Whoa. Can I just say that my mind was totally blown by all the awesome reviews I got? I don't thank you guys enough... Also, I was amused by how many other people finished Clockwork Prince at the same time I did. It's like magic! Anyway, I have the chapter after this fully completed, and I'm working on the holiday themed chapter right now, so don't worry, there will be one and it will be up by Christmas. On another cheerful note, I love The Drums, especially this song. Sometimes I burst out singing it at random. I might as well add that I do a very poor job of it.

Disclaimer: Not mine. *sob*


Prompt Nine: Down By The Water by The Drums

If you fall asleep

Down by the water

Baby, I'll carry you

All the way home


Jill Dragomir was confused. It wasn't the first time she had been completely stumped like this, but it was quite possibly the most frustrating because this time, all her friends were in on it (aside from Micah, of course, but Micah was rarely truly in on anything, now that Jill thought about it). Adrian and Sydney were exchanging sly glances, Eddie was looking anxious about something, and Angeline was...well, Angeline.

"They're hiding something from you," she announced as they were changing out of their school uniforms to go to Clarence's for Jill's feeding. Jill dropped her hairbrush with a loud clatter.

"I knew it!" she hissed angrily.

"It's an early birthday surprise," Angeline said. She shrugged. "I'd tell you what it is, but Sydney told me she would shave my head if I told you we're going to the beach today."

"Sydney threatened you?" Jill repeated once she'd picked up her jaw up off the floor, along with the brush. "Sydney threatened you?"

"I heard you the first time," Angeline grumbled. She was obviously displeased that Jill was paying attention to the wrong bit of information. But the it clicked.

"We're going to the beach for my birthday?" Jill gasped. She felt tears prick at her eyes. She had been told a week ago that she wasn't allowed to see her mother for her birthday. That had been resting over her head gloomily ever since the call came. She knew everyone had picked up on it, but she didn't think they were actually going to do anything about it.

"It's was Sydney's idea to take you some place with water," Angeline said instead of answering. "Eddie said the beach. He knows about some hidden away spot when you can play with the water all you like and no one will see. So that's where we're going after Clarence's house. It's all been cleared with Mrs. Weathers."

"But Sydney hates everything to do with Moroi magic," Jill said, puzzled. Angeline shrugged and began searching for something. This was Jill's cue to stop asking questions, so she did. Instead, she let her gratitude for her friends fill her up until she thought she might burst. Her initial reaction was to go find them and hug them until they couldn't breath anymore, but she remembered Sydney's threat to Angeline. If she hadn't seen firsthand the extent of Sydney's wrath (Laurel being the case in point), she would have taken the threat very lightly. But there was something very passionate about Sydney, and Jill had no doubt she would carry through with her threat if she found out the cat had been let out of the bag. So Jill decided she would pretend to be surprised. She let herself wonder how hard Adrian must have worked to hide this from her. And Eddie hated to keep secrets from Jill so this must have been a strain on him, too. Jill smiled through her tears, so happy she had friends like them.

"Let's go," Angeline said gruffly, taking hold of Jill's arm and all but dragging her out. Jill grinned stupidly. Even Angeline was a good friend, she decided giddily. She wiped away the tears with her free hand. It would be hard enough to hide that she was in on the secret from everyone as it was. She didn't need to come up with some lie to explain away the tears.

The girls met Sydney and Eddie at Sydney's car. The two were deep in discussion, but stopped talking immediately when they saw Jill coming. They had been doing this for some time and now that Jill knew why, it didn't annoy her anymore.

"Ready?" she asked cheerfully. Sydney and Eddie raised their eyebrows quizzically in perfect sync. They really were like twins sometimes, Jill thought, still happily dazed. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Angeline slap her palm to her face and Jill realized how obvious she was being. She blushed slightly.

"Can we go now?" Jill squeaked, ducking into the backseat before anyone could say a word. She didn't say another word the whole ride.

