Disclaimer: I do not own Victorious, it belongs to Dan and Nickelodeon. Also, this chapter's inspiration: 'I found you' by The Wanted; song may be subject to future use.
Warning: Jade may seem OoC... Let me know in this regard.
A/N: Sorry for the late update! Finals, so it's been heavy! For the moment, enjoy! =D
Chapter 12: Family Gathering
"Where are we going?" Tori asked her constant companion; it was Saturday and Amber wanted some quality time with Tyler, so the girls went out.
"You'll see," was all Jade said.
"Why can't we stay at the park?" The Latina pouted; it had been a week since Halloween, and they had yet to take their redhead for ice cream.
"Because I'm bored," they stared at eachother, then reached for the other's hair; after all that time and they still weren't used to their short hair.
"Okay," the reply was soft, as were those hazel orbs, and they took hands, "lead the way."
Jade only smirked, taking the soft, tanned hand and resisting the need of lacing their fingers. They weren't an item, so it was out of the equation, but it did bring a question forth: did she want them to be? She looked back, and answered in kind to the delicate smile etched on her friend's face. Perhaps she did, but before she could even begin to dwell on her thoughts, she focused on the matter at hand. Dan had arrived with Kat, and she was eager to introduce her family to the Latina; that by itself should have alerted and activated all her alarms, but somehow, it just felt like placing that final piece in the jigsaw puzzle that landscaped her life. It was only when the body linked to hers stopped moving, did she look up from her phone, and saw what made her friend stop. There, near her bike, was a gang from that bad neighborhood they had passed by long ago, and they looked like they meant business. Without hesitation, even though she paled visibly and the men knew who they were, she got an application running on her phone, then passed it to the girl besides her.
"Well, what do we have here," the leader was lanky, tall and with defined muscles, but not huge; his hair was done Mohawk style and had far too much gel, "the two little things who passed by our turf and didn't pay their respects..."
"If you ignore that little mishap," Jade spoke loudly, her voice not even shaking as she took her pair of scissors out, "nothing bad will happen, and we can all go along with our business."
"Well, you see here missy," the man began as the rest laughed, "you two are our business..."
"Really, you want to do this the hard way?" The question appeared to be more of a cordiality; she had her scissors open, holding them as though they were a common blade; Tori recognized the pose from The Scissoring and it scared her deeply. "I must insist, this doesn't have to become bloody."
"Jade, shouldn't we run?" Tori asked as the men laughed again, some taking chains out, others pulled blades.
"They have us surrounded Tor," it was amazing how, despite it all, the Goth was calm and collected; most would have fled upon the sight. "Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you and besides, reinforcements are coming."
*Before the Latina could have a chance of asking what that meant, the leader was before them, sending a punch their way. They both reacted the same way; their muscles tensed, dodging in the same direction, but the Latina couldn't retaliate since she was behind her friend, but she was amazed when her friend answered in kind. Left hook connected with the man's liver and a swift leg to the face made his head snap. Clearly furious, he took his chain and began swinging it towards the two females. Jade had used the momentum of her kick to turn around and shield the singer; Tori felt the impact of the chain against the other's back, and was stunned by the force.
As though it were all a dream, a nightmare, she saw a bike entering the green grass though it wasn't allowed and noticed as it turned around. From the back seat, a bronze body shot towards the man, and before he could even react; hazel eyes saw but didn't recognize any of it, a shoulder crashed between his shoulder blades. The man stumbled, but only knew pain when raging blue eyes fell upon him; Jade was never one for physically inflicting pain, mainly because she wasn't shy about giving some one hell, and also because she knew she could deal more than what could be taken. He cried out as her foot landed on his privates, a sickening sound coming from the blow. Soon, the other men were upon them, and Tori recognized the way the thespian used her blades as moves used from the movie the Goth loved so much. She moved without apparent or conscious thought as she made the men bleed and wither in pain; the Latina was scared as those eyes became blue, the same deep blue they had been that fateful night and she asked herself the same question: where was Jade? Paralyzed, she noticed that Pablo and Calvin were there, fighting, along with Samara who used the same scissoring technique as her pale friend, but much more conscious of what she was doing. The one that had crashed against the leader was the most composed and deadly.
A woman, same age as the others, bronze and well sculptured body though obviously not into body building, was making short work of their adversaries. She combined different forms of martial arts and blended them into one, single, deadly and precise method. But the brunette had made a mistake by not moving; she was soon caught by the throat by the leader, and he whistled to get everyone's attention. He had a blade to her throat, laughing as everyone stopped and his crew cheered. Sadly, it was short-lived, since Tori was, after all, the daughter of a police officer. David had paid for his daughters to learn defensive martial arts, and training kicked in. She didn't know how, but she soon had the man on his knees, begging as she twisted his hand into a locked position.
