Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

A/N: Ok, ok. Don't kill me, please don't kill me. I know it has been a ridiculously long time, but this chapter….oh this chapter…. a) it was crazy hard to write, b) I got back from vacation and realized I hadn't written a single word and c) I have been so busy I sometimes forget it's summer. Nevertheless, hopefully, you all still remember me and still care enough to read. So, enjoy…

Last Time…

As Troy explained how life in Albuquerque had been over the last month, Gabriella felt herself slip back into her old ways. She felt like Troy was only a few minutes away and they were having one of their late night chats. Both teenagers cracked jokes as their conversation continued. Gabriella had that wonderful feeling in the pit of her stomach from laughing so hard. Her stomach hurt from laughing, but it was a pain she didn't mind and instead relished.

The pair spent hours on the phone simply chatting easily about school, friends and the future. Unlike some of their more serious conversations, this one was easy and lighthearted.

Chapter Twenty Nine – The Storm

The bright sun did not shine through the window like Gabriella had been waiting for since 5 am. She had been lying awake for hours, starring at the ceiling, the wall, the clock, anything but the inside of her eyelids.

Today was the day of her father's trial. The day her entire life could change for either the worse or the better. In an instant her entire world could fall into shambles so much worse than it had been before. It would have been impossible for her to sleep through the entire night.

Gabriella sighed, there was no way it had only been a few minutes since she last looked at the clock. She rolled over and glanced quickly at the bright red numbers, 7:54.

Good,Gabriella thought, It's almost eight o'clock. She smiled happily to herself, she must have fallen asleep for some brief period of time. She closed her eyes, but they quickly snapped open. How could it possibly be almost 8 am and there be no sun in the sky?

Confused, Gabriella got out of bed and walked to the window so she could examine the sky. It turned out that the reason the bright sun didn't not sting her eyes as it usually did was not because the sun hadn't risen, but that there were large, dark clouds hiding it.

There was definitely a storm brewing.

--

An hour later she sat in the back of a car between her brother and sister. Both their heads rested on Gabriella's shoulder as Gabriella stared straight ahead. She could tell they were both anxious, even scared about the day ahead of them. As their older sister, Gabriella wished she could find the right words to comfort them, to put them at easy. But she couldn't, because she didn't have the right words.

The rain pattered on the roof of the car as they drove through the streets of Charlotte. The sky was still gray and miserable. This has to be some sort of sign, Gabriella decided, and a bad one at that. Bad things always seemed to happen on rainy days.

Gabriella felt the car come to a stop in the parking lot of the court house. Though she tried to hide it, she could feel her breath hitch and her heartbeat quicken. Lucas pushed open the door and climbed out first, Gabriella followed after him and raised her large black umbrella over her and Lucas' head, shielding their clothes from the down pour of rain, which had picked up considerably. Lily walked around the car, from the other side, with her grandmother under another black umbrella. The four walked silently into the court house to have one final meeting with their lawyer.

--

"For the record, please state your name, age and occupation," Diana Miller, Mariana's Lawyer, requested of her first witness.

"My name is Doctor Zachary Fisher, I'm 47 years old and I work as the head pediatrician at Charlotte Hospital," the dark haired man answered.

"And how long have you worked as a pediatrician, Dr. Fisher?" Diana asked.

"Officially?"

Diana nodded, "Yes, excluding med school, your internship and residency, how long have you been a doctor?"

"18 years."

"So it's fair to say you're an expert in children's medicine?"

"I'd like to think so," Dr. Fisher answered, chuckling slightly.

"Can you please explain to the court what happened on March 27th?"

"Well, I had just finished rounds on another patient when I was paged about a young girl, who had blacked out after falling off the playground," Dr. Fisher began. "When I arrived nurses were already dressing her injuries. Since she had fallen from such a great height, I checked to make sure she could remember her name, her age, and where she went to school. After Lily Montez recited her own name, age and school, I checked her reflexes. Once it was established that they were all fine, I ordered a CT scan, just to double check everything was alright. You can never be too careful with children."

"A CT scan?" Diana interrupted, feigning confusion, so that Dr. Fisher could explain to the jury what it was.

"A CT head scan, like the one I ordered, is used to detect any internal bleeding, skull fractures or brain defects. It's basically used so we can see inside the head without cutting it open," Dr. Fisher explained.

"Thank you. And after the CT scan?"

