A/N: And we're back! See, I told you I'd be back. Here's chapter one. More soon.

Reviews are love! Enjoy!

"Happy birthday, dear Evie, happy birthday to you!" the assembled guests sang.

"Blow out the candles!" Robbie cheered.

"You can do it, Evie," Annie West encouraged.

"We'll do it together," Jade said, and she leaned forward. "Ready, Evie? One, two…"

"Three!" everyone else chorused.

Jade looked over at her sister, half-hoping that this was the moment, spurred by birthday magic and far too much sugar, that this moment would be the one where Evie's eyes regained their familiar spark, where her sister sat upright in her wheelchair and leaned forward to blow out her own birthday candles.

But Evie's eyes jerked towards Jade and the small smile on her face stayed resolutely in place.

"Three," Jade agreed, and blew out the candles.

Everyone clapped and cheered, and Annie set to cutting pieces of cake for the party-goers.

It was a lovely, festive Los Angeles fall evening. Though the end of October usually meant crisp leaves and morning frosts, in LA it was just another warm, beautiful season. Evie's birthday was being celebrated on the Wests' now-accessible back deck. In attendance were two of Evie's biggest supporters, Sikowitz and Ms. Santiago, teachers from Hollywood Arts, as well as Jade's unusual cabal of friends – Andre, Tori, Cat, Beck, and Robbie, who had come with his puppet best friend, Rex. Annie and Kent West rounded out the birthday extravaganza.

And Evie, of course. A series of seizures following a double lung transplant had caused a grievous brain injury. The young aspiring artist no longer had cystic fibrosis, but in a not-fair-at-all tradeoff, she was now completely dependent. A ventilator breathed for her, because her brain no longer sent the correct signals to her body for breathing, and she spent the majority of her time in her wheelchair, because she no longer had the muscle coordination for unassisted sitting, standing, or walking. A series of splints and braces kept her arms and legs from contracting, and a back brace held her upright in the specialized wheelchair. And Evie would be the only one at the party not tasting the delicious cake; all of her nutrients came in through a feeding tube.

It had been a long, hellacious road, and it was one Jade was still heart-broken to walk. Her bright, bubbly, beautiful sister had been transformed into a shell of a girl.

And worst of all, Evie's spot at Hollywood Arts had been taken by a new girl.

It wasn't that Jade begrudged the administration of Hollywood Arts for admitting a new student. That was probably in their best interests. Evie could no longer attend Hollywood Arts, and her spot was open for another talented young person. But it seemed awfully permanent to Jade. Though she knew that the brain injury was supposed to be static, unchanging, she could see cracks in Evie's façade. It was in Evie's willpower to get better; it always had been. And when Jade thought of Evie improving, coming back to who she had been previously, the presence of the new girl at Hollywood Arts grated at her like a piece of rough sandpaper.

"Cake, dear," Annie said, and passed Jade a plate.

"Thanks, Mom." Jade took her cake and went to sit next to Evie. "How about some frosting for the birthday girl?"

Evie turned her head towards Jade and she gave her small smile. Jade had been told by countless medical experts that this movement was not indicative of pleasure; it was merely a reflex.

Jade didn't see it that way. "Okay, here's some frosting."

She used her plastic fork to smear frosting onto Evie's lips and tongue, and watched as her sister delighted in the unusual textures. Slowly, carefully, Evie licked the frosting off her lips, grunting with what seemed like pleasure as she managed to get some of it into her mouth. When her lips were clean she looked up at Jade and breathed, "Huh."

"It's good, right?"

"All right, it's time for presents!" Sikowitz exclaimed, clapping his hands.

The group happily gathered around Evie's wheelchair, shiny-wrapped presents at the ready.

"Mine first, mine first!" Cat squealed, and set a square package on Evie's lap.

Evie turned her head towards the dark yard and smiled.

"Shall I help you, my dear?" Kent West suggested. He brought up Evie's hand and helped her get a grip on the paper. Together they tore off the wrapping paper, exposing a flat square box. Kent pulled off the top to expose a rainbow of brightly-colored bracelets.

"Ooh, Evie, those are lovely! Look at them!" Annie prompted, smiling. "Say thank you to Cat."

"Hah," Evie said, and smiled in Cat's general direction.

"I made them!" Cat exclaimed.

"Oh, dear, did you? They're just wonderful!" Annie said. She slipped a few onto Evie's wrists. Evie raised her arms from her wheelchair rests and the bracelets clacked together pleasingly.

