Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 42nd cycle. Now cycle 44!

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** UPDATED WITH CYCLE 43 CHEAT SHEET ** Check it out to find out about shift days!

This is a shift day [see above]. There will be another upload this afternoon: Steps 16-36, Time Is On Your Side, chapter 12.

"Fire Light Ignites"
Young Rachel & Quinn
Sunshine Girls #44 (following 'Sunless Days')

It had all started with a movie, The Parent Trap, to be exact. As small as they were, as soon as there had been a tape to get their hands on to, Rachel and Quinn, as themselves and as Sunshine Girls both, had needed no assistance to get it started and sit there for as long as it lasted. For about a month, no more than two or three days passed between viewings. One day they had watched it two times in a row. And out of all this, there had been one project they had decided on: they wanted to go camping.

For weeks they had begged their respective parents. Rachel's fathers had declared themselves 'not very outdoorsy,' while Quinn's mother had started muttering something about bugs and just turned away. Of all of them, it had come down to Russell Fabray to finally rally his wife along and then have her convince the Berry fathers when they next came to pick up Rachel at their house. When the girls had found out they were all going camping, they had screeched their throats raw. It wasn't going to be for a few more weeks, but they didn't care: it was going to happen.

The morning they were all departing, Rachel and her fathers had met the Fabrays at their house so they could drive off together, and that included a 'passenger transfer.' Quinn would ride along with Rachel and her fathers, while her parents and her sister led the way. It was just as well; Rachel's fathers were a lot more receptive to the girls' hollered songs.

Once they got to the lake, they were made to sit while the tents were assembled by the four parents and Quinn's big sister. They had started out talking about what they were going to do, how they would look at the stars… But then it had become much more interesting to watch the five of them in the process of assembling the three tents. They would drop things, point here and there, sometimes throw something down and stomp off… Rachel and Quinn had sat there huddled together, giggling as discreetly as they could.

It had taken them about two hours to get the job done, after which everyone was too tired to do much else but eat some of what Judy had packed in anticipation of just this situation. The girls had begged for a fire, and a fire they got, though they had to stay well out of reach. The evening carried on much as it had since the beginning, with Quinn and Rachel having themselves a blast, while their parents did their best to get through this night in one piece. The three girls, the two of them and Quinn's sister, would share one tent, the parents in a pair of tents that flanked theirs. Before long the girls were told to get their pyjamas on and go to bed. Quinn's sister was fast asleep, and they said they would go as well, but then there were concerns…

Having loved the movie as they had, Rachel had gotten it in her head that there could be bears. Curled up in their sleeping bags, the two of them were wide awake, Rachel out of fear, and Quinn from hearing the brunette muttering to herself.

"What's wrong?" Quinn asked, lifting her head.

"Bears…" Rachel whimpered.

"My dad said there are no bears," Quinn shook her head.

"Maybe they're hiding," Rachel whispered, unconvinced. Quinn giggled at that. "Not funny!" Rachel insisted. After a moment, Quinn got up out of her bag and tiptoed over to Rachel's, slipping in at her side – the bag was more than enough to hold them both.

"Take my hand," Quinn offered it, and Rachel took it. "We're okay. Sunshine Girls, remember?" she nodded, and Rachel nodded back, then paused.

"I hear something!" she whispered. Quinn listened.

"It's my mom and my dad and your dad and your pop," she shrugged. She got up again, peering out of the tent to make sure. "There, see?" she pointed. Rachel got up and went to look.

"Okay," she breathed, and they went back in Rachel's bag. She felt safer now that they'd looked, and now that Quinn was at her side. "Quinn?" she asked after a moment.

"There's no bears," she promised.

"It's not that," Rachel shook her head, paused. "How come your dad doesn't like my dads?" she asked.

"Yes, he does," she frowned, confused.

"My dads say he doesn't," Rachel maintained. "I hear them talking, and they say that." Quinn considered this. "But my dads are great, they're funny and they're nice…"

"They are," Quinn agreed. "They give good hugs," she grinned, and Rachel did too. "I don't know why he wouldn't like them," she frowned now. "He never goes to your house," she stated.

"He doesn't," Rachel agreed. "Because he doesn't like them?"

"Maybe," Quinn shrugged. They remained silent for some time, listening to the sounds of the night, and of the distant conversation still going on around the camp fire. "I'll ask him," Quinn decided, but Rachel shook her head, and Quinn mimed it. "No?"

"What if I can't go to your house anymore? Or you can't come to mine?" she asked, squeezing her best friend's hand.

"Okay, we won't say then," she vowed. She stretched out her fingers, and Rachel understood, turning her hand to create the same shape the opposite way – the Sunshine Girls' symbol – a promise. Soon they would drift off to sleep, at ease by each other's side.

The rest of the weekend was spent with everyone more or less focusing on giving Rachel and Quinn, the instigators of this whole trip, the adventure they'd been after. By the time they would all get their things packed in the car, they would be sad to go, but at the same time they would be happy for the memories they had made. Neither of them spoke of what they'd discussed in the tent on that first night. Eventually they would forget, too little to give it much more thought than this. They didn't dwell on the negative, much preferred staying with the positive, as one might expect of a couple of Sunshine Girls.

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!