Serenity was in her kitchen, cooking herself lunch, humming quietly to herself. It was about noon and two weeks after the day that Hunter and Serenity had spent together. Felix and Aiko left that night, and Hunter had left the morning after. She hadn't talked to him since then, and she knew that he'd probably stop by soon, considering that he wouldn't have students to teach soon enough. Serenity heard a knock on the door. "Coming," she said happily. She turned the fire off on the stove and washed her hands quickly. She went to the door and opened it, only to see someone she'd never met before then.

An adult ninja stood at Serenity's door. His head was bowed. "Are you Ms. Serenity?" He asked. He let her answer before continuing. "My name is Lance Miziyuri. I am a ninja of the Sand Village and I need to speak to you on behalf of Hunter Alexander, a Chuunin of the Sand Village. May I come in?"

Serenity looked at the ninja. He looked very solemn and she wondered why. She blinked when he said he was from the sand village. Did this have to do with Hunter? Her question was answered only a second later. She nodded when he asked if he could come in. "Yes, of course," she said. When he walked in, she closed the door behind him and turned to look at him. "Has something happened?" she asked, looking at him with a small frown. She was automatically worried when he said that he was here on behalf of Hunter.

The ninja came in and nodded. "Yes. I'm sorry to say, but about a week ago Hunter was sent on a mission to recover a secret scroll of a enemy village. His squad had been out of contact for some time and so we sent out a second squad. Two days ago we receieved word that then first group had been, terminated." He said. There was no other way he could put it. "And I am afraid to inform you that there was no survivors. Hunter, is dead."

(he could've at least told her to sit down first.......)

Serenity listened to the ninja silently, her eyes widening as he explained. "No...." she said after he finished. "He...he's dead........? He...can't...." Serenity's eyes filled with tears and she walked over to the couch and sat heavily on it, her eyes wide and her gaze down. She swallowed. "Thank you for coming to inform me," she said without looking at the ninja. She hadn't been this upset over a death in many, many years. She swallowed. She had no clue how she was going to handle this. It took her a few moments to say anything again. "P...please leave now," she said without looking at him. The tears in her eyes were dangerously close to spilling over.

(He forgot)

The guy watched as she sat down. When she told him to leave he nodded. "Yes ma'am." He started out the door but stopped. "Before I go, he left a letter for you Ms. Serenity." He laid the letter on the table and then said, "A week from now, the funeral will be held outside of the gates of the Sand, if you wish to come." He then walked away, closing the door behind him.

(oh nice....I'm guessing this guy hasn't delivered many death messages then.)

Serenity looked at him as he said that he had a letter for her. She nodded as he said that the funeral would be in a week. "Thank you," she said, as calmly as she could manage. After he left, she completely broke down into tears. This was her fault. Everyone around her got hurt in some way, everyone she even got remotely close to. This had to be a side effect of that damned curse, because she'd been the one who picked up the crystal, so she became immortal and everyone around her had died shortly thereafter. For a few hours, Serenity didn't move from that couch. When she finally calmed down enough to move, she didn't think twice before going over to one of the higher up cabinets in her kitchen and grabbing herself a drink. By the time it was about 5 o'clock, she'd had 2 shots of straight rum and was sitting on the couch with a glass of vodka and soda in her hand which was already half empty. Her face was flushed, but it no longer looked like she'd been crying. Her gaze was blank and on the floor until she heard a knock at the door. "Who....whatever...come in," she said almost blankly. She didn't care who it was, but whoever it was better have had a goo excuse for bothering her. She'd put a sign on her door that said Not taking anyone this week. My deepest apologies. Signed, Serenity.

(he's done many, but he's had a long day. )

Felix hadn't heard, he was too far away to even know. He'd left the Rain Valley alone after his aquantaince had died. It was not something that just blew over with him. Walking into the Crested he headed for Serenity's house stopping at the door. He knocked twice and the came in when she gave him permission. Looking at her he paused for a moment. She's...drunk... "Serenity, are you okay? You look a bit...tipsy," he told her. Walking deeper into the room and stopped when he saw a letter on the stand next to the door. He read the name: Hunter.