Suddenly, another was running at her with a blade, but he was stopped by a well aimed kick from the thespian. Everyone feared the Goth might have killed the man, but she wasn't caring, obviously; her focus was the leader, and her intent was clear. She was going to kill the bastard. Too busy she was staring the man down, that she didn't notice as another man approached her, but he fell too when the fighting female threw chains at his legs; arms free and blade in hand, he managed to make the pale girl bleed, blade hilt deep in her thigh. But all she did was take the blade out, and would have killed the Mohawk man if it wasn't for her family, who stopped her. It were those hazel eyes that made her drop the blade.
"Stop fawning over me!" Jade demanded as the two, older females watched her move about after the physicians bandaged her leg.
"You'll shut the hell up and suck it," the fighter hissed, clearly pissed, "since you're too West to use a crutch."
"I only got hit once—" Both females gave her a hard look, and she made an irked noise.
"Jade!" Dark eyebrows rose when they noticed the tanned body supporting their stubborn little sister and not fighting the assistance. "Should you be walking?"
"More than that;" the fighter stepped in front of the teens, blocking their way, "you should know better than to make such a mistake. A single blow—"
"May be fatal," blue eyes rolled, "yes, I know."
"No, you don't," the woman slapped the back of the thespian's head, "else you wouldn't have gotten hurt in the first place. You know better than to get in a fight where you'll be emotionally taxed.
"Hi I'm Dan," she said once she was through chastising the pale teen, extending a hand at the tanned one, "I'm Pablo's twin."
"Dan's short for Danielle," Samara supplied, noticing the perplexed look and how the two Latinas shook hands, "she was in New York, helping choreograph a battle scene for a movie."
"And a dance scene for another," she had long, straight, black hair, and her dark brown eyes looked black as they rolled; then they acquired a glint to them as she appraised the teen in front of her, letting go of the hand, "I must admit, I like the way you danced that tango sequence with J here. The chemistry was one of a kind."
"Oh, um... Thanks," Tori was at a loss, seeing the resemblance between the siblings, their height, their skin color, their eye color, hair color, even muscle build was the same; it was surprising that their personalities had such a clash, but more so the fact that they were obviously twins despite their genders. "I'm Victoria, my friends call me—"
"We'll call you Vicky," Dan said, eyes not open to dispute, "and that's that."
"You'll have to excuse Danny," Samara said as the girl left to go to her brother and the albino, who were speaking with the police, "she's a little rough around the edges, but her heart's in the right place."
"How come the police are here?" Tori asked, clearly shaken.
"Whenever one of us activate the alarm," the middle eastern woman motioned to the phone that the Latina has in her pocket, "we all leave whatever it is we're doing and go to the spot. We also make sure to call the police and an ambulance, just in case."
"Sammy, cops need your statement!" Dan called as her brother began moving towards them.
"Take care of her," Sam requested before going into her man's arms; he twirled her around before setting her down and they went to the cops, hugging.
"Come, you need to sit down," it was a soft request, and once they were in a bench, the musician turned the pale face towards her own, and stared, "I miss your green eyes..."
"Huh?" It was an odd comment, but proved to be distracting enough; she had been staring at those lips. "What do you mean 'my green eyes'?"
"With your hair blue, your eyes are blue too," her friend supplied with a shrug.
"Hmm, wait until my hair is blonde again," she chuckled, "they look amber."
"I would like that," she grinned at the statement. "What happened out there?"
"I..." A sigh was heard after a brief moment, eyes going hard as she took a tanned hand within her own, looking into those hazel eyes. "Have you seen Castle?"
"Kate and Richard for ever," was the proud reply, hazel orbs intent.
"You remember that episode in which Alexis gets kidnapped?" A nod was all she needed. "Beckett said she didn't think Richard had that side to him, right after he beat the driver up in search for the information in regards to his daughter. You remember his reply?"
"When it comes to the people I love I do," Tori quoted; it had been a conflicting scene for most fans: Castle, torturing someone?
"I thought I would lose you, and the second that thought overcame me, all I could think about was hurting the man who had threatened you." Jade shook her head, trying to keep her mind blank, and her hands from shaking. "It's scary, but I've come to depend and enjoy your company, and if I ever lose you..."
"I'll always be here Jade," a free, tanned hand went to caress a pale cheek, and the both sighed in relief at the contact, "I promised."
"I thought I wouldn't be able to keep mine..." Suddenly, she felt tired, completely tired, and all she could do was press their foreheads together.
"Come girls, I'll give you a ride home," Calvin said as he pointed to his car; it was a Pontiac 51 roofless automatic. "Since I do not trust her by herself, you're both on the back seat."
