It seemed that the last few days had reflected her mood. Dark clouds. Dreary weather. Light winds. But surprisingly no rain. She walked up to Felix's door, her whole body shaking lightly, and it was obvious that she'd been crying. It had been only two years since Serenity had run into Felix at the park, two years since their children had become best friends. And despite the little incident, they'd remained best friends. But now Serenity had come to tell Felix and Sven bad news...very bad news. She knocked on the door a couple times, and waited for a response, her gaze down as she tried to hold herself together. It wasn't easy. No, that was an understatement. This was one of the hardest things Serenity had ever had to do.

Felix was laying down, clearly exhausted from the last few days he'd been on a mission. It seemed like he'd been going on missions back to back lately. Two years had passed since Sven and Shaira had become friends, but the encounter with Serenity had stirred something in him. Old feelings probably and he didn't like it at all so he'd stepped up his combat game. Wearing his self out so he wouldn't have to think about all that was happening around him. Eliade and him had stopped speaking for about a month, but now they were on okay terms. The knock on the door made him sit up on the bed. "Sven!" He called. The boy was now nine years old, going on ten in less than a month. "Sven!" he called again. He could hear the loud sound of the electric guitar. "It's a wonder anyone can get sleep around here." He got up and pulled a shirt from the dresser top and went down the hall and opened the door once he was dressed. "Serenity?" To see her without Shaira was a bit off, and it looked as if she'd been crying. "You okay? Where's Shaira?"

Sven was down the hall playing his guitar with the stereo turned all the way up. He had been playing all afternoon because his mom was gone and his father didn't mind him turning the stereo up to the max, which was fun. He'd even thought about inviting Shaira over, but his dad seemed a bit tired, so he thought of being kind and letting him rest. He was unaware of his dad calling his name, or that he was about to receive the worst news of his life.

Serenity couldn't bring herself to look up when Felix answered the door, only shaking her head lightly when he asked if she was okay. Her whole body was trembling with the effort of keeping it calm, and she swallowed lightly before she finally spoke. "There's...something I need to tell you and Sven," she said almost quietly, her voice almost cracking once. She didn't know if she'd be able to keep it together. She should've just had someone else come over and tell them. She knew she wouldn't be able to keep it together once she saw Sven's expression, but she wanted to be the one to tell him, not some complete stranger. That just wouldn't have been right, and more than that, it would've been cowardly of her. She'd completely skipped over Felix's question about where Shaira was, for reasons that Felix would soon find out.

Felix didn't know what was going on, but he was instinctively preparing himself for the worst. "I'll go get Sven." He opened the door completely. "Come in," he said. He walked to the back and went to Sven's room. "Sven," he said loud enough for the boy to turn to him and turn off the guitar. "Serenity wants to speak with you," he said before walking out of the room and going into the living room where he stood in utter silence.

Sven turned down the guitar as Felix came in. He smiled as he said Serenity was here to see him. It didn't occur to him that Shaira wasn't mentioned. He turned the guitar off and ran down the hallway to the living room. "SHAIRA!" He called with an excited look on his face which was wiped clean off as he saw it was just Serenity. "Is Shaira sick?" He asked noticing Serenity had been crying.

(Awww..... *preparing to start crying....*)

"Thanks," was Serenity's quiet response as Felix said that he'd go get Sven, then invited her in. She walked in without another word and waited in the living room. She nearly lost it when she heard how excited Sven was to see Shaira, but she managed to keep calm. "No," she said, shaking her head when he asked if Shaira was sick. "Sven, you should sit down," she told him, not even able to bring herself to look at him. Yes, she'd thought of how she'd tell him, but none of it took into consideration how hard it was going to be to tell this little boy that his best friend had died two days earlier.

Sven was looking confused. "Well if she isn't sick then where is she?" He asked. When she said that he should sit down he crossed his arms. "I don't wanna!" He said angrily. "Don't tell me she went off and became famous without me." His red eyes were starting to water. He shook his head. "Is Shai okay?" He asked. "Did she get kidnapped? Dad will look for her right? Did she decide she was going to stay home?" He lip quivered as tears well in his eyes. "Where is she?"

