A/N: Not my best, I started it with a completely different plot in mind, found it was hard to write, wrote this instead. I hope it isn't too bad in terms of flowing together. And yes, this is more sad!Kendra, I would apologize but I can't stop the Kendra angst. Also, I've found mental conversations are hard to write.

Once they started, Kendra couldn't stop them. It happened too often, the tears would well up even at the stupidest things and no matter how hard she tried to push them down, the would spill over. She hated how much of a crybaby she was. Seth used to call her that all the time and she always wanted nothing more than to prove him wrong but he was right.

Kendra was feeling perfectly fine that day, she was reading a book when one of the lines stood out to her.

"If you don't take time to grieve properly, the memories will always be painful."

Kendra had read that line over and over, the simple line stopping her breathing, ringing truth in her ears. She had never had the time to grieve any of the bad things that had happened to her through the last two years. From getting kidnapped, to Coulter dying, and even the battle of Zzyxx. There were a lot of things that required time to get over, but deep down, no matter how much she wanted to deny it, there was one memory, one person, who still haunted her mind day and night.

Gavin Rose. The name brought tears to her eyes, it had been so long since she allowed herself to think it. The memory of his evil smile, his faked stutter, his betrayal, his dragon form, the way his face had looked in the light of the burning knapsack, they were all painful. According to this stupid, stupid book, it was because she hadn't grieved over him.

She didn't want to grieve over him. To grieve would mean she was upset over him, and she didn't want to give his spirit the satisfaction. She should be angry, she should be bitter and filled with hatred for him, but she wasn't. She was sad, she was hurt, she was heartbroken.

Kendra tried to wipe at her tears, but more just kept coming. She paced the floor of her room, this was beyond frustrating. She was crying over a long dead demon prince that had betrayed her! That had trapped her cousin in a different dimension! That killed one of her friends! She wished she could just push his memory away and deal with it later but once you open this type of suppressed emotion there's no boxing it back in. She pressed her back against the wall and slid down it, curling her knees to her chest. Kendra sat there for a moment before giving in to the growing wave of sorrow and let it wash over her. Sobs, ripped through her and she threw her arms around her knees, placing her head on them.

Kendra felt like she could surely drown in her sorrow at this point. Memory after memory flashed through her mind, causing her breathing to quicken. How could this have happened? She had liked him, she had like the demon prince, she had like a dragon. Gavin had tricked her, he played with her heart and in the end left it shattered on the ground of Sidestep Clift. He never had cared about her, he was just using her. How could she have been so naive?

Kendra couldn't control her breathing at this point, she was practically gasping with every breath. How had she pushed this down for so long? The pain felt like it had happened only yesterday, not over a year ago. She tried to stifle the sobs by biting down on her shirt sleeve, but even then they echoed in her ears. Everything was too loud, everything was too painful. Kendra could practically hear Gavin's laugh, mocking her.

'You're weak, Kendra. Look at how I have a hold on you, even from the grave, pathetic.'

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Kendra screamed through her teeth. Her hands, clamped over her ears, trying to block out the hateful words. His voice filled her ears, coming on suddenly and grew louder by the second. She was shaking like a leaf, terrified at how quickly everything had become too much.

'Kendra, breathe'

The words flowed into her mind with a pulse of comfort, warm and soothing. She could recognize that voice anywhere; Bracken. Of course. A few months into their official relationship, he had gifted her with his first horn, fashioned into a bracelet. She wore it almost always, trusting him not to pry unless he was invited or if he felt something was wrong.

'That's right, it's me. Come on, calm down, love.'

Kendra focused on her breathing, slowly bringing it down to normal, earning words of praise from Bracken. He was constantly sending her the equivalent of a tight hug in pulses through his horn, talking her down from the panic attack little by little. Finally, she was able to stop her sobbing and wipe off her tears. She clutched at the pearly bracelet around her wrist tightly, hoping he won't leave her mind now that she was calmer.

'I'm not going anywhere, don't you worry.' Came his response to her trail of thought, she had forgotten that he probably could hear everything now.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get you worried." She whispered, she knew that she didn't need to speak out loud for him to hear her, but she liked the action of it. If she closed her eyes, she could pretend that he was really here, and not worlds away.

'Don't be sorry. I'll always be here for you, you know that.' His response came, travelling through her mind as if it was her own thought. Bracken's voice was smooth and comforting, god, she missed hearing that voice in person. She missed Bracken in general.

'Soon, love. I promise. Even my own mother won't be able to keep me away from you for too long.' Kendra felt his guilt about not being there, she sensed that he blamed himself for her breakdown, convinced that he could have done more to help her if he had been there physically.

"Stop that. Me being weak isn't your fault." Kendra scolded.

'You aren't weak.' He sent back strictly. 'You are the farthest thing from weak. I hate that you think that about yourself. And by the way, who's prying now?'

"You were looking through my emotions too! Don't put this all on me unicorn." Kendra said, trying to make sure he felt all the sassiness in the sentence as if he was hearing it in person. She purposefully ignored the other half of his sentence, she just didn't believe it was true.

'You know, if you are going to try and change topics, don't think about why you want to change topics.' Bracken's voice rang out. Kendra groaned, of course he was reading everything in her mind, stupid unicorn boyfriend.

'Hey! I can't help it if you're shouting you're thoughts at me. Also I resent that stupid unicorn boyfriend statement. I may be your boyfriend and I may be a unicorn but I am most certainly not stupid.' Kendra smiled at his words.

"Could've fooled me." She said, enjoying the playful teasing they had going on.

'Rude!' Bracken's voice whined in her head. 'Anyway, we were talking about you being mean to yourself, not you being mean to me.'

"Bracken…"

'No, I really don't appreciate hearing you talk about my girlfriend that way. I love her very much and she doesn't deserve you hateful words. So stop that, or next time I see you I will tickle the daylights out of you.' Kendra smiled at his words, sighing at his persistence on the subject.

"Tickling?! I'm shaking in my boots!" She decided to ignore the other words yet again, and this time Bracken let the subject drop.

'You should be. I'm a prince and strike fear in a lot of people.' Kendra thought about two weeks ago when Bracken tackled Seth into a bush and ended up getting stuck. She made sure he saw the memory as well.

"Uh huh...you strike fear all right, your majesty." She teased, sensing his eye roll through his horn. Bracken had recently picked up the habit, probably from her.

'Really? You had to go there?' He sent back, protesting when she replayed the image of him struggling to get out while Seth pushed him farther in.

Kendra sat there for a moment, relishing in the gentle hum of his mind aligned with hers.

"You left a few hours after that, and haven't been around since. I miss you." Kendra said, voice catching at the end.

'I know, I miss you too. So much.' She could almost feel him taking hold of her hand as he said the words, but of course, he wasn't.

"Come back soon?" She asked.

'How does tomorrow sound?' He said, a sly edge to his voice. Kendra brightened, realizing he was serious.

"That sounds perfect," Kendra said. And she meant it.

A/N: Anyone recognize that last line? ;)