Jade grumbled, but made no other gesture as to disliking the deal. All she did was throw her bike's key at Dan, who was obviously going to be driving it, since she had arrived with her brother on his bike. Samara had her own to drive, and Tori was certain that they all had deals with Harley-Davidson. She helped her friend into the albino's car, and didn't mind when the pale female laid on her, simply wrapping her arms around her to keep her secure. The car ride was silent, and rather quick, but before leaving the car, the pale teen made the older one a promise to visit him soon; he knew she would be there the very next day. Dan passed her the keys back, then slid into the vintage car as though she owned it and soon those two were off. The Latina ended staying over, again, just as Jade prepared for a horror and comedy stravaganza to teach the kids about good humor. Tori began regretting her decision, but was too worried about the injured thespian to consider leaving.
Interesting how after that night on Halloween, they didn't consider sleeping any other way; hugging each other, music low, they drifted off. The main difference was that they had changed sides, as to not pressure the injured leg as the pale teen slept. The injury itself wasn't that alarming, it had hurt the muscle, but didn't hit a main vein or artery, and was mostly deep. Since it was cut in the sense that the muscle had grown, meaning from waist to knee, it would heal quickly, and there was no need for stitches. She was given a cream to prevent scarring tissue from forming, as to not leave trace of the happenings. Jade felt conflicted in that regard: a scar would serve as a reminder, but she didn't want anything marring her perfect, alabaster skin. Tattoos were different since they defined her, but a scar wasn't necessarily pleasant to the eye. The next morning, she decided she didn't care much for it, as long as it was Tori the one applying the ointment. Suddenly, the day started to look up.
"What are you doing here?" She demanded, clearly having forgotten what she had told him before he left yesterday.
"I come in peace," Calvin said softly, motioning for them to sit on the hood of the car, "I also come with your gift."
"I don't get why you all always have to agree on something before gifting," she huffed a little, more as if going through the motions, "really, if I have to keep waiting for Dan, you might as well give it as a Christmas present and get it over with..."
"Shut it and sit," he remarked as he laughed; they had actually had to resort to such trickery, but always made sure that she would differentiate between gifts, "you had said you wanted to speak, so I came alone. I figured a certain girl wouldn't let you drive..."
"She's worse than my mother," she remarked, grin in place, "actually, I wanted to talk to you about her..."
"You like her," he said simply, and at the shake of her head, he frowned a bit.
"I'm afraid I love her," she sighed, lying down on the hood, "I don't get it, you were my first crush, then I was with the perfect boy in a two-year relation... So how can I be gay? Maybe bi—"
"You're gay Jade, don't kid yourself," he said seriously, not cracking a smile when she glared at him, "call it a mental condition, but it's the very same reason I am as well."
"Damn, you just had to major in psych," she hissed, sitting up and looking at him, clearly waiting for him to explain further.
"Your dad left you at the same time your brother did," she scowled at his words, but he just shook his head, speaking in a softer, kinder tone, "even if you don't see it as betrayal, it's how it felt after a while, and so, your trust in men broke. The fact that you were with Beck for that long, is more you trying to hold on to the familiarity of your brother, of how the world is meant to be, compensating for a much needed stability."
The way he spoke her best friend's name helped remind her how everyone else didn't like him, and felt a sense of weight being lifted. They had known back then what she was, and were clearly not enjoying the sight of her lying to herself. The problem was that had they confronted her about it, there wouldn't have been any chance of her speaking to any of them ever again. He sighed, placing both hands on his crazy hair, then turned to give her a sad look. She wasn't used to those, or at least, hadn't seen them in too long.
"Had Sunshine—"
"Hey! Only I call her that!" He laughed at her reaction, clearly expecting it, but going on as if she hadn't interrupted.
"Stayed, you would have hooked up with her," he passed a big hand through her short locks, still chuckling, but sadness became evident when he was done and she had no more hair left, "she was your first crush actually, not me."
"So I've always been gay?" Everything was becoming more complicated, and his chuckles didn't help on the matter.
"No babe, the thing about sexuality is more on the fact that everyone is born bi, but society imposes a path upon everyone," he shrugged, eyes sad, "it's peer pressure to its highest."
"Hmmm..." It was a lot to take in. "How do you think Sunshine is?"
"Oh she's fine," she zoomed in on him, realizing that she definitely had had feeling that were still there for someone who had left when she had been five. "No one truly knows what became of her, but we can tell that she's fine..."