(AWWWWWW)

Serenity took a deep breath when Sven pretty much started freaking out. She then went over and knelt in front of him, keeping her calm as best she could. "Sven, listen..." she gave a light sigh before deciding to continue. "Two days ago, Shaira was out playing in our backyard, in one of the trees," she explained calmly. "She was up on a high branch, and she fell off of it." A pause. "She was hurt really badly and...well, me and some other doctors tried to make her better but..." she stopped and bit her lower lip to keep herself from outright crying. If Sven saw that she was crying, he'd only take it that much harder. "We couldn't help her, and...she..." She was trying so hard to keep herself from crying, but she wouldn't be able to hold out and she knew it. "She didn't make it sweetie," she said as calmly as her body would allow her. The truth was, Shaira had broken her neck, and there had been nothing she or any of the other doctors could've done to begin with. That was probably what was killing Serenity most right now.

Sven started crying when she started to explain. This wasn't fair. Why? Why had Shaira fell. "But her vines," he protested. "She always catches herself with them." The tears were coming fast as he tried to make full sense of this. It was not fair. "No!" He screamed stepping back. "She's alive, just in a coma or something," he said. "Shaira can't die!" He wouldn't accept it. "She's my bestfriend. She said she'd come to my birthday party." Sven fell to the floor and pulled his knees up to his chest as he cried. "I want my friend back!"

Felix was like a statue as Serenity spoke. She'd fallen. That was all he could really remember after that. She'd fallen. And Serenity, the one who had been the fortune teller, the one who was the greatest healer had failed to save the child that she'd given birth to. Three children she'd lost, how many more would she give life to, just to watch them be snatched away. He went to Sven and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder as he cried. "It's okay," he said as he started to pat his back. He lifted the small child up and allowed him to bury his head in his shoulder. He looked at Serenity. "I'm sorry for your loss."

Serenity only stayed silent as Sven took in what had happened. Yes, it was true, before Shaira had always caught herself with the vines, and Serenity didn't know what was different that time. She hadn't actually seen Shaira fall, she was in the house making their dinner. Tears that Serenity'd been trying so hard to hold back finally flowed silently over as Sven fell to the ground with his arms wrapped around his legs and started crying. As Felix picked him up, Serenity brought herself back up to standing, wiping the tears from her eyes, but that didn't stop them from falling. She couldn't bring her gaze off the ground again after Felix had picked Sven up. Of course she blamed herself for this, it was just the way she was. She nodded slowly as Felix said he was sorry for her loss. "The...the funeral is a week from now," she said, still trying to keep her calm, knowing that when she went home later, she'd break down. She just didn't want to cry in front of Felix anymore, even for something like this. She didn't want to cry in front of Sven either.

Sven continued to cry as he held onto his father for support. Why had it been Shaira. This was his best friend they were talking about. Still he was getting tired from all this crying. He sniffled and gave a few hiccups. It took him forever before he finally fell asleep.

Felix looked at Serenity as she said the funeral would be a week from now. "We'll be there." Felix then took Sven into the room after the kid had cried himself to sleep. He laid him in the bed and then went into the living room. Eliade was out on a mission, so Serenity was safe to stay for a while. "You should take a seat, you want anything?" He asked. He'd let her speak. He didn't want to push her. He was having a hard time putting two and two together though. Sven was right, Shaira always caught herself, why had she failed to do so this time?

Serenity had been about to leave when Sven fell asleep and Felix went to lay him down, but she was still Serenity: she didn't want to be rude and leave without saying goodbye. She'd been about to tell Felix goodbye when he came back, but then he offered for her to sit down. She didn't want to burden herself on him, but she knew that there was no way she was gonna make it home without breaking down in the middle of the street. She just had to calm herself down enough. She sat down on the couch and shook her head when he asked if she wanted anything. "No, thank you," she said, her eyes on the ground, her breaths a bit shallow from trying to keep herself from breaking down, and her body shaking about twice as much as it had been when she'd gotten there earlier. "I just...I need to try...and calm down enough so that I can make it home alright...that's all...." she said, her voice quivering lightly, tears still flowing from her eyes.

Felix sat after she'd done so. He didn't know how it was to lose a child. The closest thing he'd had to kids before Sven were Walker and Stephen and it broke him down immensely when he lost the two of them. He could only imagine how Serenity was feeling. He shook his head as she said she just needed to calm down. "Serenity," he said quietly. "I know we haven't been on the best of terms since that day, but if you need anything then ask." He'd taken to Shaira as his daughter. Allowing the little girl to call him father since her own had passed away. He didn't mind if she cried, didn't mind if she wanted to talk about how she felt about this. What did it matter? People lived and they died, that was the only guarantee in this word. Death was rarely a factor with immortals, but it came to those who didn't bear the curse.

