August 1999, Lima Elementary: Kindergarten.

"Okay mija, are you ready for your first day of kindergarten?" Maribel Lopez looks down at her 5 year old daughter who has a mixed look of apprehension and courage on her face. The little girl is the spitting image of her mother, with the pride and confidence of her father. She has beautiful ethnic skin and dark hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. Maribel gazes at her daughter and can't believe how fast the time has gone and wondered how it was possible that her little baby was about to start her first day of school so quickly.

Standing next to Maribel, Fallon looks down on her own daughter, who isn't really paying much attention to either of them. Instead she is looking curiously at the wall decorations plastered throughout the hallways, clearly lost in her own imagination. Fallon looks knowingly at Maribel, mirroring her thoughts. Fallon's daughter is taller than Maribel's and thinner too. Her hair is long and tied back into a ponytail also but with bangs, and her eyes are as piercing as her mother's.

"Mami! Do we have to go? Can't Britt-Britt and me just go to the park? Why do we have to go to yucky school?" Santana reaches over and tugs on Brittany's hand to get her attention. She looks over dreamily and nods her head eagerly in response to Santana's request, although she didn't hear a word of it. It didn't matter what Santana had said, because Brittany would always go along with it. That's just how it's always been ever since the two could talk. Santana would take the lead, and Brittany would follow her brazenly anywhere, no matter what.

This didn't mean that Santana pushed Brittany around, it was quite the opposite really. Brittany genuinely wanted to do whatever Santana did. They were inseparable. Although Santana was the younger of the two (by just a few weeks) Santana was always looking out for Brittany. They had been together since diapers and were each other's only form of social interaction other than their parents and distant family members. Brittany did her fair share of looking out for Santana as well. Just like any good friendship, each child had their strengths to offer to the relationship, making for one even scale.

"Yeah mommy can't Sanny and me go swing on the swings? It'll be more funner if we can slide down the slide again and again like we normally do..." Brittany smiles a toothy smile and Santana nods triumphantly in agreement.

Maribel and Fallon chuckle at their daughters attempts. "Ah, They haven't even had their first day of school yet and they are already giving us trouble about going." Fallon jokes to Maribel. "Looks like we have our work cut out for us, especially if they are going to tag-team us."

"You've got that right Fallon, but we knew what we were in for ahead of time, I think that gives us the slight advantage." Maribel winks at her best friend and then crouches down to Santana and Brittany's level.

"Listen mijas, you must go to school. You will learn so many new exciting things like reading and science…It's something that we all must do. You will get the chance to play on the playground today with all the other children you are going to meet, but first you have to go to kindergarten and become even smarter than you already are. Okay?"

Santana gives her signature scowl, but Brittany nods in agreement, persuaded easily by her 'Aunt' Maribel's words. Santana rolls her eyes at Brittany and crosses her arms with as much sass as she can muster in her tiny little body.

"But I don't want to go Mami!" Santana pouts.

"No buts mija, you're going and that's that. You will be with Brittany all day, there is no need to be scared…You'll have so much fun together that you won't even realize when the day is over." Maribel informs her daughter.

Santana looks towards her partner in crime and Brittany nods at her encouragingly. Santana gives a meek smile and then realizes her mom is still there and immediately places her scowl back on her face.

She looks at her mom and then just shrugs nonchalantly. Maribel laughs at her daughter, knowing full well that she is just as stubborn as her father.

At this point Fallon crouches down to their level and opens her arms for Brittany to walk into. Brittany embraces her mother and kisses her cheek lovingly as the first bell of the day begins to ring.

Maribel extends her arms out to hug Santana who reluctantly agrees and then the two women stand up.

"Alright Brittany, be good today, and make sure Santana stays out of trouble." Fallon jokes. Brittany nods again and walks to Santana's side, extending out her hand. Santana takes her hand without hesitation and waves at her own mother with her free arm. Maribel wipes away a stray tear as the two girls turn their backs on them and head towards their classroom, where the teacher is beginning to usher in all the children.

Santana and Brittany get halfway through the door when Santana stops abruptly. She gently pulls her hand away from Brittany and turns and runs to her mother. Maribel crouches down again worriedly.

"What's wrong baby?" Maribel asks Santana but Santana just hugs her mother tightly.

"Te amo, mami." She whispers so that no one around can hear except for Fallon who observes the scene lovingly while pretending to be not paying attention. She is fully aware of Santana's pride and melts with warmth at the sight.

Brittany is very affectionate and open, just like her mommy, but with Santana it's a different story. Santana, even though she is so young, tries to take care of herself. She doesn't want to seem like a mommy's girl, or weak. She's a spitfire, and Fallon and Maribel have spent many a nights talking about the differences between their two girls. Maribel claims that Santana gets it from her father, but Fallon knows that Maribel has always been somewhat closed off as well. Ever since they've been friends she's been cautious and prideful, but over the years she has opened up and been humbled.

Santana waves at Fallon and runs back to where Brittany is waiting patiently for her in the doorway, hand extended invitingly. Santana grasps her hand again and Brittany spares one last glance at her mom and gives an exciting wave. Fallon blows her a kiss while they walk through the door.

Fallon puts her arm around her best friend's shoulder as the two girls disappear into the classroom. "Ugh, look at our babies, they're all grown up on their first day of school." Fallon's voice is unsteady as the pair looks on at the classroom a little longer, cherishing the moment.

Maribel slips her arm around Fallon's waist and they turn towards the exit. Through watery eyes she smiles and speaks up. "Yes it seems like just yesterday they were lying in their cribs together crying in unison, or potty training together. Time goes so fast…" The pair begins to cry harder with happiness and pride, and to an on looking passerby they probably seemed strange. Neither of them seemed to notice however. They were too lost in their memories and joy.