He pressed a hand to his heart, and she smiled. It was cheesy, and when he said it, it sounded stupid, but the how always made her smile, especially since she knew it was true. After she had met that little ray of sun, and they had helped Katarina run from her abusive home when they had appeared on the Colombian household, they heard that the musketeers had gone off to look for all three of them, and they had been playing at one of their houses. As she stared off into the distance, she frowned a bit, since she couldn't recall the look of her dear friend.
"Einstein," she called him to attention, and he smiled at the nickname, "what did she look like? What was her name?"
"That, I'm afraid," he began swatting her nose softly and lovingly, "is something you'll have to figure out yourself."
"Huh?" Things just became confusing. "Oh, and Katarina?"
"She's here alright!" He slid off the hood, and the teen did the same, though with care, "Dan'll be going over to your school with her in tow, for a special course on dance and fight choreography."
She smiled at that, unable to hide it. "Damn, if only she would be here, it would be me, her, and the kitties again..."
He chuckled at her words, then ruffled her hair, giving her the car keys and she stared at them, mute.
"Now you can ride about in style kid," he said with a laugh, and soon, a bike was over, and those two sped off. "Happy late Birthday!"
She could only grin. Definitely, she was riding in style. Now her mother could have her car back again, and she could get the kids to become speed junkies. She turned to face the house, and laughed when she was greeted by the sight. Tori was outside with the kids, having some kind of mock, water fight and Suzy, being who she was, had hose in hand, was winning. She felt her heart warming up, and the idea of making a family with the Latina appeared, if briefly. Thanksgiving was going to be a spectacular affair.
Cat was bouncing all around the school, obviously she had received great news. It had to go beyond the fact that it was Friday. Interesting enough, no one could tell what exactly was going on, and even if Jade was in the loop, they were obviously not sharing with anyone. Tori felt nervous for some reason, but the boys weren't giving it that much importance, or even much thought. It was as if they didn't get the vibe that something important was happening. They did mention the fact that Tori hadn't left Jade's side, with Rex always making some kind of comment or remark about it, and it was obvious that something had happened. It was strange when even André didn't receive an answer, and the Latina could feel her best friend becoming wary of her, as if she didn't trust him, but it wasn't that, it was that Cat's sanity depended on her keeping her mouth shut.
"Really, you cannot tell me they don't have something planned," Tori mildly demanded; it was a first that she wasn't with Jade, but she also knew that being all over her friend would only serve to annoy her further.
"For all we know, the ones who have some scheme is you and Jade," her best friend remarked, bitterness clear as the day they were having.
"Do I sense some kind of girl action?" Rex tried with subtleties, but was chastised by certain redhead.
"Rex, Robbie, behave," she demanded with a pout, and everyone else laughed.
"Cat, there's an ice cream truck by the corner," Beck motioned, passing her some money, "try bringing us some, okay?"
"Yay!" She then paused, slightly confused, "for everyone, right?"
"Yeah, you need more?" They were all perplexed, and Robbie and André gave Tori a look, "here, this should be enough."
"Seems like you're onto something Tori," Robbie said in a whisper, just to wince when the other two boys craned brows. "What?!"
"Really Robbie," the African-American said with a shake, not really saying more despite the other boy's insistence; the bubbly girl had already left.
"So, how did Jade get hurt?" Beck asked the Latina, and everyone on the table choked; Robbie on air. "Don't try hiding it Tor, I can tell. I did date her for two years..."
"Yeah..." It was obvious that the girl was caught off guard; clearing her throat, and taking a grateful sip from the producer's offered drink, she proceeded. "When Sikowitz said that we should look for trouble, we did so literally—"
Groans, and the Goth's name was uttered. She explained softly what had happened, and how they were rescued by Jade's guardians. They paled as she recalled and recounted the experience, the blood, and how their friend had almost killed a man... Everyone was shocked, even more so when they heard that Tori could actually fight.
"Hey!" She said; funny how Jade hadn't found it odd... "I am the daughter of a policeman you know, he sent me to Judo classes when I was a kid; I learned the basics and practice from time to time, but I'm not Trina-obsessed."
They didn't say anything else, but it was obvious that they wouldn't hover around the Goth, all but Beck and, of course, Tori. They stopped all talk as soon as they saw they ditzy friend coming over with far too many ice creams, until they saw, on the other end, their pale friend arriving with an entourage. The Latina recognized them, but it seemed that they were infamous around the school, the area really, as every boy knew to keep away from the females. At the front though, there was a pale blonde girl with clear blue eyes, and the tanned teens stood, awed. Their redhead left the ice creams on the table, then turned around to face the newcomer of their age.
"Kat!" Their bubbly friend cried, and something clicked in the Latina's head.
"Cat!" The Russian replied with equal glee, and they hugged.
"Kitties!" Tori said with actual tears, shocking her Goth friend as she went to hug both girls.