When they made it to Clarence's, Jill all but ran inside. She nearly crashed into Adrian who was talking quietly to Sonya. Adrian's eyes lit up when he saw her which came as somewhat of a surprise. Then he turned his gaze to the front door, suddenly looking very impatient. Jill was still confused until bits and pieces of his thoughts started spilling into Jill's mind.

Sydney. Sydney. Sydney. Jill was here so Sydney was here. Sydney was here. Where was Sydney? Why wasn't she inside the house yet?

Jill's smile grew. She looked at Sonya and found the older woman studying Adrian. No, not Adrian, Jill realized. His aura. There was a slightly bemused expression on Sonya's face and Jill hoped Sonya wouldn't mention anything just yet. Then Sonya looked at Jill and something passed between them. It was an agreement, a silent promise to keep what they both had seen a secret. They shared a small, conspiratorial smile.

"Hello, Sonya," Sydney said as she came into the house. The formalities had been cut between the two of them since day one and the familiarity had only grown. Knowing that Sydney had been the only one in their group to see Sonya as a Strigoi, their connection puzzled Jill a little bit. On the other hand, she supposed that Sydney was one of the first people Sonya had seen once she was alive and well again, so maybe it made some sense that the spirit user would like being around Sydney.

Meanwhile, Sonya was looking at Sydney the same way she had been looking at Adrian. Jill wondered what Sydney's aura looked like right now. She heard distantly the sound of Eddie and Angeline coming inside the house and suddenly remembered that they were going to the beach. A grin nearly split her face in two. She knew without a doubt that today was going to be a good day.


Eddie hated keeping secrets from Jill. It went against his nature as her guardian to do so and not telling her about her birthday surprise had been killing him for the last week. But he knew it would be worth it, and that was the only thing that had kept him going. And when Jill saw the ocean stretching on for what looked like forever, he decided that it was more than worth it. His charge was all but squirming to get out of the car, something that took a bit of work since it was a nearly impossible squeeze because Sonya had decided to tag along.

"Why is Sonya coming back to Amberwood with us?" Jill had asked, looking almost suspiciously innocent. Eddie normally would have noticed it, but he was so overcome with guilt from hiding his knowledge of the trip from her that he let it slide.

He mumbled something about Sonya needing to "sign papers for Angeline or something" before scurrying back to the car.

And now? Now, Jill was staring at the water, looking so happy, so beautiful that it made Eddie ache. Then she turned her joyous smile onto him and he tried to keep his face a mask of nothingness. His mask had cracks when it came to Jill, though, and Eddie wondered how much was spilling through to her. Jill leaned into him and said very softly, "Thank you, Eddie."

Her lips brushed against his cheek lightly and then she was gone, out of the car and looking ready to tear down to the water. Eddie saw that Sonya, Angeline, and Sydney were actually physically restraining the girl. He shook his head and climbed out of the car. Then he saw Adrian looking at him with a wicked smile.

"What?" he asked defensively. Adrian smirked infuriatingly and Eddie got a bad feeling.

"Nothing," Adrian said. "But you really should wipe that lovestruck look off your face, Castile, before someone calls the love police." And then Adrian walked away, Eddie staring after him. He crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. His first thought was that Sydney told Adrian, but then he reconsidered. That wasn't like Sydney, he decided. Then he remembered that Adrian could see auras. He scowled deeply. Eddie knew he didn't have his emotions written across his face.

"Eddie!" Jill shouted. His guardian instincts kicked in and Eddie looked around for danger. Then he realized that Jill just wanted him to hurry up. Everyone was already walking away. It didn't take long to catch up, and Eddie studiously ignored Adrian's glances that no one else seemed to notice. Then Jill flounced over and began chatting animatedly, her eyes very bright and her good mood infectious. Eddie knew that some people tried to zone out of Jill's babbling, but he couldn't imagine why. He was fascinated by it.