"At least they have each other. Just like we always dreamed. We couldn't be any luckier." Fallon observed and Maribel nodded in agreement.

"We have so much to be thankful for, and so much more to look forward to. I just can't believe they are growing up so fast." Maribel extends her hand to open the door to outside of the school and the two proud mothers leave their daughters behind, knowing that they had each other to rely on during their first day of school.

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The teacher closes the door behind her once all the kids are inside and Santana looks back a little panic stricken. In ways that only the hearts of the innocent can, Brittany senses Santana's anxiety, and squeezes her hand tighter, instantly soothing her.

"It's okay Sanny. I'm right here." She whispers, and Santana nods bravely.

"Okay Britt-Britt. If you say so…"

The two sit down side by side at one of the many tables strewn throughout the classroom. Brittany looks around eagerly eyeing all the toys stacked neatly everywhere. Santana on the other hand, is looking at the other children, sizing them up.

Two boys sit down across from the pair and Santana immediately scowls in unfamiliarity. Brittany smiles politely and continues to soak in her surroundings, not paying them any mind. One of the boys has a darker complexion but not like Santana, just slightly tanner than usual. He has a devious grin on his face as he fires spit balls at a dark haired girl with a big nose sitting across the room. The girl has her nose high in the air pretending that she doesn't notice as she continues to color on her page with a determined look on her face. Santana just looks on strangely fascinated, knowing the boy should probably get time out, but hoping secretly that he doesn't.

"Britt..." she whispers in her friend's ear. Brittany hums in acknowledgement but doesn't give Santana her attention. Santana nudges her harder, miffed that she's not listening. "Britt look at that stinky boy! He's spitting spit balls at the really short midget girl with the Big Bird nose! It's kinda funny actually…" Santana chuckles evilly.

Brittany turns to look at the alleged boy who sits across from them. She frowns at him. "You shouldn't do that boy." She scolds him. "That's not very nice at all. That girl might be funny looking but that's not nice of you. I'm gonna tell if you keep doing that." She smiles smugly, thinking her mom would be proud of her if she was there. Santana looked at her with her eyebrows knit, but goes along with it, turning to stick her tongue out at the spitball boy.

"Oh shut your pie holes. That's just Rachel, she doesn't care. Plus you have cooties, and you don't matter. We don't have to listen to you yucky girls." He turns to the quiet boy sitting next to him and motions for a high five. He's taller than the others, and really lanky, even at the age of 5. He smiles goofily at the girls but gives his companion a hesitant high five.

"I don't think their yucky Puck, they're kinda pretty." He whispers loudly. Blush fills his cheeks and he glances over towards the girls timidly. Brittany smiles but Santana scowls again.

Before Puck can respond Santana interjects. "Puck? What kind of a name is Puck?" she says loudly and scoffs. Brittany laughs at her, which only makes Santana sit a little taller with confidence.

"The name's Puckerman. Noah Puckerman." Puck says confidently as he pounds a fist on his chest. He points over to the other boy with his thumb without looking at him. "And that's Finn. What are your names?"

Santana rolls her eyes and looks at the teacher, who is busy with an Asian girl sitting on the floor crying. Santana frowns at the sight and whispers to herself "What a cry baby…"

Brittany on the other hand answers Puck's question enthusiastically. "I'm Brittany S. Pierce! And this is my best friend in the whole entire wide world Santana! We have been friends forever, and we will be friends for more ever…" she states matter-of-factly and Santana grins at her nodding vigorously.

"That's right. BEST friends." Santana agrees strongly.

"Me and Finn are best friends too!" Noah says excitedly.

"Awesome! We can all be friends together!" Brittany says, and the two smile at each other. Santana has a small smile on her face too, but tries to play it cool.

As the kids get settled onto their coloring sheets and talk about things like ring pops and Dragon Tales the teacher finally gets the crying Asian to settle down and sit next to Rachel and a chubby loud black girl. She goes to the front of her desk and addresses the kids.

"Okay kids! Welcome to kindergarten! It's so good to see all your smiling faces! I'm Miss Johnson!" Santana looks at Brittany nervously, and Brittany takes her hand and holds it tight. Santana swallows hard and turns her attention back to the teacher.

"If you guys are ready to start the day I'd like it if you would all pull out your pencils so we can start our first assignment!" The whole class begins to shuffle as they reach into their bags to grab their pencils. Santana bends over and grabs her pink pencil box and sets it on top of the table. She glances up at Puck and Finn to see that they both have dinosaur pencils with T-Rex shaped erasers on the end. She glared at them enviously.

Brittany looks at Santana sadly. She leans over and whispers in her ears. "San…I don't have a pencil..." she says embarrassedly. Santana tilts her head at Brittany.

"What? We went to the store and got pencils together though…" She says confusedly. Brittany shrugs and looks away before she speaks.

"You know that kitten my daddy bought me? Well…he ate them. All of them…" She giggles when she says this and Santana can't help but smile. Santana opens her shiny pencil box and picks out her favorite pencil. It's blue with purple flowers all over it and covered in glitter.

"Here Britt-Britt. You can have this one. It's my favorite." Brittany claps and smiles gratefully.

"Oh! Thank you San! It's bootiful. I will take real good care of it, I promise!" Santana smiles proudly and Brittany scoots her tiny chair closer to Santana's. Santana glances at her and nods once in approval. They turn their attention to the teacher giggling and teeheeing with each other all morning long. They had so much fun on their first day of school that neither of them glanced at the clock once (not that they could tell time) just like their mothers had said.

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