(LMFAO. She's....drunk.... I started lmaoing when i read tht)

At the moment she didn't really care about how she'd appear to whomever it was walking in. But when she saw it was Felix, her face lit up and she put the glass down, then ran to Felix in a hug. "I'm so glad you're finally back," she said with a smile. She'd already began trying to forget what'd happened. That's what she'd done before Felix had come. Whenever someone had died, she put it to the back of her mind and forgot about it a mere hours later. But this case was a little different. She was still trying to act as though nothing was wrong, even when she knew there was. She let go of him and ignored his question. "How's Aiko holding up?" she asked. Even though she was all smiles right now, Serenity was close to breaking down into tears again because of Felix's simple question. Her face was still flushed, and she was trying to act like she wasn't drunk, but it was more than apparent.

Felix looked at Serenity as she got up and ran to him and enclosed him in a hug. He gave a small sigh and like usual refused to hug her back. The smell of acohol was heavy and made him want to turn away, but he knew something had happened. "Aiko's fine, but I asked you a question and I expect an answer. What's wrong with you." He lightly grabbed her by the arms and made her look at him.

(I was listening to Down and Out again, and all I could think of was Felix, lmfao)

Serenity only looked at him for a few moments when he grabbed her arms and asked what was wrong with her. She quickly blinked away forming tears and turned her head to the side with a light swallow, taking a few seconds to calm herself enough so that her voice didn't crack when she told him. "Hunter died on a mission," she told him, her voice cracking slightly on the word 'died', despite her efforts to keep it calm. She didn't want to start crying again. Felix had seen her cry way too many times as it was, and she knew he was getting sick of it by now. She pulled away from him and took her glass off the table, downing the rest of it as she walked into the kitchen to refill the glass. She didn't care if she seemed like a shameless drunk right now, it was how she coped. She was actually hoping that at this point she'd pass out from drinking so much, but that hadn't happened yet. The best it'd done for her so far was to numb the pain in her chest slightly, but even that didn't help much.

(By Tantric?)

Felix looked at her as she pulled away from him. When she told him that Hunter had died he didn't have much of a reaction. Well, I can't say that's depressing for me, but under these circumstances I have to say it's not the best news I've heard... "Serenity, you've got to stop this," he said as he followed her into the kitchen and watched her refill her glass. "Drowning your misery in alcohol won't get you far." Felix sighed. He just couldn't escape the sorrow.

(Yeps)

Serenity didn't turn towards him as he told her she had to stop. The glass sat on the counter and she laid her elbows on the counter and put her head in her hands. She didn't say anything for a few moments after he said that drowning her misery in alcohol wouldn't help. "It's been working for so far," she said simply. She remembered the fact that Felix wasn't around the last time something like this had happened. She wished he wouldn't have come home for another few days at least, so she would've had time to regain herself, and he wouldn't have had to see her like this. Why was it that Felix always came when she was at her worst? She hated him seeing her like this. Why did that guy have to come today? Why couldn't he have come the week before when Felix had still been away? Serenity stayed with her back turned towards Felix and her head in her hands. She couldn't look at him right now. She didn't want to start crying again.

Felix leaned against the side of the doorframe and shook his head as she told him it had been doing her just fine. "It's not doing you anything," he said in an almost irritated voice. He didn't care if she cried, he didn't care if she broke down and spilled her guts. He just wanted her to stop getting wasted and get a hold of herself.

Serenity didn't turn around. When Felix said that it wasn't doing her anything, she still stayed put. She didn't care. She picked up her glass and took another drink of it. "Listen, you have you way of dealing with things, and I have mine," she said, not turning around because she was trying so hard not to let Felix see that tears had started streaming down her face. "And this has been how I've gotten through things like this before, okay?" she said, trying not to sound as if she was crying.

Felix moved away from the wall and walker over to her. Without much hesitation he slapped the glass from her hand. "Enough!" He snapped. "Hunter being dead is not the end of the world," he said. "Crying yes, I can accept that, but you sitting here drinking your misery away I can not accept that because Hunter wouldn't accept it." He said. His voice was steady but icy cold.

Serenity couldn't help but look shocked when Felix came over and slapped the glass from her hand. She felt like some kind of little kid who'd just got scolded for pushing another kid down. She couldn't help but take a step back from Felix as he pretty much yelled at her. The dam that Serenity had build up to hold her feelings in suddenly burst when Felix had said that he wouldn't accept it because Hunter wouldn't have. The tears that she'd been holding in started flowing freely down her face and her breaths started coming in short takes as she started crying heavily. Why did Felix have had to come? He was the one and only person who could've made her cry like this.