"While the scan was processing I went back to Lily's room to do a full physical examination. Just as I was properly introducing myself to Lily, Mr. Montez walked in. Mr. Montez seemed extremely anxious to leave the hospital with his daughter immediately. He, unlike most parents, didn't welcome the idea of a full physical examination, which I found strange – like he was hiding something."

"Objection your honor!" Katrina Alexander, the defense lawyer, rose to her feet, "Speculation. Dr. Fisher is not an expert in psychology."

"Sustained. Dr. Fisher's last statement will be struck from the record and the jury will disregard it. Continue Dr. Fisher," Judge Milano.

"I started my examination and as I lifted the back up her shirt up, so I could feel her heartbeat with my stethoscope, I noticed a lot of bruising and scarring that looked much older than the injuries she had received from the fall."

"What do you think could have caused these injuries?" Mrs. Miller asked.

"In my opinion, they were the result of being pushed into a wall or something along those lines," Dr. Fisher replied.

"What about Lily's two siblings? Did you examine them as well?" Mrs. Miller questioned.

"Yes, I examined Gabriella and Lucas. Both Lucas and Gabriella exhibited similar injuries to their sister's."

"What kind of injuries?" Diana pressed. She wanted Dr. Fisher to paint a picture of battered children for the jury. To make them feel sympathy for the Montez children.

"Severe bruising and scarring on the back as well as bruising in the shape of a hand around the upper arm, as if the child was grabbed tightly. All three were thinner than other children their age, as if they'd been neglected food sometimes. I asked the oldest child, Gabriella, to remove her makeup and I found bruising on her cheeks, as if she'd been slapped, scars on her face and dark circles under her eyes, which are present in people who suffer from sleep deprivation. She also had scaring on her forearms, which looked to me like defensive wounds," Dr. Fisher explained, using his hands to show the size of injuries and their whereabouts.

"What do these injuries mean?" Diana probed.

"They mean that someone has been abusing all three Montez children." Dr. Fisher's voice remained even and very serious.

"And in your opinion, who is cable of producing such injuries?"

"Based on the size of the injuries, someone much larger than all three of the children and due to the number of injuries, someone who is around them a lot of the time," Dr. Fisher began, "So really that only leaves their father, Tomas Montez."

"No further questions." Diana said simply, walking back to her seat.

Gabriella watched as her father's lawyer got up from her seat and started to pace in front of Dr. Fisher, picking apart his testimony. She tried not to listen to the lawyer as she questioned his credibility and his examinations.

She could hear the weather outside intensify as Diana stood up from her chair to make an objection to the Katrina Alexander questions. Gabriella held her breath as she waited for Judge Milano to make his decision. Diana's objection was overruled and the defense lawyer continued with her harsh questioning.

Dr. Fisher hesitated.

"Answer the question Dr. Fisher. How do you know for sure that Mr. Montez is responsible for his children's injuries?" Katrina pressed.

Dr. Fisher sighed, "I don't."

Katrina feigned surprise, "Oh," she raised her eyebrows, "So, it could have been any person larger than say, 5'3''?"

Dr. Fisher looked defeated, "In theory? Yes."

"Thank you." Katrina smirked before taking her seat again.

The wind from the intense storm outside whistled loudly as Dr. Fisher walked down from the stand. He looked sympathetically towards Gabriella, Lucas and Lily as he took his seat a few rows behind them.

--

Gabriella patted her eyes with a tissue to dry the tears that had leaked after her heartbreaking testimony. Though she had replayed her entire story, starting from the night her mother left to the day she had confessed everything to Dr. Fisher and Detective Campbell, she had managed to keep herself somewhat together. There had been a few tears and watery eyes throughout but she was glad she hadn't broken down completely in front of the entire court.

She took a deep breath as she watched Katrina walk towards her. Her striking black power suit with a red blouse made her look extremely intimidating. On top of that, she was wearing black stilettos which made her tower over Gabriella.

Though she'd tried not to watch Katrina attempt to destroy the prosecution's argument by trying to find loop holes in witnesses' testimony, Gabriella couldn't help it. She'd watched the other witnesses as Katrina had brutally questioned them. All of the witnesses seemed to be able to remain calm for most of the questioning, but somehow Katrina would find some tiny hole in their testimony. Gabriella had seen the look on all of the witnesses' faces when each one realized what Katrina was doing.