"See, I made them so they would make noise when she moves," Cat said. "One of them has jingle bells on it."

"Beautiful and a therapy item!" Annie praised. "Wonderful."

"This one's from me and Tori," Andre said, and passed forward a bright pink envelope.

Kent waved the envelope in front of Evie's eyes. "See? From Andre."

He opened it and pulled out a CD in a plastic case. "It says, 'Evie's Song.'"

"Oh, Andre, did you write it?" Annie asked.

"And sang it," Andre said. "Tori helped me with the vocals."

"Well, thank you! Something new to listen to during treatments!"

"From me and Rex," Robbie said, giving Evie a box wrapped in green paper.

Kent helped Evie pull off the paper and open the box; it was filled with shoelaces.

"Since you're always wearing tennis shoes now," Robbie said.

"We thought your feet could use some bling," Rex added.

"We'll have to put some new laces in those shoes," Kent said. "Thank you, fellas!"

Beck lugged his gift up on the table. It was bulky and square and seemed heavy. "I hope you'll like it," he said, almost a bit shyly. "I had a guy at the mall help me pick it out."

"Is it a year subscription to Orange Julius?" Rex asked.

"Do they do that?" Tori wanted to know.

"Well, let's see what it is," Annie said, and she set the package on Evie's lap. She helped Evie pull off the paper.

It was, according to the box, a star lantern.

"You just set it up in the middle of your room and turn it on, and the light inside shows constellations on the ceiling," Beck explained.

"Oh, Beck," Annie said, and she put one hand to her mouth, overcome by emotion.

"It's wonderful," Kent said. "I took astronomy in college – wonder if I could still find all those constellations still."

"Was that after the mother ship left you on our planet?" Jade asked.

Everyone laughed, and Jade saw the tears in her mother's eyes recede.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Sikowitz protested. "We've still got one more!"

He and Ms. Santiago presented Annie and Kent with a bright red envelope that had been liberally decorated with stickers and ribbons. "It's for you, right now," Sikowitz said, "but what's inside will hopefully give Evie something to talk about."

Annie looked at Sikowitz as though he'd been hit in the head. Kent undid the flap of the envelope and pulled out a small certificate. "'This certificate entitles the bearer and her parents to 10 (ten) free sessions with Assistive Communication Technology specialists at Your Voice, Inc. With love from Sikowitz and Santiago.'"

"They're pros," Ms. Santiago said. "They have so many options available now. Computers that work on eye gaze, or handheld switches – our Evie's still in there. We know it. We want her to be able to let her voice be heard."

This time tears flooded Annie's eyes, and she didn't try to hide them. "Bless you," she said.

After some time, the party broke up. Annie and Kent went into the house to deal with the dishes, leaving Evie and Jade on the deck. Jade tilted her sister's wheelchair back. "My present is going to beat everyone else's," she informed Evie. "What's that, you say? It couldn't possibly be better than everything else? Well, ye of little faith. We timed your party to coincide with something bigger and brighter than anything on earth."

She leaned back in her own chair. "And it should be starting right… now."

As though taking their cues from Jade, handfuls of shooting stars began spilling across the sky.

"Oooh," Evie breathed.

"See? And all I had to do was wait for everybody to leave," Jade said, and laughed.

"Eeeeh, oooh," Evie intoned.

"Well, okay, I got you something else, too. We're going swimming at this awesome place," Jade said. "I talked to the lady myself – she's been doing water therapy for all kinds of people. And she says that if her techniques can't get you to relax, she'll eat her hat. Now, I didn't see what kind of hat it was, but I'm willing to offer up that wizard's hat Cat owns."

"Hah!" Evie spat, and then she breathed in and out quickly over the vent.

"See? I know you're in there," Jade said.

For a few more minutes the sisters watched the shooting stars light show, Evie vocalizing every few seconds with apparent glee.

"All I want this year, for you, Evie, is movement. Positive movement. I want eye contact. Or a real smile. Or even a computer message telling me to go away. That's all I want," Jade said. "'Cause I know you're in there. You've been in there. We're going to break down the walls keeping you in your body. I promise."

She rested her head on Evie's shoulder, listening to the air whoosh in and out of the girl's ventilator circuit. Evie turned her head toward her sister and made several smacking noises with her lips.

"Happy birthday, Evie," Jade whispered.