Hey, guys! It's me, the Gamerwhogames, and welcome to "Through Winding Portals We Go!", or TWP for short. If you've seen my few months old poll, you'll notice that TWP was a top vote, with "Post-Wither" coming in second, I think. Things might've changed today, but when I last checked those were the results, so I got writing. Don't worry, though. We'll get to those others, eventually. Let's get started!

Where are we, AU-ishly speaking? Well, we're between episode 8 of season 1 and episode 1 of season 2. The Admin isn't showing up anytime soon, nor our sweetheart Stella. Radar? He's there. What would an S2 fic be without Radar? I'm not so sure about Jack or Nurm, but don't get your hopes up now. Even Radar isn't going to have a huge appearance in this one, nor Jesse and Petra themselves. The point I'm trying to get across is that there's a chance they'll be there, but if they are they won't have long parts to play, and you probably already know why.

That's about all I'm going to say, because if I went any further, I wouldn't have a story to tell! Let's get started. Hit it, Crisper!

Crisper: (hits it)


"Dad, could you show me the flint and steel trick?" A young, red-haired boy gently prodded his father with said flint and steel, not noticing the scattered stacks of paper that had his dad's attention.

"Not now, Jesse. I'm busy." Jesse didn't even look from the sheet of paper. Jesse Jr wilted, a longing eye on the glowing trinket. He momentarily studied some of the paper, written in some adultish language he quickly found he couldn't concentrate on or even read.

"Dad, what about Uncle Radar? Can he do it?"

"No, he's busy doing other things around town right now, plus you need to wash up for dinner in a few minutes."

"Can't I do it myself? I'm old enough by now."

"Jess, you're eight, too young to even be touching something so dangerous."

"But I'm touching it right now, see?" Jesse Sr's eyes barely flicked to the left before he exploded out of his chair with a yelp. Before young Jesse could process his dad's cat-like reaction, he wrenched the flint-and-steel out of his hand.

"Jesse Rey Smith! What have I told you about touching this thing?" Jesse Jr shrank, and his father over him like a towering thundercloud.

"Um… I don't remember you saying anything about the flint-and-steel." He whimpered, wringing his hands behind his back. Touching the flint-and-steel and lying? Jesse Sr bit his lip. Surely, he'd raised his son better than this.

"You know what I told you." He folded his arms and lowered his thick brows.

"But I forgot it." After their umpteenth don't-touch-the-flint-and-steel lesson?

"I told you do not touch this. It's too dangerous and you could hurt yourself!" He pocketed the weapon but not his anger. "Don't ever touch this ever again, and I really mean it this time!"

"Yes, sir, sorry dad, I won't do it again." It was the quickest apology he'd uttered to date, and Jesse Jr was out of his father's home-office in record time. He scrambled barefoot into the living room and threw himself onto the couch, letting out his fear and agony as tears and muffled wails into the pillows. His sister who sat nearby glanced at him from behind a picture book.

"Jesse, what happened now?" She asked professionally, elegantly turning her attention back to her book. He shouted something into the pillows. "Jesse, Dad doesn't hate you."

He lifted his red, tearstained face from the pillows. "But this time he really does, Missy! He yelled at me, and he was really angry, and it's true this time that he hates me! I keep making this same, dumb ol' decision over and over again."

Missy closed her book and scooted towards him, affectionately patting his back. Even though she was just a year older than him, the way she comforted him was nothing short of motherly. "It's okay, Jesse. Dad doesn't hate you. He just… doesn't really like you right now. To be honest, you bother him and get on his nerves sometimes." She looked skyward and tapped her chin. "Maybe today's just one of those days."

"Missy, watch what you say to your brother, that is not true." Petra said from the kitchen. The sound of dishes clattering and water running halted and she walked to the couch and stood. "What's going on here?"

"I was just telling Jesse that Dad doesn't hate him, he just doesn't like him sometimes."

"No, Missy, your dad loves both of you all the time. He and I never don't like you. I mean, we never like you. I mean," She groaned softly and pinched the bridge of her nose. She motioned the kids to scoot aside and sat between the both of them, taking a second to untie her tongue. "Look, what I'm trying to say is that Jesse and I will always love you two no matter what. Do you hear me Jesse?"

He lifted his head, still wiping away at tears. "But what if I keep doing bad things? What happens then?"

