Her mother and father were dead.

?The Wheel weave as the Wheel wills,? she whispered, her voice hollow in her own ears. She hadn't seen either of them, or anyone from her village for that matter, in ten years. The innkeeper had asked in the letter what she wanted to keep. He had asked if or when she was coming home. Home. She was already home. The White Tower was her home. Wherever her adopted family was was home to her. There was nothing left in that village for her to return to. Maybe one day she would visit, but she doubted it.

Tomorrow a couple of packages were scheduled to arrive for her if the letter was to be believed. One would contain a few items. The few pieces of jewelry her parents had owned. A quilt that her grandmother had made. A knife that had belonged to her brother. The second package would be more than that. It would be a clipping from the rosebush Rhodas had helped her to plant when she was five. A clipping that she would plant and hope to see it take root.

It was amazing how cold everything could seem when she felt so numb. Or was the cold completely internal?

Reaching her room, she entered and shut the door silently behind her. Looking around, she had never realized how bare it seemed. A simple table for a desk. A wardrobe with a few white dresses with banded hems. Her sewing stuff was kept in the bottom of it. The simple hard bed was barely big enough for two people, as she had found out when Lydia had stayed with her during those nights when the dreams were affecting the other Accepted so badly. A couple of books lay on the table with the stool under it. Next to the books were her notebook, a pen, and a bottle of ink. The box of sand was in the top corner of the desk next to a small vase holding a rose that Parlatheon had given her.

The sight of the rose did not cheer her as it always had.

Alex pulled out the stool and sat down out of pure habit. She opened the notebook before she fully realized what she was doing. She had been translating part of this book that had been written in the Old Tongue. It told of a story about a family. Everyone had died. The last one had died of a broken heart when she had lost everyone dear to her.

The young Accepted finally allowed the long held tears to flow. She would not allow herself to go out like that. She couldn't even though she had now lost everyone of her blood relatives. She still had those in her adopted family.

She had the White Tower.

She had those in the Ajah she would choose once she passed the test.

The Ajah she had already chosen, or that had chosen her, was the Blue. There was no doubt in her mind that that is where she belonged. The Sisters would be her sisters. She would have another family. She may have lost one family, but she had, or will have, gained two more.

Which family would take precedence?

Now that was a question that was impossible to answer. Or was it? The Ajah would demand her all. The Tower would demand her everything. Wherever it said go, she would have to go. Whatever it needed done, she would have to do it. Of course, they didn't expect mindless servants, but certain things would always be expected of the Sisters. They were expected to hold the White Tower above other interests.

Her other family was dearer to her than life. Jonathan Azbell was her brother. Another Saldaean, he understood her in ways that others probably would never be able to. Jericho Sedai was his Aes Sedai, he her Warder, and had been like a sister to her since soon after the girl had come to the Tower at the age of 16. Of course, she could not forget Parlatheon Norvara. If there was such a thing as love at first sight (or first song in this case) then she had found it. Jonathan had told the poor boy those 10 years ago that if the gleeman was to be with Alex, he would have to learn how to protect her. It had taken almost five more years for him to decide the best way to protect her was to train to be her Warder.

What would happen if the Tower demanded for her to leave her family behind? How would she handle that? She couldn't be without everyone. She couldn't be completely alone.

A knock sounded from her door and she called for the person to enter in between sobs. It was Sahlil. The Novice had been like a sister to her. Not a sister by blood or in the way that Jonathan was her brother, but more than any Aes Sedai could ever be. Sahlil was her best friend. Lily, as Alex affectionately called her, quickly took in Alex's mood and shut the door before running over to throw her arms around her friend.

The two talked for sometime about anything and everything it seemed. Alex finally calmed down thanks to the comforting of her ?sister.? Sahlil couldn't offer very much advice, but her words enabled Alex to be able to think clearly once again. No matter where she went, she wasn't going to lose her family. When the time came, not all of her decisions would be easy to make, but they wouldn't be completely hopeless. She would always have both of her families. She could do whatever the White Tower required of her. If whatever that is involved her leaving her adopted family behind, she would at least have a family to come home to. Alex finally felt that she was truly ready to take the next step in her training, whatever that step might be.

The next day the package did arrive as scheduled. She put everything away in her wardrobe except for the blanket, which went on her bed, and the rosebush. That was being saved for something special.

Alex walked to the training yards after everything was put away, the rosebush in her hands. Jonathan was sitting under a tree as he watched some of the younger trainees practice using swords. When he looked up to see her standing there, she requested his presence. Together, they gathered a large pot and some good soil. Her adopted brother helped her to plant this bush just as the brother she had been born with had done so many years ago. After it had taken root and the proper place was found, they would plant the rose in the ground... together.