A/N: So, I believe I will start doing a weekly update every Wednesday or Tuesday, if possible. I will try to be consistent, but don't shoot me if I'm not.

A shout out to Guest: Thank you so much for your review! I have Helen in here a little, just for you. But it's sorta hard with her gone and all. :D Thanks again.

Thanks to others who have reviewed, followed, or favorited. It brings me mucho happiness. Please continue to do so! I love to hear people's thoughts and feelings!

So here is the newest chapter, didn't edit—again. But I will go back and do that as soon as possible, so forgive any stupid mistakes made in here. Thanks, love ya'll!

-Kenxi

"And, you know, she didn't even explain the guy—Ron, whatever—who arrived tonight!"

Jules was pacing the library like a nervous dog, (Julian always seemed to remind her of dogs for some unknown reason) albeit he wasn't just nervous, and he was finally giving audio to his thoughts, unfortunately.

Really, Emma shouldn't have been surprised. She held her heavy head in one hand and a book in the other as she listened to Jules let loose all of his carefully concealed thoughts and feelings—it was like holding back a spring as far as it would go, and then pop! The thing shoots right back up unexpectedly, well, only unexpected if you weren't waiting for it. Emma, however, had been waiting for it. After the information they had just scored, she should have seen it coming long before it came. But now that Julian was getting it all off of his chest, it just felt wrong. He wasn't really one for outbursts. Being the thoughtful artist that he was, Jules was generally quieter, more subtle, to what was on his mind. In fact, sometimes he didn't really even talk; instead he would paint his emotions. Seeing him like this now made Emma wonder if he was trying to act like a normal person with his rants. If she wasn't so exhausted, she might have even wondered if he was trying to hide something behind the whole façade. However she was, indeed, so exhausted.

"Oh, and another thing," he said, stopping his pacing long enough to look Emma in the eye, "how do we know we can trust her anyway? I mean, she just waltzes in here, acting like—"

"She's a faerie, Jules." Emma cut in tiredly. His lively energy was a bit startling, even making her even more in wanting of sleep. "The girl couldn't lie if she wanted to."

It had been a long day for the two of them, and they hadn't had much time at all to really talk. Not, of course, that they needed to talk too much. Both had quite a well understanding of the other without words between them. It was, however, an unspoken tradition for them to talk to each other anyway. The conversation thing hadn't actually been a plan, though. The plan had been to go to the library and hit some books and news articles on these deaths that Calie had been speaking of. They hadn't gotten very far before Jules snapped.

Snapped. A word Emma never thought she'd use in the same sentence as her best friend's name. Uneasy with the thought, she finally lifted her head without the support from her arm to look at him, just now noticing that he had stopped talking.

"Jules?" She asked softly, unsure of what to actually ask him. He turned away from the book shelves to face her, and when she did she found herself suddenly wide awake in alarm.

His face was flushed from the consistent pacing for the last fifteen minutes and probably the whole situation as well. The ends of his brown hair curled from the thin sheen of sweat on his face, and his hands were rubbing each other like he was attempting to hide the shaking of them. All were things she had noticed before, but the thing she hadn't noticed at all were his eyes. Emma mentally scolded herself for not noticing earlier. Despite the apparent frustration of everything, his eyes told a different story; the blue-green eyes were wide and vulnerable.

Julian Blackthorn was in no way angry.

He was scared.

Emma stood up then, forgetting all thought of sleep. She said nothing, only watched as he looked away once more so she couldn't see the pain in his eyes.

Julian's soft voice broke the silence, no edge to it this time. "Look, Em, I'm sorry. I just don't know what to do, you know? I mean, I have only one chance to save my brother, and I hardly have the knowledge or understanding of what it is I'm supposed to be doing." His voice cracked, and Emma could see him lift his head towards the ceiling, running his hands through his hair. "Sure, we haven't told anyone about this whole deal yet, but they'll find out. Ty's too smart not too." Emma could hear the smile in his words and her heart ached for her parabatai. "And what do you think they'll do once they find out though, huh? They'll all want to help. All of them, so that they can get their brother back. The brother they lost because I wasn't capable enough to—"

She was already behind him, his body turned away from hers, and was wrapping her arms around his torso to stop his words, and also just because she knew he needed this. Julian had always had problems with disconnecting himself from people sometimes, so Emma held onto him tightly, as if she alone could keep him grounded.

He didn't even flinch at her touch, just relaxed into it and covered her hands with his. Emma rested her head on his shoulder. She could feel the heat of his body coming through his flannel shirt and breathed in his familiar smell of dried paints and cinnamon. An odd combination, but one she was wholly familiar with and loved.

They stayed like that for a long time, both gaining strength from one another, neither needing to say a word. He knew she would support him through everything. She knew that he always had her back and that he would eventually be okay. It was easy to give Jules what he needed—he didn't ask for much at all. Not, Emma had noticed early on, that he ever vocally asked. He didn't need to.

