Disclaimer: Same as always.

Author's Note: This chapter is a darker one, too. Alcoholism is always a touchy subject, and I hope I don't offend anyone with it.

Chapter Eleven

Demons of a Different Kind

"Hey Sara," Legolas said, smiling, "where's the outfit I picked out for you?"

"That thing is degrading. I'm not going to wear it."

Legolas sniffled. "I spent a lot of time picking that out!"

"Your time was spent in vain."

"What is it?" Faythe asked.

"It's a dress."

"It's red and very stylish."

Sara's expression clearly said what she thought of the stylish red dress. "I don't wear dresses."

That ended the discussion.

Faythe took a sip of her "coffee." She turned to Taro. "Aragorn's sorry, you know."

"I'm not worried about that," Taro said defensively.

"Yes, you are. I'm smarter than I look." Faythe scowled when Sara scoffed. "Anyways, he's just too proud. He feels it, but can't say it."

"Can you stop talking about me like I'm not here?" Aragorn said sarcastically.

Faythe smiled. "Sure, sweetie." She turned back to Taro. "Anyways, he'll come around. Don't be upset because he can't say how he feels."

"Once again," Aragorn said, angry, "I cordially request for you to stop talking about me like I'm not in the room."

"If you'd apologize, we wouldn't be talking about you at all."

"FINE! I'M SORRY! I KNOW I'M AN ASSHOLE, SO CAN WE MOVE ON NOW?"

Sara looked at him. "That wasn't a very sincere apology."

"I said it, didn't I?"

"You didn't mean it."

"That doesn't matter!"

Taro looked up from his waffle, which he still hadn't touched. "Give it up, Sara. I'm fine. Angela was the same way. You know that."

"But…"

"It's fine!"

Everyone stared at him. Taro was yelling? He never yelled; in fact, Faythe had pointed out once that he reminded her of a character from a book she read. All of his emotions looked the same.

Aragorn felt like a jerk. "Taro, I'm sorry."

"It's…"

"No. It's not okay. I had no right to treat you that way. You were trying to help. I really am sorry."

Taro didn't say anything. He finally ate some waffle, scrunching his nose. He looked at Kurama. "It's too cold."

Kurama resisted a strong urge to yell.

"It wouldn't be cold if you ate it earlier," he said, a little too calmly.

Taro glared at him. "Don't get snippy with me," he said.

"Hey! Don't fight, you two."

"We weren't fighting, Faythe," Kurama said. He smiled at her.

"We never fight," Taro added. They looked at each other, still smiling.

"Aww!" Legolas clasped his hands together. "They loo-ver each other!"

"Duh."

Sara gasped. "Taro knows an all-American phrase!"

"Oi…"

"Never mind."

"Sara, 'duh' isn't an all-American phrase."

"Close enough."

Faythe sighed. Sometimes, there was no arguing with Sara. She smiled. "Well, what are we going to do today, guys?"

"Shopping!"

"NO!" Sara yelled at Legolas. "We are NOT doing that again!" She shuddered.

Hiei glared at Legolas, who looked shocked. "What? Did I say something?"

Aragorn rolled his eyes. "You have a problem."

"No, I don't! I don't need to shop!" Legolas exclaimed.

Faythe scoffed. "Yeah, and I'm not an alcoholic."

Aragorn looked at her, shocked. "You're an alcoholic?"

Faythe smiled sadly. "I hide it well, don't I?"

"For how long? How long have you been an…an…" Aragorn couldn't bring himself to say the word.

"Alcoholic, yes. And it was before I met you, don't worry about that."

"Who else knows about this?" Aragorn demanded.

Legolas shifted uncomfortably and raised his hand.

Aragorn stared at him. "And you didn't think to tell me about this because…"

Legolas shrugged. "I thought you knew."

Sara shouted, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, 'I THOUGHT YOU KNEW'!" Up until then, she'd been pensive and quiet, probably trying to control her rage. That attempt failed. She flew off the handle. "MY BEST FRIEND IS AN ALCOHOLIC AND NO ONE'S SAID ANYTHING ABOUT IT BECAUSE YOU THOUGHT WE KNEW?"

"Sara…" Hiei said warningly.

"Don't 'Sara' me! I've got a right to be angry!"

"Oh, dear," Faythe said softly, taking a sip of her spiked coffee.

"Give me that!" Sara demanded, taking the mug out of Faythe's hands.

"Hey, that's mine!" Faythe exclaimed. "Give it back."

"Fat chance! I'm not going to let you drink! You need help!"

Legolas sighed. "At least we got off my shopping habit."

"Sara, give me back my coffee!"

"Hell. No." She sniffed the coffee. "Do you have any idea how much alcohol is in this!"

"Yeah. I put it in there. I should know."

Sara sighed and slammed the cup down. "Fine! Waste your life away! See if I care! Don't come crying to me if something happens."

She sat down in a chair angrily and refused to talk when the others tried to get her attention.

Faythe couldn't bring herself to drink. She felt guilty as hell, and she didn't want to sit with all this tension focused at her. She gut up and started to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Legolas asked.

She shrugged. "I'll be back later." She left.

Sara glared at Legolas, but didn't say anything. Legolas soon became uncomfortable under a piercing gaze. "What? I didn't make her drink."

Aragorn sighed. "No, but you could have told us about it before it reached this point." He flung his glass against a wall and it shattered. "Now what the Valar am I supposed to do?"

"If we haven't known this far along, she either drinks frequently but in moderation or she stays sober and binges when she's stressed," Kurama put in. "So the addiction isn't unbreakable. Some among us-" he shot a pointed glare at Legolas "-have more serious addictions to address."

"Hey, at least my shopping won't give me cirrhosis of the liver, okay? The only thing affected by my addiction is my band account."

Jake shook his head. "You mean our bank account."

"Yeah, our—oh." Legolas hung his head and sighed. "Sorry. I promise I'll never shop again."

Just then, a woman in flamboyant clothing came over, bearing flyers and balloons. "Sale at Cairo's Finest Jeans, Inc.! BOGO half off!" She passed around the flyers and gave Sara a balloon. Sara shot her a death glare and the woman scampered away.

Legolas looked over the flyer carefully and eagerly. "Let me rephrase that; I'll never shop again—after today. See you later!" He left.

Taro, waffle now eaten as well as a piece of toast, smiled weakly. "Well, what do you guys wanna do today? We could go see a musical, or visit the pyramids…or we could hang out and chill all day. What do you think?"

Aragorn got up. "I think I need to go get Faythe."

Jake left, too. "It'd be a good idea to stop him before he shops us into bankruptcy."

The four who were left—Sara, Hiei, Kurama, and Taro—looked at each other. "What now?" Hiei asked.

Sara finally somewhat calm, smiled. "I have an idea." She left the hotel and the others tailed after her.