"So, Ms. Montez," Katrina began kindly.

"You can call me Gabriella," Gabriella insisted.

"Ok. So, Gabriella, how old are you?" she asked.

"I'm 16," Gabriella answered.

Katrina raised her eyebrows, "Oh wow, that's awfully young to be taking care of two children all on your own. Isn't it?"

"I managed alright," Gabriella answered quickly.

"And 16 is also awfully young to start lying, isn't it?" Katrina continued.

Gabriella looked confused, "I don't know what you're talking about," she answered truthfully.

"Gabriella," Katrina stated, her tone changing drastically, "You know exactly what I'm talking about."

Gabriella was taken aback by Katrina's suddenly harsh tone. At first, the woman hadn't been as harsh as Gabriella had prepared herself for, but on the 3rd question everything changed.

"You took your siblings with you and ran away from home. Are you telling me that you lied to no one on your journey to Albuquerque?"

"Well, I…" Gabriella looked down at her hands.

"Answer the question Ms. Montez," Judge Milano encouraged.

"Only when I had to," Gabriella admitted quietly.

Katrina smirked, "So you did lie. So why should the jury believe any of the testimony you've just given?"

"Because that was all true! I did what I had to do to try to keep my siblings safe. Why would I lie about being abused by my father?" Gabriella questioned angrily.

"I'm asking the questions Gabriella," Katrina reminded her. "How many times did you lie Gabriella?"

Gabriella shook her head, "I don't remember. They just came out." Gabriella's voice was quiet.

Katrina smirked, "My point exactly. The defense rests."

A bolt of lightning struck through the sky, brightening the court room instantly. Soon after a loud clap of thunder rattled the building as the rain continued to pound down on the roof top.

Gabriella managed to get down from her chair on the witness stand. Her grandmother gave her a reassuring smile. She knew hadn't done wonderfully on the stand and for that she was slightly miffed with herself.

Diana had warned her that Katrina would ask her the exact questions she did, but she said that hopefully the jury would believe Gabriella's tale, that they would see the truth in her eyes. As she took her seat again, Gabriella took a deep breath and waited as the next witness was called up.

--

"My name is Stephanie Wilcox. I am 29 years old and I'm Lily's teacher," the dark haired woman introduced herself.

"And what grade do you teach?" Diana asked, building background.

"5th grade."

"Can you tell us about Lily Montez?"

"Lily came to my class in the middle of the year, in January. She was quiet, but very bright. She's also extremely creative. Right off the bat, I noticed that she kept to herself a lot of the time and she usually played with her brother, Lucas, at recess. After awhile I started to notice she always seemed exhausted. Concerned, I called home," Stephanie explained.

"And what happened when you called home?" Diana probed.

"Lily's father answered and when I expressed my concerns he told me Lily had a sleeping problem, that he would provide me with a doctor's note."

"Did he?"

"Yes. The next day Lily walked in with a doctor's note explaining her condition. After that, things seemed to be getting better until one day when I noticed an odd looking bruise on her arm. I didn't think anything of it at first – I teach 5th grade, kids come into my class battered from running around all the time. But then as I began to pay more attention, I noticed them more often and in more places. The bruises were beginning to look less and less like an accident and more and more like something was going on at home. I even spoke to Mr. Melendez, Lucas' teacher and he had been noticing the same things. The bruises combined with the sleep problem, led us to believe something was going on at home. We were going to report it to the principal, but then Lily fell off the playground and the doctor beat us to it," Mrs. Wilcox finished.

"Who did you believe had caused the injuries?"

"Mr. Montez, Lucas and Lily's father."

"What was he like?" Diana asked, feigning curiosity.

"I rarely spoke to Mr. Montez. There were only two times I made contact with him. The first time was over the phone when I expressed my concerns about his daughter. The other time was during a parent-teacher conference. At first he wasn't intent on coming, but our school has a policy that the teacher must meet with each student's parent, or parents, at least once during the school year, so eventually he came. The one thing that really struck me was there was a strong smell of alcohol on his breath when he came to meet with me. He wasn't drunk, but the smell was definitely there."

"What does that mean to you?" the prosecutor asked.

"He is an alcoholic," Stephanie answered simply.

"Objection!" Katrina rose to her feet, "The witness is not an expert in alcoholism!"

"If you let me ask the next question, the witness will prove herself somewhat of an expert," Diana tried to convince the judge.

