AN~ I MISS MY UNCLE'S LAPTOP! And his Mac. I want a computer in MY house again! But I'll deal with it. My update rate will slow down a lot, though.

"Oh, good." Renee said. "I thought it was something serious, like an engagement."

Sabrina stared. "You think war is less serious than an engagement."

Renee nodded, then stopped. "Oh, wait." She said. "You were serious?"

Sabrina nodded. "I don't really joke. Especially about stuff like that."

Renee blinked. "You mean you're the girl who's taken my place, and you don't joke?"

"Not really." Sabrina said. "I do sarcasm, but that's about it."

"How can you be dating Puck and not joke?" Renee asked.

Sabrina colored. "He told you what?"

"Oh, he didn't tell me that." Renee said. "He didn't have to. He doesn't admit it when he is. Lord knows he never did for me."

"That's because you weren't dating, Renee." Mustardseed interjected. "And neither are Puck and Sabrina, am I right?" He looked at Sabrina for confirmation.

Sabrina felt an odd sense of relief. She told herself she was just glad Puck hadn't lied to her, and decided to move on before she thought too much about it. Some things she just wasn't ready for.

Sabrina nodded. "Not now, not ever. We're best friends, that's all. And best friends don't fall in love."

Renee snorted. "Then I'm glad I'm not his best friend anymore."

Sabrina a rolled her eyes. "I don't think he's interested. I mean, he's growing up, but he still won't touch me because he thinks I have cooties."

Renee stared. "Cooties?"

Sabrina nodded.

Renee grinned. "That's so adorable! I knew there was a reason I loved him."

"Well, you can have him." Sabrina said. "I'm not interested. But like I said, I don't think he is, either. Maybe you should look for someone a little more mature..." She glanced at Mustardseed meaningfully.

Renee never got a chance to reply, because Puck came up and sat down in the chair next to Sabrina.

"Can we get this over with and get out of here as fast as possible?" Puck asked. "My mother won't shut up."

"Doesn't want you to leave, does she?" Sabrina smirked. "Sorry about that. I told her."

Puck made a face. "That was cruel." He said.

Sabrina shrugged. "It's payback for not telling me about any of your friends or anything. And why is it that every time I come here, someone else thinks we're in love?"

"Dunno." Puck shrugged. "But it's not just here. If I had a quarter for every time your sister told me we were made for each other, you wouldn't owe me anymore."

"I don't owe you." Sabrina said. "I think writing on my face with a sharpie is payment enough."

"Hey, I was bored!" Puck protested. "And I've been good recently!"

"That's just because I can get you back now." Sabrina said, sipping her drink. "What is this anyway, Momma?"

"Everything nonalcoholic." Momma said.

"Anyway," Puck said, "About getting out of here fast..."

"Right." Sabrina said. "Did you tell her that we want to take her back with us?"

Puck shook his head.

Sabrina rolled her eyes. "That might have shut her up, you know."

Realization dawned on his face. "That would have worked, wouldn't it?"

"Wait-" Mustardseed interrupted. "What's this about mother returning with you?"

Sabrina started. She'd forgotten he and Renee were still there.

"Umm... Puck?" She asked. "You want to explain?"

Puck shook his head. "You brought it up. You explain."

"Thanks." Sabrina stuck her tongue out at Puck, then turned to Mustardseed and Renee. "All right, you know the war I mentioned? It's between the Scarlet Hand, you remember, right Mustardseed? The group we kept obsessing over last time we were here? Well, they want to kill all the humans and take over the world, and a bunch of other everafters don't want that to happen, so we're trying to get an army of human protectors together to keep the everafters in town, and we figured, Faerie has one of the largest everafter populations outside of Ferryport Landing, and Puck's their king... technically... so let's look here for allies!"

Mustardseed blinked. "I have a feeling it gets a lot more in depth than that."

Sabrina nodded. "Yeah. There's also the whole aftereffects of the cocoon, Charming's grand plan for the war, and everything that's been happening in town. But Puck can explain all that to you. He's much better at offering an unopinionated point of view."

Puck made a face and said, "Not now, I don't want to do this more than once. Let's go get my mother. Hey! Maybe we can interrupt the party to explain what's going on, and then I won't have to be social! ...That is, if you don't mind, Mustardseed."

Mustardseed shook his head. "I'm fine."

Sabrina grinned. "We're all a bunch of antisocial freaks."

"I'm not!" Renee protested.

"Oh, are you still here?" Sabrina asked noticing her again. "Sorry, I forgot."

"That was rude." Renee glared.

Sabrina blinked. "It was, wasn't it? Sorry."

Puck snickered. "Was that genuine, Grimm, or were you messing with her?"

"That was real." Sabrina said. "HEY! Titania!"

Titania looked up, and worked her way through the crowd to the four..

"What do you want?" She asked.

"To tell you why we're here, since Puck was very unsmart and forgot. He's going to make it up to you now, but he didn't want to yell." Sabrina smiled sweetly at Puck.