"Tori?" Cat asked, earning a confused look from the Russian who welcomed the girl. "Only Vicky— Oh my God, Tori, you're Vicky!"
With another squeal, they three girls hugged, long lost friends finally reunited. Tori kissed the two girls, who kissed her back, not noticing how more introverted Jade was becoming. Until she began speaking again, although all three girls had tears in their eyes.
"Wait, where's Angel!?" She almost demanded, drying her tears, just as her ditzy friend looked genuinely puzzled and the pale kitty was confused for a simple reason.
"Isn't that how you called Jade?" She inquired softly, still confused. "Since only you could call her that, I don't remember very well."
But both girls were staring at each other, completely at a loss. They had stuck with the nicknames, not really remembering the others' name, and since appearance could change enough, they had forgotten. It was the reason why the Latina had whispered Angel when she saw the picture, but hadn't been able to relate her grumpy Goth with her cheerful childhood friend. The pale girl just motioned with her arm towards the others, who smiled warmly at her, and she gasped. It was more a trick to buy themselves more time, but it worked. Tori ran up to Pablo, who was closest, and took him into a hug.
"Cafe!" She laughed at the nickname she had given him when she had been a toddler. "I cannot believe I didn't recognize you!"
"To be fair sweetheart," he began softly, kissing her cheek, "neither did I."
"Sammy!" She now had more confidence when dealing with the middle eastern woman, who only chuckled at her as she was hugged, "I'm sorry, had I known—"
"Well, at least I'm now receiving your hugs again," Samara said, as she kissed the tanned cheek too. "Now, don't go back to playing coy with me!"
"Doc!" She said once she came across the albino, who laughed bitterly but hugged her all the same. "I'm sorry! It's just—"
"No, it's okay," he replied, laughing with more zeal, "it's just that I've missed your nickname; they opted for Einstein, which is the origin for Doctor Brown in Back to the Future."
"Oh..." She was then carefully placed on the ground as she came face to face with the rowdy one of the crew. "Hey Dan..."
"What, I get no hug?" The woman basically demanded, and the two laughed as they hugged. "See, I told you you were Vicky..."
"Air please..." The teen requested, and the fighter immediately dropped her and apologized, blushing; she was promptly hugged again, "is good to see you again."
Suddenly, the bell rang, and the teens were no closer to dealing with the fact that they had been childhood friends, close childhood friends. Everyone else from their clique were having trouble dealing with it, everyone but Beck. He looked frozen in place, obviously unable to do much but accept an ice cream cup from the redhead, who had begun passing those around. He was focused on the Russian girl, completely awed by her. He walked with everyone else towards Sickowitz class, who had given his place and time to Dan for her brief course on choreography. Of course, he being him, he had to make an improv just to keep everyone focused. When he asked for volunteers, Kat brought the two shell-shocked teens; he raised an eyebrow, cleared his throat, assumed correctly that those were the only two going to participate, and requested setting and event.
"Park," Robbie offered.
"Reunited old friends," André added with a raised hand, and the teacher nodded.
"Okay girls," Sikowitz looked at them, "action!"
"Angel, oh my god, it's you," Tori began, going to hug Jade but a snarl stopped her. "Angel?"
"Don't, call me... that!" The Goth demanded, but her friend's reaction wasn't the usual.
"No, you saved me far too many times," the Latina huffed, arms crossed, tapping her foot, clearly exasperated, "we've gone through this before, and I'm not just going to call you something else. You're my Angel, simple as that."
"Your, Angel?" Tori could tell it was a trick, but just nodded, "and you're my Sunshine, aren't you?"
The soft question caught the tanned teen by surprise, but she nodded. "I still don't understand that nickname," she pouted, even though she smiled at her friend, who was smirking as she went for a hug.
"Well, let's see," Jade began with a light laugh, enumerating with her fingers as she approached, smirk always in place and clearly scaring her friend, "always warm, always happy, always displaying that blinding smile—"
That one just made her drop said smile, which had been growing bigger, and with a sad pout, she turned away. She began blushing when she heard the musketeers snickering in the background, but felt marginally better when a cool, pale hand took hers delicately, but just pulled the sleeve up.
"That full body blush," she whispered, breath cool as well, contrasting with the tanned, red ear, and Tori could only jump. The exposed skin blushed further, but she was already pulling her sleeve back down, "I'm glad you adopted the nickname Tori, it means that they did their job, but I'm even more glad by the fact that only I have ever called you Sunshine, and that it will stay that way."
At that, Tori turned around, and the girls hugged. After the display, Dan allowed them to leave, not really caring. The thing was, she was going to used their taped Halloween dance to explain the dance part of choreography to the class. It turned to be a really interesting choice, since Beck actually provided insight to the fact that Jade hadn't participated in any part of the practice. The girls actually went for some ice cream, feeling better; Samara followed them.
