It was barely dawn, but Jay had been awake all night. Drinking had seemed to nurse him to sleep, but he had been sober for days, and thus he had been awake for days. He sat among the jungle of flowers, staring at the melancholic sky. It seemed the heavens felt exactly what he did. He was hurting. There was this deep, dark hole inside of him that needed filling and only she could fill it.

"I am such an idiot," he said aloud, unaware he was not alone.

"We all have our moments," a female voice shook him from his thoughts.

He turned to see Cloe's face. "Did my brother send you?"

"Ved, up at this hour? You and I both know he's incapable of rising before noon. No, I am here because I can see you are hurting and I reckon you need a listening ear. Besides this is my sanctuary. I come here every morning just to bask in the serenity."

"You do realize you are too good for my brother don't you?"

"Just as I know you are too good for Ebony. However a certain four letter convinces us otherwise."

Jay was silent a moment. He let the breeze rustle through his disheveled hair before casually running a hand through it. He was stalling for time. He knew Cloe would sit there forever unless he spoke, but he needed to prepare himself for what he had to say. He was not sure how she'd react to his confessing that he loved Ebony and would not be returning to Ruby's bed.

"I guess it is true, that you really do not know what you have until it is gone. I mean I thought that Ruby was the one. That the feeling of emptiness I had with Amber would be filled by Ruby. For awhile it worked, but when I am with her all I can think about is Ebony."

"What happened between you two? I mean Ebony with you, she was somewhat tame…and caring."

"Greed, dishonesty…" he paused, "…insecurity."

He let the memories flood back to him. He and Ebony had been perfectly happy together. He knew from the instant he stared into her eyes for the first time that he wanted her. And after she defied Ram to be with him, he knew that she felt the same way for him. They were going to run away and live somewhat happily ever after. But Jay grew insecure, and he turned to his humanitarian duties to keep from falling any deeper in love.

He used restoring the city to peaceful days as an excuse to keep from settling down, and it wasn't before long that he had wrapped his mind around 'loving' Amber. Amber was safe. She shared his ambitions and unlike Ebony she had a warm heart. But what he failed to realize was Ebony was warm and beautiful. She only put up walls to keep from getting hurt by jerks like him. It was the only way she knew how to live after the hand she had been dealt in life.

Cloe touched his shoulder gently to bring him back from his thoughts. "Do you think Slade is offering her exactly what she wants?"

"He is exactly what she wants. She is even talking about marrying him. He gave her Thunder. Having a child plays a great part in decision making. She has a family now, I could not disrupt that even if she loved me back."

~0~

Ved was worried about Cloe. Lately she had not been herself. He felt her wake early and she often went to bed early. His first thought had been she was pregnant, but she did not show any signs. Then underneath their mattress he had found an old, yellowing, and falling apart magazine on relationships and marriage. He feared she was growing restless awaiting a proposal from him, so he began setting up something special for the two of them.

When he had felt her wake that morning, he waited until she was out the house before he got up and dressed himself. He would sneak to the café and put together a picnic lunch. He would then beat her to her favorite hideout amongst the forest of flowers from which the island got its name, and then he would propose.

He stared one last time at the shell necklace he would present to her before he stuck it in the picnic basket and started for the flowers. However when he got half way there he overheard voices.

His brother was speaking silently, voice full of sorrow. He heard the last of the conversation and instantly began grieving. He had seen Jay hurt before, when their parents shipped them off to protect them from the virus, when his first girlfriend died, and when Ved disowned him as a brother, but never like this. It made Ved incredibly sad to see his brother so down in the dumps when everyone around him was content.

Ved fixed it in his mind that he would do something about his brother's sadness. But what could he do, but talk to Ebony? That could not hurt, could it?

~0~

Tai-San had instantly shut off the homing device as quickly as she turned it on the other day, but today she had it in her hands ready to turn it on again. But she did not have a chance to press on before the front room door opened.

"Lex?" she quietly asked. It had been days since he had entered their room. Her faith that he would return was wavering.

Lex entered their small bedroom, "I have decided that if you can look past all my faults I can learn to live with yours. But here is the deal, we have to be one-hundred percent honest with one another from now on. No more secrets, Tai."

Tai-San's eyes welled with tears, "Lex I…" she shook her head, "There's one more secret to tell. Do you know what this is?" She held out the device in her hand. It looked like a simple bracelet.

"What kind of question is that? It is a bracelet."

"No Lex," Tai-San's voice was harsh, "It is a homing beacon. All Technos are issued one in case we're ever captured and need a way to communicate that isn't so obvious. I turned it on a few days ago."

"Why would you do something so stupid?"

"What was I supposed to do?"

"So a boat load of Technos can be on their way here to Fleur Island?"

