Welcome to Gaia! ::

There were only two ways for a boy to get into the Crystal Academy dormitories. If you were a smart, rule-abiding individual you might simply come during the visiting hours and call for your female friend to let you into the dorm building. If you were Andeon Boskovic, you stole your better half's clothing, threw on a wig, and went strutting into the building like you were strutting down the catwalk of a Victorias Secret fashion show.

He had made it about two steps before the sole security guard took note of the chick in the black miniskirt with hairy legs and one hell of an adams apple. The following chase scene was like something out of Scooby Doo, complete with ducking and and out of hallways and hiding in closets. Andeon finally ditched the overweight, half-balding man when Snuzzles leapt from his warm perch beneath Andeon's obnoxious platinum-blonde wig and scampered off to play the role of 'horrifying distraction', allowing Andeon to escape up the stairs and onto the landing of the floor which he knew to house Serenade's room.

Let it be known that on a dark and stormy night in February, Andeon Boskovic learned to run in three-inch heels.

Andeon kept his head down as he strode quickly down the hall, rapping his knuckles upon the door of Serenade's room. With his other hand he pulled up the electric pink tube top, muttering something about his strapless push-up bra being absolutely useless.

Let it also be known that Andeon made a hotter girl than Lady Gaga.

Alright, so that wasn't an incredible accomplishment.

Still, let it be known.

The Mutables had talked about it, briefly. About who would tell her. How they would tell her. What any of them could possibly say to ease the blow. Of course, there was no such thing as easing the blow. No more for Serenade than for any of the rest of them. In the end, it had been Andeon only because Andeon might be the only one who could say the words without bursting into tears. He had rehearsed it over and over again, staring at his own red-rimmed eyes in the bathroom mirror as he said the same three words over and over again.

Jude is dead.

It took seven tries before he could get the words out without the words choking him.

Jude is dead.

Eleven before he could say it without wincing.

Jude is dead.

Seventeen before he finally slammed a fist into the bathroom door and let out one long, painful, agonized scream. Even Andeon, who had never liked Jude, had wrapped his arms around himself and cried for the loss. He felt it in his heart, like a piece of himself that had been ripped out, leaving a raw, aching wound behind that no amount of drinking or rationalizing could ease. More than once he had found himself sitting in stunned silence on the small patio of the apartment he shared with Mackenzie, staring off into the night because he couldn't sleep without seeing the face of his former team mate. He had sat there in the cold, until Mackenzie wrapped a blanket around his shoulders and, with a gentle kiss to his temple, told him to come inside. When he had, she had held his head against her shoulder as smoothed his hair down as he cried.

Even when he curled up with his head in her lap while she ran her fingers through his hair and coaxed him to sleep, he dreamed. He dreamed of days in the depths of space, when every day brought the threat of being the last. He dreamed of the way things used to be, before any of them had died.

Before they had died again.

Before they had lost Eon and before they had all had to deal with that hollow, pained look in Serenade's eyes. For the first time since Barren Pines, Andeon desperately wished their prince were there. Eon would have known the words to soothe Serenade's heart, the proper framing that could cushion the blow of those three words. If Alistair were there, then the Zodiacs would have been whole. Even without Jude, somehow Alistair would have found a way. He always did.

But Alistair wasn't there, and Andeon found himself staring at the smile that he had so desperately hoped to see, knowing that he would soon be responsible for hiding it away for who knew how long. The world, he knew from personal experience, was a much bleaker place without Serenade's smile. So he cherished it while it was there. Andeon didn't waste any time before crossing the threshold, wrapping his arms around their princess – his princess – in a tight hug.

“I missed you.”

It was Mackie's bra. However, when it came to the Gemini twins, the 'yours is mine, mine is yours' rule was always in effect. Andeon had, on numerous occasions, found his boxers in Mackenzie's laundry basket. He had to practically wrestle his Pink Floyd shirt from her during an argument over who would get to wear it to the next Mutables meeting.

Taking her advice, Andeon flopped down to a sitting position on one of the beds. Removing the heels was rather easy. His feet didn't fit well enough for Andeon to have buckled the straps, but he did have to pull the dig the thin vinyl straps from the deep indentions they'd left in the sides of his feet. Andeon rubbed one blistered toe, muttering something about how women were all 'crazy ******** masochists with the pain tolerance of a gorilla'.

Andeon did not have the proper zoological knowledge to make this assessment, but this did not seem to bother him.

“Clearly you just need to open your own school. Muffin Pants Academy for Girls and Boys who Moonlight as Legendary Solar-System Heroes. I volunteer myself for the role of Headmaster.” Andeon did not mention that his alternate definition for 'Headmaster' was 'Master of Receiving Head.' This was, after all, his princess. Even Andeon had some standards. “I would also accept the role of Girls Volleyball Coach, with the stipulation that girls under sixteen are not permitted to play and that all girls over sixteen must play. Preferably in a bikini. I suppose I can make an exception for Pisces, but she would need to wear a damn snowsuit.”

He was stalling.

