Hey all! All I can do is apologize once again for taking FOREVER to update. I'm trying, I really am, but things just keep getting in the way of writing... But here's the next chapter, I hope you like it!

Many thanks to libaka, I wouldn't be able to do this without you. And thanks to all you reviewers out there, your encouragement helps more than you know.

Disclaimer: I do not own Sisters Grimm. I'm hoping this might change if I can find Michael Buckley and win in a poker game against him. When I learn how to play poker successfully, I'll get back to you on this.

34. Hello

First impressions are extremely important. Most people base their entire acquaintance with someone on how the first introduction went. Unfortunately, first impressions can often turn out to be totally wrong. Mr. Canis seems like a fairly normal, if odd-looking, frail old man. That is, until he beats up three thugs and comes back with a little smile on as if he just got his kicks for the month. Granny seems like a sweet, somewhat over-affectionate, little old lady. And then she opens her mouth and that whole image just crumples up into little pieces. Elvis seems like a completely normal great dane, but then he turns out to be a pretty good detective sidekick. Puck acts like a stereotypical eleven year old boy: obnoxious, unhygienic, and of the opinion that he is always right and that girls are gross. Unbeknownst even to Puck, he's actually a good person on the inside. Well, deep down anyway.

Mayor Charming uses first impressions to attempt to come off as a capable, powerful leader, although he usually just comes off as an arrogant jerk with a soft spot for Snow White. Mr. Seven appears to be a bit pathetic and easily cowed, but under the right circumstances is reliable and steady when no one expects it.

Some first impressions are completely correct. Sheriff Nottingham comes off as a violent, cruel, ignorant man who would kill anyone if he had the opportunity and the firepower. And he is. Heart seems like a rampaging tyrant who is biased, a little crazy, and more dangerous than an angry rhino. And other than the dangerous part, since she's a bit useless physically, Heart is exactly what she appears to be.

Other first impressions have a grain of truth, but aren't actually the whole picture. Henry appears to be a somewhat neurotic, cautious man, and he is, but he's also capable of making quick decisions and doing what has to be done, not just what he's comfortable with. Veronica seems like an average working mom, but she is brilliant at bringing people together and at defending herself and others. Jake acts like a bit of a goofball with a reckless personality. He is a goofball and is reckless, but he really truly cares about his family and is a one-woman man. Losing Briar destroys a piece of Jake, and he will never fully heal. Daphne comes off as a bit weird, but as a nice kid who adores adventure and meeting new people. That does suit her nicely, but she also has a deep-seated sense of justice and the growing ability to know what has to be done and then the willingness to go out and do it.

Sabrina though, she really throws people off. Most people, her family included, see her as a kid with an attitude problem. Her family figures that she needs to get her act together and stop being so suspicious and defensive. They want her to accept her life, to quit fighting her "destiny," and to do what they say. Her enemies think that she's a little girl that won't be able to really defeat them. They think that her anger will break her apart and make her easy prey. They think that if they beat her down and take away her hope, she won't be a problem for them anymore.

After a time though, people start looking beyond their first impression of Sabrina. Canis sees her and learns that she's so much stronger than anyone gives her credit for, and that if she decides to let him into her family, there is nothing he can do to stop being a part of it. Sabrina will do anything she can to try to save him and protect him. Canis lets go of his impression of Sabrina as a stubborn, rude little girl who says hurtful things and doesn't appreciate what she has. He learns that she is tough, has a sarcastic streak that almost, but not quite, makes him want to laugh aloud, and that she doesn't appreciate what she has because she both thinks that it won't be around for long and she knows what true peace is like. Nothing that Relda tries to force upon Sabrina will ever replace that feeling.

Granny thinks that Sabrina is a damaged child who needs to be fixed. Sabrina doesn't need to be fixed. She needs to be healed. Pushing someone into a world she doesn't want won't make her better. Granny can't wave a wand and make Sabrina's fears and hurt vanish. If she took the time to really listen to Sabrina, and tried to help her instead of drag her along, Sabrina would respond so much faster. Over time, Granny sees how much Sabrina wants a family, and that maybe instead of changing Sabrina to fit into the Grimm family, maybe Granny should do a little adjusting of her own.

Elvis has a rather accurate first impression of Sabrina. He doesn't like her at first, since she won't listen to him, but he can smell the hurt and fear and sadness and the bone-aching loneliness on this girl and he abruptly decides that he doesn't want her to smell like that anymore. Elvis listens to Sabrina when she whispers how she feels to him, and accepts the food that she can't make herself eat, and tries to make her feel better. Sabrina's smell doesn't change quickly, but the bitter scent of loneliness slowly fades away. Elvis likes Sabrina now, and has no intention of ever letting that smell return.

