He was there. Alex almost fell over from relief, from the sheer surge of wild emotions that went through her on seeing Justin. In two years, he'd grown an inch or two in height, filled out a little more. There was a scar on the left side of his face, above his eye, splitting his eyebrow in two, and his hair was different - longer, a little unruly, no longer with the peak in front.

But it was him. He frowned, looking at her and Max, then said, "They... they tell me you two are my biological siblings. I'm Justin." He held out his hand, and Alex swallowed hard, then took it, shook it.

"I'm Alex," she said, and she wanted to say so much more, but the people from the Wizard Council were watching. Even through the gloves, though, to touch Justin's hand still tingled... and did he feel it too? There was something in his eyes, when they touched, and it was everything Alex could do not to hug him, not to just grab him and hold on as tightly as she could and never let go.

She let go of his hand, and Max stepped in, giving Alex a look as he did, then smiling at Justin. "Nice to meet you, Justin. I'm Max."

Justin looked back and forth between them, frowning, but neither said more. The instructions from the Council that morning had been clear and direct: You will not tell Justin what you know. Be grateful that we allow you even this much, to know that your brother is still alive and healthy.

"I've dreamed of you," Justin said then, looking directly at Alex. Her knees went weak, and he saw, took her by the arm. "Are you okay?" he asked, and she couldn't help it - she was crying, seeing that concerned look he'd given her so many times. He still cared. He still cared.

"Yeah," she managed to choke out, nodding. "It's just - we knew we had another brother, but I never really expected to meet you."

"You knew?" Justin asked, frowning in confusion, and he opened his mouth to say something else, but it was drowned out as the man from the Council - they'd said his name, but Alex couldn't remember it - started.

He went through the rules. Alex didn't listen, simply staring at Justin the whole time. Max watched both of them, chewed his lip, then finally touched Alex's hand to get her attention, raised an eyebrow in question.

She nodded, and Max nodded back. Justin frowned at them, but there was no chance to ask anything - the Council's speaker waved his wand, and the three of them were teleported to their starting points, forming an equilateral triangle with the glowing ball of wizard power at the center.

"Begin!" the man cried, and Alex ran, ran for all she was worth - not toward the power, but toward Justin, angling to intercept him.

She yelled across the field, calling out, "Justin! Justin!" He slowed, looked at her. "You know me!" she called then. "You know what you want to do! I want you to do it too!"

He came to a stop, looking across the field at her - and then Alex's heart leapt in joy as he turned, ran straight toward her.

And then his arms were around her, and nothing had ever felt so good, so right, and she was crying again, and Justin was making shushing sounds, saying, "I've got you. I've got you. I'm not letting go. I don't know you, but... I know I love you."

"I love you too," she got out, just as Max ran up to them. He hugged them both, quickly, then took his wand, started to turn the tip in a fast circle.

"What are you -" Justin started, and Max grinned at him.

"We're breaking this thing," Max said. "Do what I do." He pulled the glove from his left hand, with his teeth. Alex already had hers off, knowing the plan, and Justin blinked in confusion, but did the same.

"Hands together," Max said, and Alex grabbed Justin's hand, lacing their fingers together, and then Max grabbed hers. Max grinned again, then whooped, "And here we GO!" as a whirlwind formed around the three of them, carried them together toward the power.

Alex glanced to the observation platform, saw that the gathered Council members were in a state of confusion, trapped in a sphere of blue light. From beside it, Crumbs gave her a jaunty wave.

She looked back to the ball of power, swallowed as she remembered the tricks it had played before, moving about the field, away from both of them, hoped it wouldn't do that again. Crumbs may be strong, but he can't hold the whole Council for more than a minute or so.

The ball of power moved. It moved toward them, rushing up to meet the three of them,

and it moved straight to their linked hands, as if it knew what they were trying to do, as if it wanted this as much as they did.

Alex cried out in delight as she felt the power flood into her - as it flooded into all three of them. The whirlwind that had borne them ceased, but it no longer mattered - they floated in the air, all glowing, and grinned at each other.

Max was the first to speak. "I love you guys," he said. "Now go!" He shot across the field like he'd been launched from a cannon, toward Crumbs and the Council.

Justin shook his head, then looked back to Alex. "What? Where are we going?"

Alex squeezed his hand, still in hers, said, "You'll see," and then they were standing on a cliff, on a row of rocky hills, a green field spread below them, a tropical forest beyond that.

"I... I've been here before. We've been here before," Justin said, and Alex grabbed his head, pulled him down to her, gave him a kiss that he eagerly returned. It could never have been long enough, but Alex knew there was no time, cut it off after only a second.

"The Stone of Dreams is in there," she said, already turning and starting into the cave. Justin followed, not releasing her hand.

"And magic won't work in the cave," Justin said, nodding. "They can follow us, but we'll have a head start."

"Right," Alex answered, nodding in return, still moving. "We'll get there first. And then - I used it, but you didn't. You can set this all right. We can be together."

Justin grinned and moved faster, pulling ahead of Alex, and she grinned as well, happy to be with him, to at least have this moment. Whether they succeeded or not, she knew it was true now: he would always love her. He would always find her.

Fini.

... and there you have it. I couldn't hit you guys with the previous chapter, and not give you this one at the same time. That would have been too cruel.