"All right." Puck said, pretending to not be at all irritated by Sabrina. "Mom, there's going to be a war between the Scarlet Hand and the everafters who like humans. I'm on the save-the-humans side, and we're here to try and convince everyone to come back to Ferryport Landing with us and fight on our side, because we're majorly outnumbered at the moment."

"And why would we come back and get trapped in that tiny little nowheresville?" Titania asked.

"Because I can get you out again." Sabrina said. "The Scarlet Hand's going to try to recruit you, too, but the only way they can get you back out is if my whole family's dead, and we're kind of hard to kill."

Mustardseed blinked. "You can?"

Sabrina nodded.

"I think we should go with her, Mother." Mustardseed said. "Or at least let Sabrina and Puck share their proposal with everyone else, as they're here already, and everyone in Faerie is here."

Titania thought for a minute, then finally relented. "Very well, you two. I'll get their attention, and you can give your speech."

She led the way to the stage in the back corner of the restaurant, with Puck, Sabrina, Mustardseed and Renee following.

"Speech?" Sabrina muttered to Puck. "Do you have anything prepared?"

Puck shook his head. "But they all love you, so they'll listen."

"What?" Sabrina asked, watching Titania shoo the musicians away from the stage.

"Don't you remember how they reacted when you gave your mom's speech?" He asked. "I saw you at the end. You weren't just reading, and they knew it. You and your mother are both pretty much heroes to them."

Sabrina blinked. "I'm not sure if that bolsters my confidence or makes me so nervous I want to hide..." She muttered.

"You'll be fine." Puck said. "You always are. Of course, most of the time it's because I save you, but I'm here to do that now, so if you mess up..."

"Your confidence astounds me." Sabrina rolled her eyes.

"Hello, everyone!" Titania shouted. "May I have your attention?"

The room, which had already been half-turned towards the stage because the music, stopped, quickly silencing itself. No one messed with Titania. She could be nice... if you were on her good side. But if you did something she didn't like... Well.

"Thank you." Titania said. "Most of you are aware that my son was here around Christmas and left shortly after that. He and one of the members of the family he has been staying with are here today, and have something to say to you."

She gestured for Puck and Sabrina to walk onto the stage, which they did.

"Hey, people!" Puck shouted. "Miss me?"

The crowd grumbled a little.

"Well, I'm not really going to talk much anyway, so that's all right." Puck grinned, unfazed by the crowd's cold response. "Sabrina's much better at the speech-making thing, so I'll let her explain all about the war and how the Scarlet Hand is trying to take over the world."

The crowd gasped and stared at Puck, but clapped for Sabrina when she came forward.

"Umm... Hi." Sabrina said, waving. "I know Puck said I'm better at speech-making, but I've only ever really made like, three, and one of them was to my dad, and the other one was the one my mom wrote that I read to you."

She had to stop talking for a minute when the crowd cheered in memory of her mother's speech.

"But I'm going to try and tell you this stuff anyway." Sabrina said. "But bear with me if I mess up, all right? Thanks."

The crowd mumbled their assent.

"All right." Sabrina took a deep breath. "So Puck already told you that the Scarlet Hand wants to take over the world and either kill or enslave all the humans. Now, to some of you, that might seem like a good idea. Honestly, there are plenty of humans I'd like to get rid of, too. But there are plenty of good humans, too. Like my mother. Like my grandmother, and my sister. I can't count myself among the good humans anymore, but there are others, too. And a lot of the humans that they want to enslave are just... ignorant. It's not their fault that they don't believe in you. They've been raised in a world that believes magic is ridiculous, one that's even starting to turn against religion in favor of reason. Now, we all know that's ridiculous. But is it fair to kill those people just because they don't know any better? Are everafters that are prejudiced against humans any better than humans who are prejudiced against everafters? Isn't murder still wrong?"

The crowd shouted that it wasn't right.

"Good." Sabrina smiled. "I'm glad you agree with me. Now that I've got you on my side, for the most part, anyway, I'm going to tell you what we want you to do. See, the Scarlet Hand plans to kill my whole family to get out of Ferryport Landing and take over the world. That includes my mother, who spent ten years of her life here, helping you all."

The crowd began shouting in outrage.

Sabrina yelled over them. "Fortunately, we have friends in the town, and they aren't going to let us die without a fight. This brings us to the war Puck mentioned. Because the Scarlet Hand is not going to let anyone be neutral in this war. Their philosophy is pretty much 'whoever isn't for us is against us'. So they're going to attack anyone who isn't on their side. You guys are everafters. Would you just let your home, your business, your life be destroyed by these people? No! You'd fight back, right?"

The crowd shouted their assent.

