It's late again and I have been procrastinating actual work for hours, if I post this then at least I can say I did something. Also, huge thank you to the person who reviewed my last chapter, it's what got me off my butt and writing this chapter... faster than I would have. Who knows what another review would do? Anyway, enjoy!

Present Day: The Apartment

The box was a cube. A one foot by one foot cube. White cardboard, curly script and as always, no return address.

I remember when the first letter arrived. Even without the return address I install knew it was from Chloe, purely because of the handwriting. It was the same handwriting that was scribbled on the back of pictures recording the dates, on reminder sticky notes on the bathroom mirror and in her infamous planner to help her keep track of the hundreds of classes, homework and Mai related appointments she needed to keep. I had seen that handwriting everywhere, but had never expected to see it on a letter sent from a foreign country with no return label. There were at least ten stamps indicating it passed through various post offices so it was impossible to track.

At first, I wanted to rip up her letters. The anger of how they gave no suggestion of Chloe's whereabouts always sent me into a fit of rage. Jas would have to spar with me for hours, less I injury a trainee who could not keep up. I used the anger to cover up the deep sorrow I felt and ultimately the letters were the looming shadow that chased me from San Francisco to the Mai training camp. It was a place I could try and forget that Chloe was out there, vulnerable, without me… by choice.

Basset must have a sense of humor since it was the letters that sent me away, and a package with no return address that brought me back. What was even more puzzling were Chloe's final words before storming out hours ago, "Why haven't you opened the package? That's something that needs to be done."

The memory was already starting to blur, in fact, all the memoires of Chloe were starting to seem more and more like a dream. Was it really a little more than 24 hours ago that I was sitting on Chloe's roof and had spotted a hooded figure emerging from the window? The timeline of it all felt like someone was hitting fast forward and slow-mo all at the same time. So much had happened and yet the hours I've spent starring at the box seemed to tick by.

"Why haven't you opened the package?" Chloe's words echoed again in my head.

I knew why. I was scared to. Me, Alek Petrov, one of the greatest Mai warriors and first Uniter Protector was scarred. Damn, Chloe did have a way of doing that to me. It was her challenge moments before leaving that haunted me the most. "That's something that needs to be done," she had said. And what if I couldn't do it? What if Chloe was right and my feelings for her had compromised everything?

More time ticked by.

A car alarm somewhere on the street went off and the sun started to peak through the windows.

"Still sitting there?"

Jasmine's voice startled me out of my gaze on the package. She was leaning against the counter, drinking some water- a glass she managed to get so quietly I had not heard her.

"Excuse me?" I asked, the first words I had spoken Chloe had left me… again.

"You're still sitting there, like a lost puppy, just staring at the box," she said as a statement, revising her question.

I scoffed at the mention of puppy, Mai warriors were anything but dog-like, "Excuse me, puppy?"

Jas rolled her eyes and walked over to the kitchen table where I had been sitting for hours, "My bad on the word choice, but you do look lost, can I offer any assistance?"

She set down the glass of water and I realized it was for me. She then covered my hand with hers and looked at me, waiting for whatever I was going to say next.

I turned my eyes away from the box and looked directly into her deep brown ones. Jas was the strongest Mai, I knew. Valentia's death was hard on everyone, but Jas had managed to work through the grief and build one of the most world renown prides in the world. She had always come off like she never needed help, but as I gazed onto her eyes I saw my own sense of being lost reflected.

Of course, Jas would never want anyone to see her weakness, but in those few moments she trusted me, her only living family, with the truth that Chloe's disappearance five years ago had turned her world upside down too. While I ran away from my problems to deal with my loss, Jas did not have that luxury. She had been forced to stay in the city her mother had died in and where she was abandoned by her family and closest friend (I knew she would have never admitted to it, but Chloe was one of the only girl friends Jas could stand). While I had been outwardly wallowing in my misery these past 48 hours, Jas had kept in all bottled in.

I flipped my palm so that we were holding hands and attempted to give her a reassuring squeeze.

"I'm sorry I haven't been the family you deserved these past couple of days… and years while I'm at it." I replied after several moments.

Jasmine squeezed back with a half-smile, "That's okay Alek, we both had to deal with it in our own way, I'm just glad you're here now."

"Me too."

"That's good," Jas stated, "But now the real question," I winced as she asked it, "what the hell is in the box Alek?"

I looked back down at the foreboding box. "I don't know"

"Well, I know one way you can find out." Jasmine replied. When I didn't answer she proceeded to flick her wrist to extend her claws, saying as she cut through the tape, "You open it."

It took me another moment to realize that the seal had been broken and what lay inside was one step closer to being reveal. "What if it I mess it up?" I asked, trying to hide the waver in my voice. It was foolish to be this nervous, but I could practically feel myself bristling like a cat.

Jas flipped open the flaps, "Honestly Alek, she could not have sent it to you if you couldn't handle it."

Lack of using Chloe's name did not go unnoticed by me.

Having physically opened the box, I peered over the edge to see what was inside… packing peanuts.

"I can only take you so far cousin, you need to reach in."

Taking careful mental care to steady my hand, I reached in to the box through the packing peanuts and grasped the object inside. Sensing a shifting of weight due to liquid, I cautiously extracted the object: a chalice filled to the brim with a liquid. There was a plastic wrap to keep it from spilling, also making it obvious the drink was part of the package deal.

Jasmine grabbed the box out of my way and I carefully lowered the chalice back onto the table. A shuffling through the remaining peanuts by Jas also revealed a note to go along with the mysterious Uniter gift.

It read three little words, but each packed a punch. All in that curly handwriting I would recognize anywhere:

Alek, Drink Me

If you're anything like me and super emotionally invested in the Chloe and Alek's love life, this chapter was probably anything but satisfying , but I promise you, more romance is on it's way. I just need a couple more chapters to set it up. Bare with me!