"Then we'll just keep loving you, Jesse." She started to rub his back, but stopped. Jesse squirmed under her stare as it slowly went from endearing to cool. "Jesse, did you touch the flint-and-steel again?" She felt the muscles in his back tense. He tried to hide under a pillow, but she caught a firm hold of his arm before he could escape. "Answer me."

"Um… fur hats?" The sweet motherliness on Petra's face drained in an instant and her grip tightened.

"Jesse, it's 'perhaps', and what have we told you about that flint-and-steel?"

A wry smirk crawled across his face. "That the first time I touched it I almost gave Uncle Radar a heart-attack?"

"No! The other thing!"

Jesse's grin wilted and looked away, digging a finger into the soft couch fabric. "I can't really remember." He cautiously looked up. Her hard stare and raised brow forced the truth out of his chapped lips. "That I'm not supposed to touch it because I could hurt myself?"

"Also, Mom, he always lies and tells Dad that he doesn't remember, but he really does most of the time, mom." Jesse stuck his tongue out at his sister, but a sharp look from his mother made it disappear.

He hung his head and neatly folded his hands in his lap. "Sorry, Mommy."

"Don't apologize to just me, Jesse. You need to apologize to your dad for taking that flint-and-steel again." Jesse fiddled with his little fingers as he slid off the couch. When he got to Jesse Sr's office, he peeked his head around the door, quieter than a Creeper in pursuit. His father's back was facing towards him, and young Jesse could see the white feather flicking to and fro. He gently pushed the door open and walked on his toes into the room, stopping just behind his dad's chair.

"Um… Dad?"

"Hmm?" He barely turned around in his chair and glanced his son out of the corner of his eye.

"Um… I'm sorry about touching the flint-and-steel."

"And what else?"

Jesse scratched his hair and avoided his dad's eyes. "And for lying as well."

"That's okay, but next time you do it you're going to be in bigger trouble. You can't touch that, I don't want you or anyone else to get hurt, alright?" He reached around and playfully ruffled Jesse's hair, making the younger boy smile.

"Yes, sir." Jesse Sr went back to his work. Jesse stood on his toes to watch. "So… does this mean you still love me?" Jesse Sr craned his neck with a quizzical smirk.

"Of course, I still love you, Jesse! I just don't want you blown to bits, that's all."

"Okay, I was just making sure." The door opened again, and they both saw Missy walking into the room without her book.

"Jesse, Mom told me to say sorry for telling you you get on Dad's nerves, so, sorry."

"That's okay. I just asked Dad if he still loved me and he said 'yes', so it's okay."

"Alright then, guys. Go on in there so I can finish up some of this work."

"Actually, Dad, there's one more thing I want to ask you." Missy nudged Jesse out of the way and leaned on her dad's arm. "Could you please tell us another story?"

"No, I've gotta do—"

"Please, Dad? I want to hear one, too." Jesse went to the opposite side of the chair and tugged at his father's arm.

"But I've already told you most of them."

"Yeah, but every time you tell us a story, you change it a little so you sound better than Mom."

"Yeah, and each one's better than the first! Please? Pretty please with an ingot on top?"

Jesse smiled at his two children, but glanced back at the pile of paper he'd need to dig through before dinnertime at least, tomorrow at most. Joke was on him for taking a nap that day. "Alright, I've gotta get this work done," the two wilted like flowers, "but I'll tell you one at dinnertime." This made both of them perk up and gasp. "So, which one do you want me to tell you guys?" Jesse Jr hummed and tapped his chin while Missy gazed at the floor.

"I don't really know."

"Me neither, but can we pick one at dinnertime to tell?" Missy asked.

"Sure. Now you kids go play, or you can help Mommy in the kitchen with the plates." The two kids gangled out of the room full of giggles. Jesse smiled as they left, but his happy face faded when he again met eyes with the paper. "You know what? Maybe I should also help her with the dishes, too."


Bam! Chapter one is done. Ohmagerd! So, how do you guys like Jesse Jr and Missy? First impressions are the most important, are they not? I had to go through a lot of trial and error *cough*anxious,irrationaloverthinking*cough* to get their ages right, because I didn't want them to be too old to make childish decisions, or too young to make coherent decisions. Picking a right age for that wasn't too hard. In a sixteen-member household, I have plenty of examples and options. Two of my sisters who act the way I want the characters to act are about their ages, so eight and nine it was! Well, see you guys next chapter! Close it, Crisper.

Crisper: (closes it)