But you really should wipe that lovestruck look off your face, Castile, before someone calls the love police.

Eddie resisted the urge to make a rude hand gesture in Adrian's general direction. He didn't know why the Moroi was so smug about the comment. It wasn't one of his best. In fact, he seemed to use all his best jokes while he was with Sydney like he was trying to impress her or—

"There it is!" Jill squealed, interrupting Eddie's thoughts before they could really go anywhere. He followed where her pale hand was pointing and took in the view of the ocean. It really was impressive, he admitted to himself grudgingly. The strange group walked along the sand until they found a spot that was fairly secluded. Jill wasted no time charging into the water, soaking her clothes completely, laughing the whole time.

Eddie followed, unquestioning.


It was cute, Sonya thought to herself, as she observed Adrian and Sydney interact from the middle of the large blanket that everyone was sitting on. They were bantering back and forth gently, playfully, and Sonya remembered times with Mikhail that were very similar. She was watching both their aura's very carefully which was why she was the first to notice Sydney's aura flare with fear suddenly, although she seemed determined to fight it down. Adrian seemed to catch onto her fear a heartbeat later (although Sonya was fairly sure he saw it because he was watching her face rather than her aura) and Sonya followed his eyes as they traveled to where Jill was making the waves swirl around her while Eddie watched carefully. But as it always did, Adrian's gaze went back to Sydney.

"Do you like sand dunes, Sage?" he asked, casual as ever.

"I hate them," Sydney replied through clenched teeth. Adrian grinned and jumped to his feet.

"I'm sure I can make you change your mind," he told her and pulled Sydney up. There was no resistance from the Alchemist, nor did she flinch from his touch. Sonya bit back a small smile. Maybe it was wrong of her to encourage such behavior, even silently, but being a spirit user, Sonya could see things that others could not. And she could see them, Adrian and Sydney, and all the beautiful potential that they had.

And there was absolutely nothing wrong with that, she had decided long ago.

Together they walked away, the vampire and the Alchemist. As soon as Sonya could no longer see them, she turned to Angeline who, to Sonya's surprise, was also watching the spot where the pair had vanished with a thoughtful expression on her face.

"I suppose you're used to it," Sonya said.

"Used to what?" Angeline replied, her voice the slightest bit defensive.

"Vampires and humans together." It didn't seem necessary to add that Sydney wasn't a regular human, despite the fact that it really did change the situation, adding even more complications to something was that already only a step away from impossible.

Angeline was quiet for a moment. "Not like them," she said finally. "Nothing like them."

Sonya had never seen Angeline this way, and as far as she knew, neither had anyone else. She wondered if Angeline was thinking about all the suffering Adrian and Sydney would have to go through to be together. But then again, if they could make it through that, they could make it through anything.

"I still think they're both too pretty to be useful though," Angeline grumbled, sounding more like herself. Sonya chuckled.

"I think you would like my Mikhail," she said. "He's quite useful."

"You love him," Angeline said. "You would think so."

And once again, Angeline showed Sonya a glimpse of incredible astuteness that she never bothered to show off for other people. Sonya leaned back on the blanket, letting the sun wash over her. Silently, she was thankful for the sun, just as she was thankful for Mikhail, for her happiness, for everything.

Sonya smiled, completely at peace.


"So, do you like sand dunes yet?" Adrian asked teasingly. Sydney shot him a scowl.

"No," she said. "And I swear Adrian, if you ask me that one more time, I'm going to stuff your head into one of them until you drown in the sand. Then I'm going to take your corpse and throw it into the ocean and we'll see how much you like sand dunes then."

Adrian laughed. Sydney couldn't blame him. There was no heart to her words. She knew he had dragged her away to get her away from Jill's magic and she was too grateful to him for that to truly be annoyed. She wasn't lying, however, when she said she hated sand dunes.