"Sammy!" Tori said, buying another cone for the middle eastern woman, who ignored the glare from the pale teen, and graciously accepted the frozen treat, "you need us?"
"Just to return these," she took out Jade's scissors, and the Goth's look warmed immediately, and gingerly took them, "I'm thinking about giving you more proper attack-oriented scissors if you're going to use that style..."
"Nah, that was just an emergency," the teen shook her head, smiling, "you know I don't like to shed blood with these, I rather destroy some school property."
"Always the same Jade," Samara said with a sigh, and a soft laugh, "by the way, Dan is using your recorded Halloween dance for this session."
"What?!" Outrage evident, the thespian was obviously going to draw blood with said scissors, if it wasn't for the tanned hand that stopped her; Samara had gone off, giggling. "I'm not going to allow—"
"Stay with me, Angel," she immediately stopped, and looking into those hazel eyes, she wondered why she hadn't seen it before, "besides, you could open the wound..."
"I wonder if I knew all along," she began, completely dismissing the musician's words and sitting with her, placing a hand on a tanned cheek, "if I knew you were my Sunshine, but just couldn't handle the fact that you had forgotten, so I had to forget in exchange..."
"Maybe that was why you teased me and got so mad at me," the other girl teased, poking the other lightly, giggling.
"Maybe," the honesty of the answer caught her friend by surprise, and the poking stopped, "I don't know..."
"I'm glad to have you back," the skinny teen dropped herself over her friend, but the Goth just smiled and pressed their hips together, "I felt so bad when I had to leave... I didn't want to, I knew I wanted to be with our friends, with you..."
"Hey, we're together again," Jade opted for a small peck on the cheek, "that's all that should matter, right?"
"Right," and for the first time in a long time, Tori allowed her actions to proceed without going through the mental process; she gave her friend a peck on the lips.
"Okay, it's great for you to join us for fighting," Dan said when the doors burst open and Tori and Jade came running inside; the Latina was clearly running for dear life and actually hid behind the fighter, "I need you two for—"
"Like hell!" The Goth had a bone to gnaw with the older Latina. "You show this class of pervs a recorded—"
"Imagine my surprise when I learned that you hadn't choreographed your moves beforehand," there was awe in that voice, and the pale teen blushed, "you've exceeded my expectations. Congratulations.
"Now, for the fighting scene—"
"Angel isn't part of it," Tori began, now standing between the older tanned female and her friend, "the last thing we need is blood..."
It was said in a whisper, but the Goth's incredulous face only became more pronounced when the musketeer relented. With a sigh, Dan motioned for them to sit, and Jade had no option but allow herself to be guided. The young Latina sat down, and was shocked when the thespian just sat, placed her injured leg on the chairs besides hers, and dropped herself on the tanned body. Chuckling, the smaller female just propped her into sitting without her support, and changed her chair's position so she could provide the pale teen with better accommodations. Sighing, pale eyelids fluttered, and when she was held in a warm embraced, she snuggled further. It was odd how natural it felt. Soon though, their privacy had to be interrupted by their friends, who sat on the row behind them.
"Okay, we know why you're called Sunshine," André began with a cheeky grin, "so we were wondering, how did Jade become Angel?"
The Goth in question growled, but chose to ignore them. The tanned girl just chuckled at that, and began combing the dark blue locks with her hand. There was so much tenderness in her hazel eyes, that the group was worried that they would be left in the dark. Taking a deep breath, the singer began the tale.
"I was at the park with Trina, she wanted to play in the sandbox, but I wanted to make friends," she chuckled, eyes going to the stage where a redhead and her namesake were, "those two were playing with each other, looking very much like kittens that I wanted to join them."
"They were crawling all over each other," Jade remarked, gazing fondly at the two, chuckling a bit at their antics, "acting very much like kitties did, laughing instead of meowing, but otherwise, just the same. They even bit each other's ears, their favorite trick."
"So when I ask Trina to go over and play with them, she got mad." Beck pointed to the favored leg, and the wince from the talking female said enough; it was the hurt right leg.
"They were at the top of the park, looking everywhere," a scowl began forming, "it was that park where the woods are close..."
"Trina pushed me down the hill—"
"And she landed with a thud against a tree," there was obvious disgust at the memory.
"When I came back," hazel eyes were watching the Goth with some pain, and held the teen closer, "I thought I was in heaven. Blonde hair, cherubic face, singing a soft tune, combing her fingers through my hair, my head on her lap..."
