Title: Masks
Author: StarWars-Freak
Summary: Jimena's and Collin's reaction to Serena's Choice. TFE spoilers. One shot.
Rating: T
Genre: Drama/Hurt/Comfort/Romance
Notes: I just couldn't deal any longer with the horrid lack of Jimena/Collin in The Final Eclipse, so here's a non-humorous follow-up to it.
Masks
"You saved the world. Don't you want to celebrate? . . . I understand your anger . . . I've had time to mourn Catty. I knew what was going to happen. So I cried my tears already. I hate what happened . . . And I knew Serena wouldn't be coming back . . . I was angry . . . when I first found out. It still doesn't feel fair."
Jimena drew in a shaky breath as she left Vanessa on the beach. The words she had spoken just moments ago to soothe Vanessa rolled around in her mind.
They stung worse than she could imagine. She had mourned. She was angry. It just didn't seem right; perhaps, that had been sufficient for the Pandia-side coming out in her or for the chola-side still residing in her. But those sides weren't all the made up Jimena Castillo.
Tears pricked the sides of her eyes, but she willed them away. No. She could mourn for years on the inside, but no one would see it from without. She was Jimena Castillo. She was strong; she was bold; she was tough. She. Did. Not. Cry.
Jimena pulled into the Killingsworth's driveway and parked. Collin's van was the only sign that anyone lived there anymore. Mr. Killingsworth was gone even more often since Serena's disappearance, but with Collin, it had been the opposite: he hadn't left the house in weeks.
Jimena Castillo slowly made her way up the front walk, through the door, into the hall. Then, with slow, deliberate steps she ascended the stairs. No light shone from under Collin's door, and she knew Serena's room was locked up tight. Without knocking, Jimena turned the knob and entered Collin's room.
Collin lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling; he didn't move as she walked over to him.
"Serena?" he finally croaked, as she stood over him.
"She's not coming back, baby," Jimena whispered with a dry throat.
And when Jimena saw his face crumple even further, she could not hold back any longer. Because, underneath it all – underneath the mask of bravado and toughness – Jimena Castillo was a sad little girl who just lost the first piece of real family she had ever had.
The moon was high and full and bright that night. The first time in a long time. But Collin Killingsworth, one of the only normal mortals alive to know the significance of such an event could not bring himself to rejoice. He did not know what it had cost him yet.
Jimena knew. She had known for a long time: he had noticed the subtle changes in her behavior ever since she shared her concerns about Tianna's destiny with him months ago. She wouldn't tell him, even if he asked, so he never did. But she would tell him tonight, though, if he just listened to what the pain in his heart was trying to tell him, he would know already.
Collin lay awake that entire night, knowing Jimena would be there soon, but dawn was already passed when heard a car pull into the driveway in the still of the early morning. Without thinking he knew it was Jimena, even though her usual music wasn't blaring through her speakers. So he waited longer, unable to discern the sound of her footsteps, which she had perfected to silence at some point in her days in the streets.
His door knob turned and she entered. He didn't move; he was afraid that with one look at her, he would know an awful truth. She was standing beside his bed, the sunlight streaming in from behind her, lighting like angel's wings across her back.
"Serena?" his own voice was unfamiliar to him.
"She's not coming back, baby," her whisper shattered his heart. Collin could feel his face cave in, though he didn't shed a tear. He couldn't.
Then he heard Jimena sob, and without warning the ocean of tears he'd kept at bay since Serena's disappearance fell down his cheeks. Because underneath it all – underneath the mask of bravery and strength – Collin Killingsworth was just a scared little boy who just lost the last piece of real family he had ever had.
The two lovers held each other that day, masks torn from their faces for a time when the world seemed to stop.
Eventually, they knew, that just as they clung to each other that day and for years afterwards, they would cling to the lesson Selene teach us all – that even in our darkest of moments, there is hope for another full moon.