Sabrina smiled grimly. "I thought you would. So will the people of Ferryport Landing. Which means there will be a war. Our sources say that this won't happen for at least two years, because neither of our sides is anywhere near ready, but the Scarlet Hand is still more ready than we are, and they have so many more everafters on their side, it's terrifying. We'll be destroyed if we don't get some more allies. Which is why I'm here. We'd like it if you'd join us in Ferryport Landing and fight on our side."

"Why should we do that?" One of the seven Dwarves, Mr. Three, asked.

"Because, for one thing, several of the people you all used to know are stil there, stuck inside. You could see Snow and Seven again, Mr. Three. Another reason is that there are no longer any humans in Ferryport Landing. They've been chased out by high taxes as a result of the Scarlet Hand. Honestly, as much as I hate that they've chased these people out of their homes, I'm almost glad. It's better for them to be out of harm's way, and now the everafters can be themselves, which is why Ferryport Landing was established in the first place. A third reason is that I can get you out again."

The everafters let out a collective gasp.

Sabrina nodded. "I'm sure you all know about the Barrier. Well, I have... something... that can get you through it again, once an everafter is inside. It's how Puck and I got here this time. It was a Christmas present, but no one knew what it did, otherwise I probably never would have gotten it. The Scarlet Hand can get you out of the Barrier if me, my mother, my father, my grandmother, my uncle, and my little sister are dead, and soon, Briar Rose. You will be getting involved in this. Do you really want to kill a seven year old , an old woman, the woman who helped you all, and one of your own princesses to get out of that place? I mean, it's your choice, but I hope you all have better hearts than that. I hope to see you all here with us when we return home. The Empire State Building will be puple when we leave. We'll give you time to pack your things up. Say... two weeks?"

She glanced at Puck, who nodded, then looked quickly at Mustardseed, who nodded in turn. Puck looked back and nodded at Sabrina again.

Sabrina laughed a little, then turned back to the crowd. "All right, people, thanks for your time. I hope to see you all in two weeks. Now go back and enjoy your party!"

The everafters cheered as she left the stage. Puck walked forward.

"Well, you heard her." He shouted. "Let's party!"

The musicians reoccupied the stage, and soon the party was in full swing again. People kept coming up and congratulating Sabrina, telling her that that was a wonderful speech, especially for an impromptu one, that she was a wonderful person, that they would see her in two weeks. Mustardseed finally saw that she was overwhelmed, and Puck, too, was being pressed about by people who wanted him to do something for the kingdom, or elaborate on what Sabrina had said, so he pulled the two of them out of the crowd and into the royal rooms behind the restaurant proper.

"Thank you." Sabrina said, breathing a sigh of relief. "I thought I was going to pass out, there were so many of them."

"You're a celebrity." Puck said jealously. "Now I remember why I hate parties."

Sabrina rolled her eyes. "Relax. I don't like it any more than you do. But it should get them on our side."

"You did a nice job out there." Mustardseed said. "Two weeks should be plenty of time.

"Thanks." Sabrina said. "I hope Dad has enough money for us to stay in that hotel for a while."

"Hotel?" Mustardseed saked. "Of course not. You'll stay here, naturally. We still have your room, Puck. And Moth's is free at the moment, and I'm sure we have a guest room available for your father, Sabrina."

"Thanks." Sabrina said. "Hey, what time is it?"

Mustardseed glanced at a clock on the wall behind Sabrina's head. "Four-thirty."

Sabrina blinked. "Wow. We spent longer being mobbed in there than I thought. No wonder I'm so hungry."

"Well, we'll have to show you the true hospitality of Faerie this time." Mustardseed said. "I'm afraid we were a little slack in that department last time, but with my father's murder..."

"I get it." Sabrina said. "There's only three of us this time. Oh! We're supposed to meet Dad outside in half an hour!"

"We'd better get started, then." Mustardseed said dryly. "It will probably take us that long just to get through the room."

"Fun." Sabrina said. "More people mobbing me."

"You can deal with it." Puck said. "You're good at coping."

"But I complain loudly." Sabrina said. "And the more I have to cope, the more I'll complain. And if I have to hold it in for a while, you aren't going to hear anything but me whining for an hour."

Puck winced, then shrugged. "I can always enact my revenge later."

"Don't destroy the house, all right?" Mustardseed asked. "I'd rather keep it intact, since I'm pretty sure I can figure out a way to bring it to your minuscule town so that we don't have to find a house."

"You can stay in Puck's room, too!" Sabrina said brightly.

"Hey, what is this?" Puck complained. "It's my room!"

"You've already got Baba Yaga in there with her chicken house." Sabrina said. "What's two more people?"

"Baba Yaga is my idol."

"Oh dear." Mustardseed passed a hand over his face. "What have you done?"

"It wasn't my fault." Sabrina protested. "And they're your family, Puck." She continued. "You can stay in the house if you need to. Or if you want, there's a lot more attic than what Uncle Jake will be using."

"Let's talk about this later." Mustardseed said. "We really ought to be going."

"Right." Sabrina said, and together, they went out to fight their way through the party.