"It wasn't on long enough for them to pick up coordinates unless they've advanced their technology."

"Any other secrets?"

"None. I promise."

"Good!" Lex snatched the bracelet and threw it to the floor, crushing with his foot.

"Lex!" she exclaimed.

"I would rather be safe than sorry. Tai-San I love you, I never want to lose you again. Fleur Island, this is our new home."

Lex had always been assertive and possessive, but this was a different type of assertive. Tai-San didn't know whether to fight back or appreciate it. One thing was for certain though. She loved him.

She slipped into his open arms and welcomed his tight embrace. This was the beginning of the rest of their lives and it felt nice not to have any more secrets.

~0~

"Did it come back on yet?" Kyra asked Nano. She was inquiring about the mystery homing beacon that had gone off for a few seconds days earlier.

The woman shook her head, "No, I'm still working to manually override it."

Kyra balled up her fist in frustration, "Why is the recording software not up to date like I planned? I was gone for a few months and nothing got done around here!"

"There were a series of storms that prevented us from making the necessary changes. We had to fix so many things before we could began," Dragon spoke.

He knew Nano feared Kyra. His sister had a wild temper that scared many people, it even scared him at times. But he was always the one person who could reason with her.

"I know, I didn't mean to yell. Excuse me." She left the room and went to her suite.

She had Bray on the mind. She knew every step closer they got to Tai-San she was a step closer to finding him again.

Kyra had never met a man like Bray. He had so much charisma as a prisoner. His spirit was never broken, and unlike the other prisoners he had treated her with respect. It wasn't before long that she felt herself falling for him, and that scared her. She was worried about what the others would do, and so she had him deported. She knew for a fact she sent him to where Tai-San was being held. They were fellow Mallrats. She didn't want him to feel alone in his sorrow.

A knock on her suite door jerked her from her memories, "What?"

"It's Dragon."

"Come in."

"Nano cannot access the manual override. It seems the device has been destroyed, but I have good news. A screen capture gave us two coordinates, we search in that general direction island by island if need be, and we find ourselves Tai-San."

"Thank you."

He hesitated before leaving, "Sis, are you alright?"

Kyra took in a deep breath, "It's silly, really."

"Tell me anyways. I hate seeing you like this."

"You know as a child, in my girly days I always imagined that there was one guy out there, made especially for me. I would look into his eyes and I would instantly know he was the one. Well I think I found that someone."

"A Techno?"

"No, a former prisoner. When I was away at a prison camp, I met him. I posed as a guard and befriended him, but I ended it before it began and had him deported."

"Your prince charming?" Dragon smirked.

"I told you it was silly! Just go…" she shook her head.

"No, wait, I'm sorry, I was not trying to mock you. Look sis, I want to see you happy. If it means finding this man to take that, then I'm on board."

"Good. Then find Tai-San. If we find her, we find Bray."

Dragon furrowed a brow, "The Guardian's Bray?"

"As in Zoot's Bray, yes."

"Kyra!" he exclaimed.

"He is nothing like Zoot was. He's the complete opposite, and I love him!"

Dragon just shook his head leaving. He would stand by his sister no matter what, even if the man she is in love with shared the same DNA as a psycho.

~0~

Ebony laughed in Ved's face. She hadn't meant to, but she found it amusing that he was there on Jay's behalf feeding her blasphemy.

"Jay's a drunk Ved! He'll say anything."

"There's a saying that states a drunk man never lies. My brother, he's genuine Ebony. He loves you. I mean have you ever seen him so down?"

Ebony did recall seeing him like that while they were out to sea. But he had Ruby and he was happy once he broke it off with Amber. Whatever she and Jay had before was dead.

"Look, if it weren't for Thunder's existence, Jay would still be playing house with Ruby. He dumped me for Amber, played with Trudy's heart, and dumped Amber for Ruby. That says to me he's a man who doesn't know what he wants."

"But who's his best friend? Who is he crying over right now?"

Ebony sighed heavily, "I am going to tell you like I told him. He broke my heart then trampled on it. I can forgive that, but I can't forget that. I love Slade and I am happy. I have something real now."

"It's obvious I am just wasting my time here. In fact, I knew it would be a waste of my time before I came, but I want you to look at him the next time you see him. All that anguish is because of you," he turned to leave, but stopped, "Oh and one more thing Ebony."

She rolled her eyes, "What?!"

"To forgive is to forget."

Ebony slammed the door, waking up Thunder who began to whimper. She picked him up, rocking him gently as she seethed inside and began to cry. She hadn't lied to Ved when she said she couldn't forget how Jay hurt her, but the truth was she did still hold some love for Jay. And she often wondered what if Thunder had turned out to be Jay's son. She was grateful Slade had gone ahead to breakfast, she didn't need him asking questions.