"I called Cat and Kat over," blue eyes turned to look at the one holding her, "she actually thought I meant the animal..."
"So I called them kitties," both girls chuckled at the memory, obviously caught in it, "I actually asked if I was in heaven..."
"Ever since, she called me Angel," Jade shrugged, as if dismissing the entire affair.
The boys wisely decided to leave them by themselves, but there were other boys who wanted something else. For some reason, they all ran away, scared, once Jade flipped them off, no amount of chastising making her change her behavior.
"I'm jealous," Tori began, laughing softly, "I've had them coming after me, saying that they were now fans of Raven and Starfire shipping..."
"Want a quick and effective way of getting them off your back?" The Goth inquired, and at the incredulous look in reply, chuckled.
"Just show them this ring, and they'll flee," she passed the tanned teen her black ring, the one with the dragon engraved on it. "That's the secret. The musketeers made their reputation off scaring poor kids into leaving the girls by themselves, and anyone with said ring meant blood in vengeance."
"It really works? " The Latina was doubtful.
"Yeah, you'd think that only my pretty scissors scared them off?" She scoffed, laughing bitterly and softly, "most of them say that they're willing to handle pain, as long as I'm the one giving it..."
"Really?" There was grin on the tanned face, but the thespian wasn't looking at her, "I thought they would say something along the lines of being on the dominating end of the BDSM..."
"If you're so chatty," the reply was dry, "we can talk about what happened out there."
A squeak was all she had to hear before smirking and being left in peace. She actually drifted to a light slumber, not certain at what time the class was meant to end. They did wonder, if their already stranger than usual relation would change that much with the knowledge. Looking at each other, or feel in the Goth's case, the change wouldn't be that drastic, mostly due to the fact that she was already comfortable with the Latina. She did remember Beck's question, and felt that they both knew the answer; Tori had been there before him, so no, they probably wouldn't have worked. Cracking an eye, she looked at her best friend and found him smitten by certain Kat on the stage... She smiled softly to herself, grateful that he was a gentleman, and could already tell that he had found his one.
"Angel..." She heard laughter in the background, and smiled, cuddling further into the warm body... "Angel..."
"Mmmm?" She murmured, clearly not ready to return to the living.
"Angel," she scoffed softly at the tone.
"Don't Sunshine," she reprimanded, scowling in her sleep; she heard a soft chuckle and cuddled further, "sleep..."
It all felt as though she was three again and at the park, her brother and his friends were thirteen around the time, and had taken them all to the park. They liked the woods, mainly because it kept them shielded from prying eyes. She did notice a girl hovering by the top of the hill, clearly eager to go over there and make friends. The sun illuminated the girl, her tanned skin made her look like she belonged with the Latinos who were with her brother, and since they were cool, she thought the girl would be as well. Besides, while Cat and Kat were together, they tended to leave her alone, not that did it on purpose. It was more that they were cats with each other, and didn't know how to deal with a non-cat, not that any of them really understood what that meant. She just thought it would be fun to have more people; Jasper had three friends, so why couldn't she have three as well? The girl hovered, and was suddenly pushed down the hill and in their direction. She gained speed and only stopped by the roots of a tree. Worried, she went to see what had happened. When there was no sign of blood, she decided not to worry, just placed the tanned head on her lap, sing softly to her, and passing her hand through the soft and silky hair, waited for the girl to wake. Those hazel eyes drew her in, and she felt happy.
"Angel!" Jade snapped out of it, standing; her memory was still fresh, and she thought she could feel the wind blowing through her hair...
"Come, class just ended," she was looking about everywhere, clearly worried about something, and stopped certain redhead. "Cat, where's Kat?"
"Oh," a cute pout later, she only had a shrug for her efforts, "I don't really know..."
"Did she go to the bathroom?" Pablo asked, concern etched on his face while his twin scowled.
At Cat's bewildered expression, Dan seemed to literally snap. "Everyone, search the campus. If anyone has hurt my kid sister..." The Colombians cracked their knuckles, clearly ready to go to any extent for the Russian.
The one who found the girl was Beck. He found her walking in a random direction, with a concerned group of boys following, but being too scared to truly approach the girl. Katarina had a bewildered look on her face, a hand to her lips, clearly about to burst into tears. The tanned, tall boy, concern shining in his mocha eyes, and immediately stepped in front of her, arms open. The boys glared at him, clearly pissed that he would have the guts of approaching one of the few girls who wielded a black ring, which meant that the lovely creature was out of reach. When they remembered that he had dated Jade, who had worn the ring, though she began relaying on her scissors to scare most of them off... Begrudgingly, her entourage left, especially when she sought solace on those tanned arms. Life was never fair, the boys mused, then swallowed and ran for dear life when they noticed the group which would make sure their lives were a living hell should they approach the Russian. The pale female was crying in Beck's arms, and if it wasn't for Jade, Dan would have killed him on the spot.
