A/N: Okay, so this idea hit me. So what would have happened if the Queen had never been killed, and Jenna had her 2 sisters and her brother. However! In this story, Jenna's a bit of a tomboy and her mother tends to ignore her in favour of her sisters, and Milo's had a divorce ages ago, and is currently engaged to Marcia. Milo tends to forget his daughters, so whenever he visits his kids he really just takes his son out sailing.
As well, DomDaniel, when diving off the tower hit the floor with a splat and died. So there's no DomDaniel takeover, though Alther does retire and has Marcia take over when Jenna's born.
Septimus first meets the indigo-eyed girl when he's seven. The girl catches him roaming around the palace. He's really not supposed to be there, but Maxie had ran off and Dad would have killed him if he lost Maxie again.
She tells him that she likes his green eyes. He thinks she sounds a bit jealous, but then he sees Maxie and he takes off after him.
He's ten the next time, and Marcia's finally given him a break from the Magyk training. He decides to pay his mum and dad a visit, and on his way home he runs into a tall girl. She has indigo coloured eyes.
She smiles and asks him to tell Marcia's boyfriend Milo that Gisy, Nati, and Indie send their love. He asks who they're and she says they're Milo's daughters.
But that doesn't make sense because Milo only has a son. Owen's nice, he's always down at the docks and Nicko says he's a decent sailor, and in Nicko's book that' s a high honour. When he see's Milo again he tells him about the girls sending their love, even if they aren't his daughter's they must be special because Milo get's a happy look on his face.
He doesn't remember that he's met her before till he arrives at the tower.
When he's thirteen the first thing he thinks is that she looks really very poor. She wears tight, worn clothes that have been patched up to many times, and her skirt's got a lot of rips. Her hair's all greasy and matted, and her skin seems to sag off her bones.
He sees her in the alleys running around with some older boys. And then he realizes that the boys are chasing her and he scares them off with some Magyk. She looks up at him with her sad purple eyes.
"What's your name?" He asks her, because it's the polite thing to do after meeting someone three times. She blushes at his question though and seems to be trying to hide some of the tears in her skirt.
He thinks she didn't hear him, and goes to ask again, when she clears her throat, "I haven't really got one." She says.
He nods, thinking she's some sort of orphan, before she continues, "Mama never really talks to me, and Dad only pays any attention to my brother when he visits us. Nati and Gisy are my sisters, and they call me Indie, because they say my eyes are Indigo. But that's not really a name."
She says something else about how her Mum things she's embarrassing and keeps her out of public, but Septimus is lost in her voice. It's deep and low and it's shifting, he thinks he's caught an accent once, and then it's gone.
She's mumbling about how she hasn't got any friends because the only people who pay any attention to her think she's a disgrace when he sticks his hand out.
She stops short, and Septimus smiles at her. "My name's Septimus, you can call me Sep and we can be friends."
She takes his hand and shakes it and their friends.
He calls her Jenna because Dad and Mum always say that if they had a daughter they'd name her Jenna, and Jenna suits her.
They've been friends for six months when he figures out she's the Princess. Everyone's been hoping for a look at her since Septimus can remember. She's been hidden away, but her younger sisters Giselle and Natalia - Gisy and Nati - and her younger brother Owen are always being paraded about by the Queen. But no one's ever seen the Crown Princess. The name's become Magyk the way the people say it. Marcia asked Milo about her once and Milo seemed to not realize who she was talking about. Marcia let it go, but Septimus knows she's curious.
Jenna's Mum hates her. She really hates her, Jenna's told Septimus story after story of her relationship with her Mum. Jenna even thinks that a Mum ignoring her daughter and refusing to let her eat breakfast and lunch is normal, Jenna has to beg on the street's for food most of the time.
After hearing that Septimus brought her home. His Mum was the best, Sarah Heap took Jenna under her wing. Sep had to tell his Mum about Jenna's mum being a not very good Mum, and he didn't want to tell Jenna's secret's, but Sarah took it great.
Sarah and Jenna learn magic, knit, cook, garden, and do whatever else girls do together, and Jenna doesn't look nearly as skinny.
But that's not the point. Sep figures out that Jenna's the Princess when he visits the castle and see's some fancy portrait. Jenna's all dolled up in some dress with bows and frills and it doesn't look like Jen. Jen had never had her hair that clean or a dress that wasn't made up of almost nothing but patch jobs.
But it's Jen. He know's it.
Marcia catches him staring and looks at the painting. She thinks it's pretty, beautiful maybe. He wants to throw up. Because it's supposed to be Jen, the Princess, but Jen's no Princess, certainly not the Princess. Marcia lets out a little gasp like it's something special. It's a lie though. He think he can recognize some of the ribbons and some of the patches of fabric, but he's seen it torn up and being patched up and sewn into a new tunic or hair tie for Jenna. He looks at her cheek's and almost scowls because her cheeks are not round and plump. Nor, they're hallow and sunken and stretched thin across her face, and he's always worrying about it, and Jen's always teasing him about it.
Marcia pulls him away from the painting then and they head off to the throne room where they're supposed to meet Queen Cerys and Jen's sisters Gisy and Nati.
He has to address them as Princess Giselle, and Princess Natalia and they bat their eyes at him, and her wants to ask where Indie is- Because they know his Jenna as Indie.
He doesn't though.
When they're fourteen Marcia asks him, all exasperated, where he's been running off too. He blushes, and says home. She snorts. He thinks that's that and everything's dealt with.
Two weeks later Jenna points out Marcia from the shadows where she'd been following him from. Marcia gasps when she sees Jen, and Septimus wants to laugh because Marcia never gasps, and it's just Jenna.
And then Marcia bows and says, "Princess."
Jenna's back gets all straight and she kinda looks a bit princessy for once. She stares Marcia down till Marcia bristles and finally she asks the question.
"You and my Dad love each other, don't you?" Septimus knows she was gonna ask that. Marcia doesn't know Jen though, and she's certainly never heard Jen. And Jen's voice is the best. Sep loves Jen's voice. Jenna thinks his fixation with her voice is ridiculous but she likes to talk, and he loves to listen to her.
Marcia nods. Then Marcia opens her mouth-"Mama and Dad never gave me a proper name, though my sisters call me Indie, and Sep, Sarah, Nicko, Simon, Sam, Jo-Jo, Silas, the twins all call me Jenna."
Jen's know's all his brothers and his parents, and she probably talks to Sam and the twins more than he does, because she actually bothers to go down to the forest and have a nice chat with them every Tuesday morning.
Marcia nods, all boggled, and he almost laughs, but then Jen jabs an elbow into his stomach and he smiles at her. Jenna's gorgeous when she's violent, and he's a sap.
In the end Marcia just settles for taking Jenna out for whatever it is Marcia does for fun. He doesn't really get how Jen draws people in, but she does.
When they're fifteen Jenna tells him he's oblivious and kisses him.