She Walks in Beauty
Disclaimer: I do not own Sabrina The Animated Series. I would like to thank Griffinmon for creating the original chapter for this story, which I will try to live up to and you should read before starting this story.
Chapter One:
Sabrina woke up to the sun shining gently on her face. Slowly she sat up and yawned. Rubbing her eyes, she glanced over at her alarm clock. "Nine-fifteen, perfect," she said as she slid out of bed and began her morning ritual. Eventually the made her way down the stairs to the kitchen, glancing at the clock as she came in. Hilda and Zelda were already there and smiled at Sabrina as she came in. "Morning," Sabrina smiled as she poured herself a bowl of cereal.
"Morning Sabrina," Hilda replied as she poured more syrup on her pancakes. "So, got any plans for the weekend?"
"A few," the witchling replied as she joined her aunts at the table.
"Are you going to get together with Gem today?" Zelda asked.
"Yea, she's going to pick me up in a few minutes. We're going to the mall," Sabrina replied.
"You and Gem have certainly changed your tune," Hilda pointed out. "Up until yesterday you two couldn't stand each other; now you're getting together for the second time in two days."
"Yea well, Gem's turned over a new leaf I guess," the half-witch replied.
"A new leaf you say," Salem said as he sauntered into the room. "You used to say Gem'd need to grow a whole new tree."
"Things change Salem," Sabrina replied. "And so do people."
"This has something to do with what you two talked about yesterday, doesn't it?" Salam asked. "The one you refuse to tell anyone about?" The warlock goaded.
"All right, I give up," Sabrina sighed, noticing the smirk which crossed Salem's face. "Gem said she was sorry for all the mean things she did and asked if we could be friends. I said yes, and she dropped me off back here. Satisfied?"
"And you couldn't tell this to Chloe… why?" The warlock cat asked.
"Because Chloe hates Gem even more than I did, and I'm waiting for the right time to tell her."
"Ahh, I see. Well good luck with that, now where's my breakfast?"
Leaving Salem and her aunts to work out the warlock's meal, Sabrina put her bowl in the sink and hurried out into the front yard just in time to see Gem's limo pull up. Crossing over, the half-witch couldn't help but feel a tingle of apprehension, but she felt it melt away when the door opened and Gem waved at her.
"Hi Gem, thanks for coming," Sabrina said as she took the seat next to Gem. Memories of her last ride with Gem sprang into her mind, bringing a smile to her face as she felt the limo start moving.
"You're welcome. It feels good to have a friend to spend time with," Gem replied, briefly glancing out the window.
"Same here; friends are always a good thing to have, and now we each have one more," the witchling smiled. It was just then that she noticed Gem's eyes were a bit puffy. "Hey, are you all right?" She asked.
"Oh, so you noticed," Gem said. "I'm fine; it's just that last night…well…" The raven haired girl trailed off.
Sabrina wrapped her arms around Gem and rested her head against her new friend's shoulder. "You were thinking about our...conversation?" Sabrina felt Gem nod.
"I don't regret what happened," Gem said. "It's just that…you're the first person I've really thought of as a friend."
"Really? At school you always had people fighting to be around you," Sabrina said back.
"Come on Sabrina, even you should know they were simply trying to get into my good graces so I'd buy stuff for them. That's how I always kept those cheerleaders around. They were always waiting for their next gift." Leaning over, Gem enveloped Sabrina in a soft hug. "You were the first person I ever felt anything different from. I knew it the first time we met."
"You mean back when you first came to Greendale?" Sabrina remembered the day Gem was talking about. The raven haired girl had transferred to Greendale when Sabrina had been in fifth grade and on her first day she had spread around some money and promises and created her own little group. "You thought you'd be in charge of the school pretty soon."
"Yea, but then I met you," Gem said as she wrapped an arm around Sabrina. "You were the first person, well, aside from my parents, who stood up to me."
"I remember; you wanted the table I was sitting at for lunch and I said no." Sabrina had been waiting for Chloe and had refused to budge. Gem had glared and stomped off with her group.
"Yea, I was surprised. Ever since I can remember I've always been able to get whatever I wanted as long as I obeyed my parents."
"Your parents are pretty strict aren't they?" Sabrina asked, remembering the time she'd used the Spooky Jar to briefly swap lives with Gem. It was then she had begun to understand Gem's superior attitude and constant need to feel important.
"You have no idea Sabrina," Gem said in reply as she leaned back into her seat. "My Dad's always telling that being a Stone means never showing weakness or hesitation, and since I can remember he's made up this grueling training schedule to keep me 'up to par.' I'm lucky if I have time for homework some days."
"Wow, that's tough," Sabrina said, remembering what she'd been put through in her day as Gem. "What about your Mom, does she ever try and help out?"
"No, she's always too busy talking to her friends over the phone. Sometimes I think she even does it in her sleep," Gem giggled. "I barely talk to her because she tends to get mad if you interrupt one of her ever so important conversations. I guess I've taken after them huh?"
"Yea, but now I understand why you're the way you are," Sabrina said as she leaned back too. "Do you think they'll be angry when they find out about our friendship?" The half-witch asked.
"If they found out, probably, but don't worry," Gem smiled as she ran a hand through Sabrina's hair. "I've learned ways to get around them. As long as we don't kiss in front of them we'll be fine."