Serenity swallowed lightly to try and calm herself down, but it only made things worse, because as soon as she did so, a small sob escaped her. She ended up with her elbows on her knees and her face in her hands, no longer able to hold herself back from crying. Again she tried to calm herself as Felix spoke. She was never this way when it came to death in general, but when it came to the death of someone she loved...well, she just couldn't hold herself together. "T-thank you...i-it means a lot to me but...I really just need to c-calm myself down," she said, stuttering in between light hiccups. She hadn't changed that much. Despite the fact that she said she needed to calm herself down, she found herself breaking down that much more, unable to restrain those emotions she'd been doing so well with handling up until now. She ran one of her hands anxiously through her hair, then allowed her face to rest back in her hands like before. If she was at home by herself, there was no doubt in her mind that she'd be able to calm herself down, but probably after some heavy crying, which she didn't want to do in front of Felix.

Since Sven was sleep he had no problem getting up and walking over to Serenity and wrapping her in a hug. He patted her back. "I know your hurting. I know you don't want to cry in front of me. But you can." He was not someone who had no sympathy for children, or he would have left Walker and Stephen as orphans. And let James and Konner cry their hearts out when their mother was dying. There was no mistake in his mind though. This was no accident. He patted her back some more. Despite his kind actions he was at a lack of words. I won't tell her, she's torn enough. If I do this, I do it without anyone's knowledge. "It's going to be alright."

(AWWWWWW!!!!!!! FERENITY'S BACK!!!!!!)

Serenity lifted her head in minor shock when she felt Felix wrap his arms around her. It'd been over a hundred years since they'd been that close, but she was in no position to be happy about it. As he spoke, her body shook lightly, still trying to hold back tears. But when he told her that it was going to be alright, she just couldn't hold back anymore. The tears started flowing freely down her face and she hugged Felix, sobbing lightly as she cried. "M-my baby girl's gone," she said quietly through the sobs, her voice cracking slightly as she did. She hadn't really realized that she'd probably end up getting the shoulder of Felix's shirt all wet from her crying, but it wouldn't really matter much, because it was already wet from Sven's crying.

(I hope so. Fangirls were going crazy without them)

Felix continued to pat her on the back as she broke down crying. He'd
rather wait until his son was old and ready to die. Not while he was a
innocent nine year old. Felix's sleeve was becoming a bit soaked with
all these tears. He'd have to change later. So much for taking a quick
nap. Exhaustion would have to hold out until he knew Serenity was okay.
What crushed him the most was knowing that she'd probably lost the only
thing worth meaning in the world to her. With her husband dead and now
her child she would have nothing left because Felix was no longer apart
of her life and Sven, being young would soon forget this all happened
and move on so he would not visit. He was in a position where once again
he had no choice. He would not leave Eliade for her, but he'd start
coming around more often than he had been. What words can I give to someone who has been through it all?

It took a few minutes, but Serenity was calming down enough so that she finally pulled out of the hug and wiped her eyes. She didn't know what to say. Once again, Felix was doing the unpredictable. She'd never actually expected him to be there for her like this. She swallowed and hiccuped lightly as she tried to further calm herself. "T-thanks Felix..." she said almost quietly. She didn't know what she was going to do. She was fully aware that now she was alone in the world. The one thing that she feared above all else. But she was no longer showing that was what she was afraid of. She just...couldn't stand the fact that she'd lost her one and only daughter, and that she'd been so young. She didn't know what else to say to Felix. What else could she say to him? The only reason that they'd seen each other all these years was because of the kids, and now he had no reason to come see her. She truly was alone...

Felix shook his head when she said thanks. "No need." He would have said that it was what any other person would have done, but knew this was not the time. Not when she was breaking down like this. It may have lightened the mood, but there was no point in taking risk. "You're a friend," he said with a small nod. "It's my job to make sure you're okay." So maybe everything was a job to him, but that was close as he could get to letting her know he cared. Any closer and they'd be back in her house watching movies, arguing, eating some kind of pasta, and flirting like two teenagers who just figured out what love is.