Puck's first impression of Sabrina lasts for all of possibly five minutes. He thinks she's a pretty stupid girl, and looks forward to dunking her in the pool and giving her a little scare. Of course, he rapidly changes his mind when she turns his prank around on him and he ends up soaking wet with his own pixies laughing at him. He decides that maybe she's not totally useless. She could be fun to bother anyway. Even though he kisses her beforehand, it isn't until after he's been healed in Faerie, and he talks to Sabrina after his rotten father's funeral, that Puck really changes his opinion of her. Instead of seeing a coward, or a stupid human, he finally sees someone who cares so deeply about her family, and even about him, that she'd rather never grow to be anyone at all than have them be harmed. It is her selflessness, and her willingness to comfort him in his grief, that truly makes Puck realize how much he loves her.

Charming still hasn't really looked beyond his first impression of Sabrina, but maybe if you tortured him he might admit that she's capable and a worthy descendant of the Grimms. He'd have to really be in pain though.

Mr. Seven's more observant than people like Charming think. He never had a bad impression of Sabrina, since anyone who had the guts to stand up for him and for themselves to Charming had to be a pretty amazing person to him. He just fills out his impression of her over the next couple of months, and while Sabrina will never know, Seven programmed his number into the Grimm's phone just in case she ever needs a ride somewhere. That Rip van Winkle can't be counted on, after all, and if Sabrina Grimm has a hunch, Seven is willing to drive her anywhere she wants to go.

Sheriff Nottingham and Heart see Sabrina as an irritating obstacle. They, like Charming, never really look beyond that. If they had, they might've thought a little harder about making an enemy of her. If they'd counted her as one of the defenses against the Scarlet Hand, there would've been a statistical difference that would be a strong indicator of which side to go on. But then, it's not like Nottingham and Heart even know what statistics is anyway.

Henry and Veronica see Sabrina as their adorable little baby girl. And there is still a part of her that is that little girl. But the willingness to trust and believe in anyone died inside Sabrina when no one ever came for her and Daphne during that long, sad year. When Veronica realizes that her baby will never really believe that her parents are back to stay, she knows that she will never forgive herself for trusting Oz. Henry takes longer to look beyond his long-standing image of his eldest. He does, eventually, and sees a young woman growing into someone far stronger than he ever was and ever will be. Sabrina, now that she's decided to be a fairytale detective, isn't going to waver, no matter how dangerous it is. Henry silently boxes up his mental image of Sabrina as the sweet, eager-to-please little girl she was and makes space for the new image of this strong, no-nonsense young woman who has suddenly entered his world. It's strange what just over a year can do.

Jake sees Sabrina as a younger him. She is a little smaller than he was as an eleven year old, but she sure can kick. He wants to give her the power to be whoever she wants to be, but it takes the guilt of giving his own niece a magic addiction and the vague, shadowy, frightening memory of feeling so invincible and powerful, and then being told that being a Grimm made him stronger than he ever thought he was, for Jake to take a better look at Sabrina. She's like him, true, but there's a determination to her that he never had. When she messes up, she does own up to it, even if it hurts her to admit it. Jake ran away from his mistakes, and knows he'll pay for it all his life when he learns that his very existence has been erased from the hometown he loved. Sabrina isn't Jake. She's a much better person than he thinks he'll ever be.

Daphne looks up to Sabrina, but she also tears her down. Daphne can't accept that Sabrina messes up, and can't see Sabrina's pain in her own excitement. It takes nearly losing Sabrina forever, once due to Moth's poison, and once when Sabrina is possessed by the Wolf, for Daphne to realize that a life of ignoring or trying to be better than Sabrina is worthless compared to having her big sister beside her. Daphne accepts that her sister isn't perfect. She accepts that her sister's fears can overwhelm her, and that the best thing that Daphne can do isn't to discount Sabrina's fears, but to acknowledge them and let Sabrina know that it's okay to be afraid.

But Sabrina? Sabrina's still not too sure why Canis stops glaring at her when she makes a sarcastic comment, or why Granny makes normal food every couple of days now, or why Elvis keeps climbing into the bed and licking her awake every morning, or why Puck has started looking at her weird and then looking away, ears reddened. She doesn't get why Charming is reluctantly polite to her (she thinks it must have something to do with Snow), or why Seven asks her once if she has a cell phone, and when she asks why he won't answer but just smiles at her. She doesn't know why her mom and dad seem afraid to ask what happened when they disappeared, but she isn't sure how to tell them anyway, since it's weird having them back. She wonders why Jake seems so impressed when she owns up to making mistakes, or why Daphne stops getting mad at her so often.

She doesn't think she's said anything too strange, or acted too different, but people just seem to think she's changed. Sabrina admits that she's grown up a bit, but it really wasn't anything that drastic.

It all results from them finally looking beyond that first hello.

And that's Hello, I hope you enjoyed it! Please R&R, and have a great week! I will try to update the next chapter this upcoming weekend, ok?

Tam