"Then we should get it out of our systems," Sabrina smiled as she leaned over and gently pressed her lips to Gem's. The other girl quickly responded, wrapping her arms around Sabrina and pulling her closer. When the two finally broke contact they were both blushing and smiling. "You're cute when you blush."
"So are you," Gem replied as she returned Sabrina's favor, pressing the blond back against the seat. Both closed their eyes and enjoyed the simple contact between them. When Gem finally broke the kiss she leaned over and opened a drawer to her left. Feeling around for a moment, she pulled out a thin white box with a blue ribbon. "I've been wanting to give this to you for a while now," she said as she handed the box to Sabrina.
"Thanks Gem," Sabrina said as she pulled off the ribbon and removed the box's lid. "Oh wow, it's beautiful," the witchling smiled as she held up a golden heart shaped locket. Sabrina was engraved on the front in thin, curvy letters. She tried to open it but the latch wouldn't budge.
"Look in the box Sabrina, there's a key," Gem advised her friend.
Sabrina looked back in the box and sure enough there was a key, a tiny thing about the size of a pin. Picking it up between her thumb and index finger, she slid it into a nearly invisible hole in the side of the locket, causing it to pop open and reveal a picture of Gem's smiling face.
"I had the lock added so no one but you could know what's inside."
"That's just like you Gem, smart and beautiful," Sabrina smiled, enjoying the blush on her lover's face. She held out the locket. "Care to do the honors?"
"My pleasure," Gem grinned as she opened the clasp and placed the locket around Sabrina's neck. "It looks beautiful on you."
"I wish I had something to give you," Sabrina replied as she fingered the cool metal around her neck.
"You've already given me something," Gem replied as she relaxed against Sabrina and closed her eyes. "A real friend. That's the best present I could ask for."
"Gem," Sabrina said softly as she wrapped her arms around the smiling girl, feeling completely at peace as she felt Gem's heartbeat against her.
Sabrina was wishing the moment could last forever when a clear patrician voice came over the intercom. "We have arrived at the main mall parking lot Ms. Stone."
"Come on Sabrina; let's have some fun," Gem smiled brightly. Practically dragging her blond friend after her, Gem pulled Sabrina out of the limo just before it sped off.
"What if we run into someone from school?" Sabrina asked.
"Hmm," Gem pondered. "We'll tell them you lost a bet and have to carry my purchases for today."
"Sounds like something you'd say," Sabrina replied as she and Gem entered the mall.
"Only a half-lie really, considering most of them will probably be yours."
"Mine?" Sabrina asked. "You mean that…"
"It's my way of saying thanks," Gem smiled. "So which store do you wanna visit first?"
"I…I'm not sure," Sabrina answered. "I've never really had anyone do anything like this for me before."
"Well get used to it," Gem grinned. "As my best friend, you should always have the best of everything. Now come on Spellman, we're wasting time," Gem ended in her regular, commanding voice as the two girls entered a busier part of the mall.
Putting on what she hoped was a convincing frown, Sabrina followed Gem as she led the witchling towards the clothing department.
"Whew, my arms are killing me," Sabrina groaned as she sat down at a table in the food court. A pile of bags and packages dropped away on both sides of her seat. Gem had led her on what Sabrina considered the best mall experience of her life. Most of the store owners had recognized Gem and accepted Sabrina as just another tag along.
"I hope you enjoyed yourself," Gem said as she took the seat next to Sabrina, waving a slice of pizza under the witchling's nose.
"Are you kidding? I've never had this much fun at the mall," Sabrina smiled. "Now all I have to do is find room in my closet for all this," she said as she propped up a falling bag.
"Well, I do have a lot of space available at my house," Gem suggested, careful not to let her voice carry.
"Are you suggesting I move into your house?" Sabrina giggled. "I think your parents would notice something like that."
"Not move in," Gem replied with a knowing smirk. "But coming over to swap out your 'poor peasant cloths' for some of my more useless outfits would give us some chances to have fun without my parents getting suspicious."
"Funny, and genius," Sabrina smiled. "You really are amazing Gem."
"Thanks, but the food court's filling up, so we'd better start frowning," Gem suggested with a wink. Both girls put their game faces back on and ate like they couldn't wait to be away from each other. When they were finished Sabrina picked up her purchases, grunting as she lifted them, and began following Gem towards the main entrance. They were halfway there when someone collided with Sabrina from the side, sending her crashing into Gem and both girls hit the floor.
"Ok, who did that?!" Gem demanded, her frown real this time. Something moved under Sabrina's packages and a familiar face appeared. "Oh, it's you."
"Yea, nice to see you too," Chloe replied with a frown of her own as she got to her feet. "Hope I didn't ruin anything too expensive," she grinned.
"No, but you did manage to give me a monster headache," Sabrina said as she pulled off a sweater which had wrapped around her head. "Chloe?"
"Sabrina! How'd you end up as Gem's personal mule?" The tan skinned girl asked. "You lose a bet or somethin'?"
"No," Sabrina replied as she began gathering up the spilled packages. "I was just shopping with Gem," she explained.
"Shopping with Gem huh?" Chloe did not look convinced. "Now why don't I believe you?"
"Look, let's get back to my limo and I'll explain everything ok?" Gem suggested as she and Sabrina finished gathering up everything.
Chloe looked over at Sabrina, who nodded. "All right, but this better be good," she said as she joined the other two girls as they headed out of the mall.