“Serenade,” he lifted his gaze to meet her after a long, quiet moment. A hand fumbled for his henshin pen. This was not news for Andeon Boskovic to break. This was news for her soldier to give her. News that should come from the man who had known Saggitarius, not the teenage boy who had neither known nor liked Jude Lawson. A moment later, it was Sailor Gemini that looked up at her from the seated position on the bed, setting the beer that seemed to spawn with every henshin off to the side. This marked the first transformation where he had not immediately cracked it open with his belt buckle and proceeded to drink.

There were times when sobriety was not an option. This was certainly one of them.

“Serenade, what have you heard about Jude?”

And there it was.

The dawning comprehension, the slow spread of fear and worry over Serenade's pretty features. The progression was enough to break Andeon's heart all over again as he silently watched. Only when she asked, only when he felt she fully understood that something must have been horribly wrong did he move to kneel on the floor beside her. Andeon – Sailor Gemini – took the hands of his princess in his own and gazed up into eyes that commanded an adoration he could not deny. For a brief moment, he could imagine what it must be like for the Lunars. How incredibly difficult it must be to go day to day without knowing where their princess was or if she was safe.

He couldn't imagine not being able to know that every second, someone was making sure Serenade was perfectly fine. Yet there he was, about to make sure that she was in no way, shape, or form perfectly fine.

“He fought,” Andeon didn't know that. Andeon could know that. He knew as little about the details of Jude's death as the rest of them. He knew that Jude had been found with a name inscribed in his chest, he knew that Jude had died as Jude Lawson. He knew that Jude had probably never even seen the b*****d coming. He also knew that if he could have, Jude would have fought. Sagittarius would have fought, it was just the Zodiac way, “He's gone, Serenade. The Negaverse...” His voice cracked. Andeon didn't want his voice to crack, “Obsidian killed him. He took his starseed.”

Andeon didn't need to say the next part, but he did anyways.

“He can't be reborn again.”

Like a knife to the chest, Serenade spoke. The look on her face, the tone of her voice, the many indictors of the pain she felt struck a chord in Andeon. Serenade was Chronos, she was his princess, but she was the person who had gone through so much with all of them when they were still alive. She was their friend, their leader, the one they all fought to protect even when she didn't need protecting. In every way, Serenade was the Zodiacs. Her pain was their pain, and Andeon felt that truth burning in his chest. He rose and wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

“I promise,” he began, keeping his voice as steady as possible. Her reminded himself that she needed his strength now. She needed all of their strength. In the back of his mind, Andeon desperately wished Mackenzie were here. She would have known the right things to say, the right things to do. One Gemini without the other was a fish out of water, fumbling through things as best he could. One hand cradled the back of her head, and Andeon kissed her temple gently.

“I promise, Mackenzie and I will find him,” he said, “Obsidian can't take us both. If Jude's starseed exists, we will get it back. He was ours, and we will get him back.”

Andeon held Serenade close because there was nothing else he could do. Sure, he could pat her back gently and tell her it was going to be okay and that they would find a way to bring Jude back and that everything would be alright. He could talk about the good times and say that they would see Jude's stupid hair and his stupid eyebrow piercing and his stupid pink eyes and make her laugh and then tell her how they would all have their happy endings. The problem with that was that Serenade, unlike so many of her prissy schoolmates, was not a stupid girl. She was a girl who had endured more hardship than nearly any girl her age and suffered more loss than damn near anyone ever had. Serenade was many things, but no, stupid certainly did not number among them. Neither did naïve.

“Come on,” he said, and he pulled back to see her face and forced a lightness to his voice that had been practiced over the years, “It's me and Mackie.” One hand wiped the tears from her cheeks, the other counted off fingers, leading with his thumb and starting over when necessary, “Chaos monsters, fire, exploding buildings, more fire, zombies, gunshot wounds to the head, being eaten, beheading, and being Thunderdomed by a serial killer with purple dreadlocks hasn't kept us down. You think one man can? Oh, ye of little faith.”

Andeon leaned in and kissed Serenade's forehead softly, right where the stone of her tiara would have been, “Princess,” he whispered, gently holding her face in his hands, “For you, we've travelled across centuries. For you, we'll find the man who did this.”

“Oh, Princess,” Andeon sighed, and he smiled as she folded her hands around his. Like the rest of him, his hands were calloused and rough around the edges, but Andeon closed his fingers around Serenad'e much softer hands with gentle strength. He looked at her for a long while, silent and appreciative, wondering what it would have been like for all of them if she had never been there. If it had been Chronos, not Eon, who had given up her life to give them all one more chance.

Imaginative as Andeon was knonw to be, he couldn't begin to think of what that would have been like. Chronos held them together, even when they seemed to be trying to tear themselves (and often enough, each other) apart.

“When are we not safe.” Andeon paused, “Don't answer that. Come on. It's late and I have to stay up and beat Mackenzie's a** in Halo. I need coffee. You need coffee. We need coffee. I think I'm asking you to go have coffee.”