"Kat, are you okay?" Pablo asked, hard obsidian eyes fixed on the boy, who allowed the pale teen to leave his embrace and turned towards her brother. "Did this boy do something?"
"No," she sobbed softly; rubbing her eyes softly, she dried her tears. She didn't want to appear weak before her older siblings, but she knew better than to pretend everything was okay. "It was a girl, said she wanted to talk to me about him..."
Cat took her friend in a soft hug, and the kitty seemed to compose herself in the redhead's arms. A hiccup escaped her throat, and the redhead began rubbing her back and telling her a weird story about her brother. She cracked a smile from her namesake.
"It could have been anyone," Jade remarked with a sigh, glaring mildly at her best friend, "unfortunately, Beck is popular with girls, so anyone could have gotten to her."
"Some of those girls can be quite vindictive," Tori said, feeling a headache approaching, "he's far too docile to hurt a fly."
Beck just smiled softly, but said nothing, eyes still watching with full concern the blonde in their ditz's arms. Dan snorted at the sight, but Pablo seemed to be more willing to accept the young man.
"Come, we'll go to your mom's office, get a yearbook, and ask her to point the culprit," the Goth motioned and everyone followed her.
The problem was, even if they knew who it was, they had yet to learn what had happened. Funny, the principal's office wasn't big enough to hold all of them, even if Rex and Robbie weren't there; they had an appointment after school, so Tori opted for waiting outside. Still, they all managed to get inside and once there, they began explaining the situation. They were looking through the latest yearbook for their class, but the Russian just shook her pale-blonde hair, and pointed at one picture in Holly's desk: Trina.
"Hey mom," the eldest Vega girl appeared with complete nonchalance, "I was wondering when we're going home..."
The Colombians glared at her, and if it wasn't for Tori, the brunette would have been beaten to a pulp, and then questioned. Why they could never do thing in the proper order was beyond the youngest Vega child, but she was certain she didn't want to be an only child, yet...
"I don't get what's the whole deal," Trina complained; Tori was stuck in her mother's car, "I mean, I didn't even kiss her!"
"Trina, what were you thinking?" Holly asked with a small sigh. "Really, you come over for Halloween, managed to get your school to let you stay for Thanksgiving—"
"Wait, how did you get an entire month?" The youngest was having a hard time believing it.
"I have the highest grades," her sister commented dryly, "wow, thanks for the vote of confidence sis..."
"Not now Trina," their mother said, frown in place, "you can be doing well in your classes, it's great, but I cannot allow you to go about through school and doing as you please. I'm Principal there, I need you two to behave, not embarrass me."
"Sorry mom," Trina said, then glared at her kid sister, hissing.
"I have yet to embarrass you," Tori said with a slight glare, "so I have yet to apologize..."
Holly just shook her head, unable to deny that truth. "Trina, what were you thinking?" She was actually afraid of learning.
"You just didn't see it mom," the college student said in a huff, "the way Beck was staring at her... He had never stared at Jade that way!"
"So, what you're trying to say is," Tori understood her mother's need of making things clear; was Trina even listening to herself speak? She was willing to bet that her answer was no. "Since your high school crush seems to like this girl, you decided to go ahead and try to seduce her?"
"When you say it that way," she looked at her sister, asking her through signs if their mother had just flipped; Tori just shook her head and pointed her ringed finger at her, "ugh, you two make me sound like a psycho!"
"Sorry sis, you already sounded that way," the youngest Vega blushed when she realized her words and the way her hazel eyes naturally rolled; certain West character was rubbing off on her. Their mother laughed while the eldest's brown eyes widened. "It's the truth!"
She wasn't about to go back on her words, even if they were far from the right ones.
"Jade is a bad influence on you little sis," Trina commented, but their mother laughed with more zeal.
"Oh, I think she's a great influence," both youngsters looked at each other, completely freaked out about the situation, "I actually invited their family over for Thanksgivings."
Both girls paled, but said nothing and soon, they arrived home. Their mother was already planning an assembly and decided on a new topic for the sex ed class. Neither of her children wished to discuss the subject.
Up next: Jade and Amber have an interesting conversation, and the crew goes out for their camping trip... Thanksgiving is approaching...
A/N: Okay, I was certain about the incident between Trina and Katarina, and the impact its going to have on the next chapter, but I never pictured Holly taking such a response. Also, even if I hadn't planned for the short trip through the bad neighborhood, I had a slight idea on a battle scene; it was the only course of action that appeared coherent after I wrote that brief trouble scene. Is this too long?