It took a while, but eventually the two of them headed off for bed, ready to face whatever came next.

Together.

The next morning, Emma awoke to laughing.

Seriously, laughing.

She sat up in her soft bed quickly, frowning at the tan wall across from her. She could feel just how attractive her hair was at the moment; it felt like a great big frizz nest of dead hair cells on top of her head. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Emma threw her heavy legs over the side of the bed, stopping at the squeals of laughter coming from the room next to hers. Jules' room.

Emma furrowed her brow even further, noting how the squeals were clearly feminine, young, and obviously belonging to that of Dru.

The thin carpet was a bit itchy for her bare feet, but Emma crept slowly all the same along the wall so as to get a peak. Peering around the edge of the ajar door, she could see Julian with a computer on his lap, surrounded by Dru, Livia, Ty, and Tavvy who sat in Dru's arms. All five of them sat together on the bed, leaning against the head of it, laughing at the computer screen. It was then that Emma noticed a voice coming through the computer.

Ah, Emma thought. They had to be talking to Helen, Julian's sister, who had been sent to Wrangel Island somewhere in the Arctic. Helen had been there for five years, ever since the War. Every now and again the Blackthorns would be given the opportunity to talk to her through the computer program Skype. It wasn't the most ideal things, but considering the fate of Jules' parents and his brother Mark, it was far greater than they could have hoped.

Julian glanced up and caught Emma's eye, as if he had felt her presence being near to him. Not all that surprising. They shared a small smile, both of their faces revealing that they were still worried about everything. And by the look on Julian's face, Emma knew that he hadn't told anyone about it yet, not that she had expected him too. He waved her in.

"Hey, Helen," Emma greeted her best friend's sister as she arrived behind the camera of the computer that allowed Helen to see her face. She had to scoot awkwardly onto the bed behind Ty and next to Jules, but she didn't mind. It was good to be together. "How is Aline?"

With the poor image quality, Emma could just barely make out Helen's pointed ears and intense eyes. Her bright hair, however, was impossible to notice. It looked longer than when she'd last seen Helen, now almost to her elbows. Leaning casually backward Emma was able to sneak some words to Jules through their special language.

I-S R-O-N G-U-Y A-W-A-K-E Y-E-T?

"She is fine, thanks," Helen replied, a smile on her face. "She is actually having a small meeting with some people on the Council about getting me out of here soon." Her expression was one of excitement, but there were notable traces of impatience and just straight up pain from everything that had happened to them. Things like that probably never leave people, though. Julian always tried to mask his own pain, but just like Helen, it was always there if she looked for it. Emma wondered if the same ghosted etchings were in her own features. The thought made her shiver.

As everyone began talking about what they would do when Helen got back, Jules and Emma remained silent as he painted along her arm with his nimble fingers.

N-O-T Y-E-T.

Emma slumped further against the wooden head of the bed and partially on Jules as well. He just slid a comforting arm over her shoulders and joined the conversation with his half faerie sister.

After about another thirty minutes of talking and laughing, the time was up and Helen had to leave. They all sent their love through the screen and Emma caught one glance of Helen's saddened face before the screen went black.

Letting out a big sigh, Emma snuggled closer to Jules who was a lot warmer than she was.

Julian broke the silence that had somehow snuck inside. "Well, you guys should all get ready, Jackie is gonna have a nice big breakfast ready soon. Wouldn't want to miss that." He winked at Emma.

As everyone left, he finally relaxed more into himself and let the real worry show on his face. "Look, Em, I'm sorry about last night. You know that I don't really mean most of the things I said and—"

Emma rolled her eyes at him and cut in. "Just stop right there, Sweetheart. I get it, okay? You're stressed. I mean, this is your brother we're talking about." Just as quickly she dropped her flippant tone and held his gaze seriously. "Jules, it's all going to work out, okay? We're going to get Mark back. We're going to find the monster who killed my parents and several others who didn't deserve to die. And then you're going to see Mark again—someone who didn't deserve to get taken from his family. We'll work it out. You and me. Just like we always do."

Julian searched her eyes for any doubt in them, she knew. But what she also knew was that he would find none there. Because for some crazy reason, she believed every word she said. Everything was going to be just—

Livia burst into the room just then, her face full of alarm. Emma and Jules sat up immediately, already climbing off of the bed.

"The man who came here last night," she breathed harshly, "the one talking about "killings" or something? Yeah, he just woke up."

Emma, who'd been looking at Jules then, watching his expression closely, jerked her attention to Livia at that. Before she could ask anything at all, Livia continued, her voice sounding bleak.

"His words are making zero sense. In fact, I think he's lost his mind."

A/N: Please please review! I would love to hear of any ideas or thoughts and such. Thanks for reading!

-Kenxi