"Overruled, but Mrs. Miller if the court does not find Mrs. Wilcox's explanation viable, it will be stricken from the record," Judge Milano warned.

"Yes your honor," Diana nodded politely, before she turned back to Stephanie, "How do you know that to be true?"

"My mother and father were both alcoholics. I know what an alcoholic's breath smells like," Stephanie answered strongly.

Diana looked up at the Judge to make sure he approved. The Judge nodded. With an unnoticeable smile Diana continued.

"Do you still believe Mr. Montez is responsible for his children's injuries?" Diana asked.

"Yes," Stephanie answered quickly.

"Why?"

Stephanie paused, before her eyes softened and she began, "Because, when Lily first came to me, she was quiet and afraid, but in the past 2 months, since she has been living with her grandmother, Lily Montez is a completely different girl. She raises her hand in class, she plays with other kids during recess, she's just vibrant. Most of all, I haven't seen a single new bruise since she fell off that playground."

Diana couldn't help but smile, "The prosecution rests."

--

Gabriella sat in the hallway drinking terrible coffee, with her brother, her sister and her grandmother as they waited for the jury to finish deliberating. The trial had been fairly short – the defense had only a few witnesses, a coworker of Tomas Montez, a different doctor and a neighbor. All of whom hadn't really been fantastic witnesses. Diana had been able to get some more proof out of them for the prosecution.

The thunder had stopped during Stephanie's testimony and had just started again now, louder than before. The rain was louder as well, pounding down on the roof. Gabriella watched as the sky lit up brightly with each bolt of lightning that split the sky.

She looked back as she heard heels coming towards them, sure enough Diana Miller was headed their way.

"The jury is ready," she said quickly.

Gabriella sucked in her breath. She couldn't believe it was finally time.

Somehow, she wasn't sure how, she found herself back in the courtroom, sitting in the same seat she had been before. She looked at the jury, but their faces were impossible to read, but she was never really a good face reader.

She smoothed her skirt over and over as she waited for the court to file in and for the jury to bring in their decision.

"Will the defendant please rise," Gabriella held her breath. She couldn't breathe. This was it. This was the most important sentence in her life. The sentence that would decide her future. " The jury finds Mr. Tomas Montez guilty of child abuse and neglect and sentences him to 7 years in jail with mandatory alcohol abuse recovery sessions."

"Court dismissed." Judge Milano banged his gavel twice.

Gabriella finally exhaled. It was over. It was finally over. She was so overwhelmed with happiness that she wasn't quite sure what to do. Should she jump up and down screaming? Or should she cry?

Before she knew what was happening Lily threw her arms around Gabriella and Lucas quickly followed. She didn't dare look at her father, who was being handcuffed in preparation to be taken away. Instead, she closed her eyes and hugged Lily and Lucas tighter.

Soon she felt another pair of arms wrapping around her. Opening her eyes, Gabriella saw that her grandmother had joined the embrace.

"Thank you," Gabriella murmured.

"You're safe now. You're all safe." Mariana whispered, kissing her grandchildren's hair.

After a few more minutes, Mariana pulled away from the embrace,

"We just have one final thing to take care of. Come with me."

Gabriella nodded and took Lucas and Lily's hands, squeezing them, before they followed their grandmother.

In the hall, Mariana found Diana, who led them down another hall until they came to Judge Milano's office.

Diana knocked twice before Judge Milano allowed them to enter his office.

His office was large, with a great desk, which he sat behind, at the back of the office. There were two chairs in front of the desk, and a sofa near the door. The walls were lined with bookshelves, filled with books, magazines and documents. Katrina Alexander was already seated in one of chairs.

"Mrs. Ortiz, please, take a seat," Judge Milano offered politely, "Gabriella, Lucas, Lily, you may sit on the sofa if you like."

Gabriella nodded, and made her way to the sofa, to sit down, with Lucas and Lily on either side. Their grandmother sat in the other chair in front of the Judge's desk, while Diana simply stood behind her.

"I believe there is one final matter we need to take care of, custody of the children," Judge Milano began, "Mrs. Miller, would you like to begin?"

"Thank you your honor. My client requests full custody of her grandchildren," Diana explained simply.

"Does Mrs. Ortiz have the proper documentation to stay here in the United States, or will she request that she be allowed to take the children back to Spain?" Judge Milano questioned.