Felix didn't even look sympathetic when she stepped back and then broke down into tears. This was something he could handle. Stepping back he shook his head. "Serenity." He gave a deep breath. "Try to remember the moments that count," he said. "Don't let them go to waste." Felix wasn't much for making people feel better, he didn't have it in him, but every now and then that mortal side of him would pop up and pass a few words on to those he cared for. Words that weren't riddles, that weren't hard to understand, and words that didn't tear a person down. These, were his words of kindness.

Serenity tried to regain herself as quickly as she could, but it wasn't easy with Felix standing in front of her, telling her things that were only making her hurt worse. She knew that he was trying to be kind in his own way, but Serenity wasn't in the right position to accept that kindness right now. "I'm....I'm sorry you...have to see me like this again," she said between shaky breaths after she'd calmed down enough to talk. She just couldn't stop the tears from continuing down. She was sure that Felix had grown sick of her overly emotional behavior by now, and felt like she had to apologize to him for making him sit through this again.

"Don't apologize for something that doesn't make since," he said nonchalantly. He then shook his head. "I'm going to let you alone," he told her. "I'm going to go take a shower and then I'll be back to check on you," he said. He then started off into the other room but stopped. He'd remembered that he'd broken her glass and spilled some type of wine or something all over her floor. Getting a broom and mop he cleaned it up and then left for the shower. Hopefully she'd have gotten some of her compuse back by the time he'd finished.

Serenity couldn't bring herself to look at Felix after he'd told her not to apologize. When he went to go take a shower, Serenity went back into the living room and sat on the couch, trying to calm herself down. After Felix was upstairs and she heard the shower on, she took a couple tissues and wiped the tears from her eyes and face, although her face remained flushed from the amount of alcohol she'd drunk. Serenity drew her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, laying her chin on her knees. She'd already started calming down, but she was sure that when Felix came back it wouldn't last long. In her mind, he was the only thing she really had left that would actually last. "I have to stop getting so angry with him," she said quietly to herself. "Or he might leave me too........" she said again, trying to stop more tears from welling up. It was then that a thought hit her. It seemed that everyone around her that she got close to died. And already Felix had been mortally wounded. What if that kept happening? I....I can't let that keep happening to him...should I tell him to leave me alone from now on....? But....I don't want to be alone again..... she thought silently, holding her legs tighter. She flinched slightly as the full pain in her chest started returning.

Felix came down about thirty minutes later. A tower draped over half his head and across his back. Looking at Serenity from the stairs he wondered if she'd recovered at least a bit. Sitting on the bottom step he looked at her through his blue eyes. "I won't lie to you, this isn't my type of thing," he said. "I'm not the comforting type, unfortunately, but with that being said, I want you to know that I won't be going anywhere until you're completely okay."

Serenity looked at Felix blankly for a moment as he sat down on the bottom step. Suddenly she felt very out of it. She knew that Felix wasn't the comforting type. She started to tell him that she wanted him to leave. But then she remembered that she'd made him promise her that he'd never leave her. And she knew that Felix was a man who kept his word. That being said, Serenity knew too that Felix wanted her around almost as much as she wanted him around, even if he wouldn't admit it. He didn't want to be alone either. After he said he wouldn't leave until she was completely okay, she looked down. Her legs were still drawn to her chest and her arms still around them. "Why......? It's not like I can do anything to myself," she said a little quietly. Of course she could do stuff to herself, but obviously nothing that could kill her.

"That's not the point Serenity," Felix said leaning back against the steps. "You and I both know that we can't die, but we can mess ourselves up. You of all people should know that, you're the medic." Felix was hinting at the fact that he could have went into a coma like state the day of that one mission. And he knew that something could happen to Serenity if she didn't stop drinking. "It's the pain that counts," he said. Famous words, but he wanted them to hit home so she'd get a hold of herself.

Serenity didn't say anything for a while after Felix said that they could mess themselves up. Her eyes were still on the ground. Too late for that, she thought, not referring to Felix, but to herself. Her personality was forever warped from what it once was, or so she thought. After Felix said that it was the pain that counts, Serenity buried her face in her knees. "Why'd he have to die so soon....?" she said almost quietly. She knew he was going to die, but why just after she met him? It was the damn curse, that's what it was......