Coveted [New/Revised Version]

ONLY FAIRYTALES END HAPPILY

MUSICAL INSPIRATION: TOO CLOSE by ALEX CLARE

***It's what I imagine would start playing around Sky's goodbye to Iris before the time shift.

After making sure Jacob was fine, Sky took a separate flight from the rest of the Save Iris Brigade. Gregory, Jacob, and Mae stayed behind to keep an eye on Penny until her transfer to St. Catharine Hospital in Westmyth. The flight was only three hours later but he still didn't want to face their unrelenting questions. All he wanted was to be alone with his thoughts. He wanted to sort out the jumbled mess of what he felt. Things he couldn't do surrounded by seemingly stable individuals with the exceptions of Sue, Chantelle, and Iris.

The moment Sky was home, he moved in frenzy. He packed all clothing and items necessary for his journey. He heard the faint sounds of Valentine's deep breathing yards away and silently crept up to the open door. The younger Jayden was facedown, fully clothed on his bed, asleep. The day had been long he supposed, stress and all, so he didn't wake his brother. Sky took his suitcases and duffle bags downstairs, leaving a note explaining he "needed time to himself" and would be back "when convenient."

Taking a final look at his home in Westmyth, he started down the white path to Ruby. He threw his belongings in the trunk and backseat then clambered in. There was a tap on his window and for a moment, he thought he woke Valentine up. That theory was quickly discarded when he found Leo beside his door.

"You really leavin' me to babysit?" he held up the note. "You know I suck at takin' care of kids."

"You'll manage."

"Manage?" the other vampire howled. "Please! When you come back and find the house in shambles, don't point fingers this way."

"As long as none of it is irreparable damage." Sky winked.

Leo snorted. "I'll pass that along."

"You'd better."

"Don't I get to know where you're goin'?"

"I don't even know where I'm going."

"Man, your plans are always solid."

"At least they're plans."

"Right," Leo chuckled. Clapping Sky on the shoulder, he told him, "Take care man. Come home in one piece, yeah?"

"Will do."

He started the engine and carefully drove out onto the road. The first destination in his mind was the airport but after a look at his surroundings, he realized it wouldn't be that simple. His subconscious won this battle he didn't know he'd been fighting.

"I'm startin' think it's this whole town without a sense of time." Lena squinted at Sky. She was dressed in her nightgown and her blonde locks were free from their usual braided state. "Don't just stand there. Spit it out. Why are you here?"

"I..." Sky hesitated to articulate his purpose in being there. It was simple he knew. He came to say goodbye. Yet, faced with Lena's scrutinizing stare at four in the morning, a foreign sense of embarrassment crept up on him. His hand reached inside his jacket for a small, rectangular gift box. Its black suede almost shimmered in the dim light. "I'm headed out of town for a while. I came to drop this off."

"Impressive," Lena chirped, her mood a lot easier to brighten than Penelope's. She beckoned. "I'll give it to her in the mornin' when she wakes up."