"Yes, Mrs. Ortiz recently obtained her visa to live in the United States. She is planning on taking the children to Albuquerque, New Mexico," Diana answered, handing Mariana's documentation to the Judge.

Gabriella held her breath. Thanks to Kelsi, who had an uncle working in the immigration department of the government, Mariana had been able to get her visa quickly. At first, Gabriella hadn't even considered the fact that they might have to be taken back to Spain. She was thankful as she watched Judge Milano nod in approval.

"And Ms. Alexander, " Judge Milano motioned for her to make her request.

"My client requests that his children remain here in North Carolina, until their mother is found. He requests that they stay at the orphanage downtown, your honor," Katrina requested.

"May I remind you, your honor, that the children's mother abandoned them. The defense has also been unable to produce any evidence on the whereabouts of Mrs. Montez. It could take years to find her. If the children are put into Mrs. Ortiz's care, they will receive the love and safety an orphanage will deprive them of," Diana explained.

"My client worries that Mrs. Ortiz will be unable to properly care for his children due to her age. The orphanage downtown is exceptional," Katrina countered.

"Mrs. Ortiz has been caring for the children for the past 2 months and they have been provided for wonderfully. Mrs. Ortiz is only 66 years old and is in excellent health," Diana rebutted.

"My client is still concerned that in the future, she will be insufficient in providing care."

The room fell silent, as Judge Milano seemed to be pondering the two women's arguments. His eyes fell on Gabriella. Gabriella could have sworn she saw a slight smile cross his face.

"I believe that the Montez children will be well cared for by either their grandmother or in an orphanage. However, I would probably be correct to assume that these children have their own opinions about where they'd like to be. So, Gabriella," he said, leaning forward slightly, "what do you think?"

"I would like very much to be allowed to live with my grandmother, sir." Gabriella answered politely.

"Lucas and Lily?"

"Living with our grandmother would mean everything to us," Lily answered.

"We wouldn't want to live anywhere else." Lucas finished.

Judge Milano smiled, "Then it's decided. I, Mark Milano of the State of North Carolina, officially declare Mrs. Mariana Rivera Ortiz the legal guardian of Gabriella, Lucas and Lily Montez. Ms. Alexander, you may leave. Mrs. Miller and Mrs. Ortiz I need you to stay to finish off some paperwork."

--

20 minutes later, Gabriella, Lucas, Lily and Mariana walked down the hallway to the court's main exit. Mariana had signed all the legal paperwork and she was officially their legal guardian.

It was still raining when the four made their way to the front steps of the courthouse. Though, it wasn't thundering anymore, the wind was stronger than ever. Gabriella put up her umbrella while Mariana did the same, however the strong wind whipped the umbrella from Gabriella's grip and sent it flying through the air, down the steps and into the parking lot. Gabriella watched n horror as the umbrella was swept through the lot, until she could no longer see it.

She felt Lily's hand detach from her own and run under the cover of her grandmother's umbrella, but Gabriella remained unmoving. As the rain fell on her she felt a sense of freedom, literally, wash over her. She didn't care that the rain was soaking her blue blouse or her black skirt. She didn't care that the cold rain was going to send her dark curls into a frizzy mess when they dried. She just didn't care.

Gabriella held her hands out and looked up at the dark sky, letting the rain continue to drench her. Despite the protests of her grandmother, brother and sister, she didn't move.

Gabriella finally realized that the storm wasn't a bad omen. That just because the sun hadn't suddenly started shining when they'd been blessed with the best news of a lifetime, it meant something terrible was about to happen. She realized that the storm had in fact been a good thing all along. The loud thunder was decimating all the terrible that invaded Gabriella's life, while the bright lightning showed all the good that would shine down on her new life. The gust of wind that blew away her umbrella was only there so that Gabriella was able to feel the cool rain's soothing power. The rain washed away any chains that held worries and fears close to Gabriella.

As Gabriella stood on the steps of the courthouse continually getting wetter she had never been happier in her entire life. This was the beginning.

A/N: Phew. So how'd I do? I didn't include every single witness and all the questioning because that would have taken me way too long and I think I might have bored you all. Hopefully I managed to include enough questioning so you guys actually believed it was a real court room scene. Review with your thoughts! Thanks so much for reading!

Oh! I know there were a lot of new characters in this chapter. If you're at all confused, please let me know in your review and I will try to clear it up for you.