(LMFAO AT THAT LAST LINE)

Serenity at this point was speechless, and not just because she was trying to pull herself together. Twice today Felix had surprised her. He'd just told her that she was a friend, and she fully expected him to just be thinking of her as an acquaintance. Because she knew that was how Felix was. He rarely made friends, and ever rarely....er, admitted it. She wiped her eyes once more, having just remembered that she had no clue what time Eliade would be home, or if she was even home for that matter. She figured that if Eliade was home though, she wouldn't have allowed Felix alone in the same room with her. "I..." she paused. "I think I'm calm enough...to make it home now...I have..." she paused. "Arrangements to make for the funeral," she said that part a bit quietly. She didn't want to think about it. Didn't want it to be true. But it was. And there was nothing she could do to change it. Something her other self would have never accepted.

Felix shook his head as he saw the look on her face. Was he that unpredictable. Same as always. "You can work from here," he said. "At least let me help." He looked at the clock hanging from the wall. "Eliade's on a mission, so your safe from her wraith." He stood up and walked to the kitchen. "Pasta?" He asked with a secret smirk. He hated seeing her this way. It was actually bothering him. He shook his head shaking it off. Not thinking like that.

Serenity looked at him as he told her that she could work from there. But... She didn't want him to see her like this. She didn't want anyone to see her like this. In all reality, she wanted to go home, lay under her covers on her bed, and hide from the world. Chances are she wouldn't have been mentally capable of making the arrangements this day if she'd gone home. "Okay," she said finally, her voice still quivering, as he said at least let him help. She was actually glad to hear that Eliade was on a mission and wouldn't be home. She almost smiled at his comment about her wraith. Almost. "Sure," she said with a nod as he asked if she wanted pasta. So he did still remember. With a light sigh after he went into the kitchen, she got up as well and went into the kitchen. "Is there anything I can help with?" she asked after a moment, hoping that it might...differ her attention from the situation at hand, if only for a few seconds. But...why in the hell did she want to forget so soon? She didn't, but...

Felix grinned as he looked back at her. She seemed to be getting somewhere and it pleased him to know. Though he sighed and rubbed the back of his head as she got up and asked if she could help. "No...eh, sure." He said. "I'm not the best cook anyway." He walked towards the cabinet and started to speak before she could comment. "What kind of pasta?" He asked. "Spaghetti?" He looked back at her. This wasn't awkward, but it was kind of weird because he hadn't been with her like this in forever. He actually briefly missed their childs play.

(Awww, he misses when they used to act like love-struck teenagers. Too bad for him she doesn't blush anymore. Or act like a kid anymore.)

Serenity blinked when she saw him grin. He seemed to be pleased with something, but she could tell what. She was about to turn her head to the side and sigh when he said that there was nothing she could do to help, but found herself a bit glad that he changed his mind, looking at him with her head tilted slightly when he said that he wasn't that great a cook. "Any kind. Yeah, spaghetti is fine," she said, watching him take the pasta down from the cabinet. She wasn't to the point where she could smile again, not even close. But at least she wasn't crying anymore.

Felix wasn't used to helping people when it came to situations like this. He was never around when someone died. Hunter for instance, he wasn't there when the guy had died and he sure as hell hadn't been there when Serenity chose to go on a drinking binge. He sighed and shook his head. But when it was the other way around he didn't ask for comfort. He dealt with it, even if he did bleed on the inside from the loss. Felix stopped what he was doing for a moment. What was he going to do about Sven when the kid woke up and had a fit all over again. Carrying the pasta to the stove he nodded to the cabinets. "There should be some sauce up there, and canned mushrooms. Can you get them for me?"

(OMG I LOVE MUSHROOMS IN PASTA)

Serenity nodded when he said that there should be sauce and canned mushrooms in the cabinet, then went over to them. Opening the cabinets, she reached up and got the things down, bringing them over to the stove, then looked at Felix inquiringly. "Where're the pots?" she asked. She'd get them, she didn't mind. Well, it wasn't only that she didn't mind, she wanted to try and keep herself busy. Yes, her body was still shaking lightly, as was her voice, but again, she no longer looked ready to cry. Her expression was....relatively calm. She didn't want to think about funeral arrangements, not now.