy, but that was all.

Score eyed her critically. "How do you feel?"

Helaine felt both surprised and relieved. "Surprisingly well. Thank you."

Score, pleased with himself and relieved for Helaine, tried not to let those emotions show. With his characteristic, nonchalant shrug he replied, "Anytime. You've saved my butt before, now I saved yours. I was just returning the favor."

Helaine tried to get up and Score offered her a hand up. Still shakey, Helaine's knees buckled and Score barley managed to catch her before she hit the floor. The couple found themselves caught in an almost preferable position. He stared at her face, and she stared at his.

Pixel came up the stairs, still very hungry and just as curious as to find out what had happened to his two companions to cause the dinner delay. Upon peaking into Helaine's room, Pixel found himself not so surprised to see his two best friends in a passionate kiss.

Chuckling to himself, Pixel knocked on the door....

THE END

...for now.

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