"What's not to like about sand dunes?" said Adrian and Sydney wondered, not for the first time, if Adrian could read her mind and wasn't telling her. Or maybe it was just as simple as the fact that he knew her better than anyone else. Ignoring both thoughts, Sydney looked around and frowned.

"I don't know," she said. "Everything's just so...so...sandy."

"Well now," Adrian said, impressed. "Nothing gets past you, does it, Sage?"

Sydney tried not to smile and failed. Then something occurred to her.

"You don't think Jill will be unhappy that we left, do you?" she asked anxiously. Adrian laughed again, although there was a sharper edge to it this time.

"With Castile around?" he said. "I don't think so."

"That's what I'm always trying to tell him," Sydney sighed. "But he's so convinced that Jill can do better than him."

"She can," Adrian said in a tone that would've been neutral if not for the brotherly affection. "But Jailbait doesn't want better. She wants Castile and the sooner he realizes it, the less likely the chances are that I'm going to have to sit down and actually talk to him about it. About her."

Sydney tried to imagine Adrian and Eddie sitting down, smoking cigars and discussing Jill. She ended up in a fit of giggles. Adrian looked at her seeming slightly smug.

He said, "I haven't seen you laugh this hard since we went mini-golfing and you saw Dracula's castle."

At the memory, Sydney's giggles only grew more hysterical until she ended up toppling down into the sand. Her giggles turned into groans when she realized how long it was going to take to get all the sand out of her clothes. Adrian sat down beside her. If he had any issue with sand, he didn't mention it. Sydney refrained from making a comment about Adrian finally rolling around in the dirt with the rest of the peasants.

"I think our whole birthday surprise plan worked pretty well," Adrian observed pridefully. "I bet we could hatch a plot to get Castile and Jailbait together."

Sydney smiled at him.

"Let's do it," she said. Adrian took a stick and began drawing little figures in the sand, complete with lines and a step-by-step plan. Then the wind came lightly and blew it all away and Sydney started to laugh again, the freedom of it building up inside of her until she was afraid she might float away, as Adrian once told her she would.

Adrian looked up at the sky.

"We should probably get back now," he said. Sydney looked around them, trying to commit the scene to her memory. It was quiet, the sand dunes making what seemed almost like a barrier between them and the chaotic world.

They started to walk back towards where Sonya and Angeline were. It only took five minutes to realize that they were lost.

"Higher ground?" Adrian suggested.

It was as good a plan as any, so they crawled up to the highest place they could find. Sydney spotted them first.

Down by the water, Jill was finally out and Eddie was trying to dry her off with a towel, unaware that he was dripping water all over the girl from his own clothes and hair. Sonya seemed to be peacefully asleep and Angeline was building an elaborate (and heavily armed) sand fortress.

A rush of warmth hit Sydney and she suddenly felt slightly dizzy. She cared about these people. They were like family to her. She started to sway and Adrian caught her, steadying her. Him, too, Sydney thought. Adrian, too.

She couldn't imagine a life without any of them. She didn't want a life without any of them. It made her as happy as it made her sad. Adrian didn't say anything, just stood there with her, watching them. It was Sydney who broke the silence.

"Adrian?" she said softly. She felt slightly breathless.

"What is it, Sage?"

"I still hate sand dunes."


I'd beg for reviews, but I think that would be unseemly of me...so maybe you could all just review because you want to...?

Also, as a side note to PryingLittlePandora: Love your review. It totally boosted my ego, so thank you very much. I usually ship Will/Tessa, which works out great since a good friend of mine ships them too so we sit around squealing about it. There are definitely some J/T moments that get to me, but when it comes to pairings, I usually root for whichever guy I'm in love with (and one would be justified in saying that I have a type), going along with the logic of "Well, he doesn't exist so obviously I can't have him...but someone should." I don't know if I'd ever do a shuffle for Infernal Devices or Mortal Instruments. If I wrote for either one, it would probably be an angst-filled one shot with a smidgeon of hope at the end because that's the kind of mood those books put me in.