Such a Sad Love, Deep in Your Eyes

Chapter 34: When The Men on the Chess Board

I see the bad moon arisin'/ I see trouble on its way/ I see earthquakes and light-

With a groan, Kat reached out from beneath the covers and grabbed her phone. Wondering what Red wanted at this time of day.

"Hello?" Kat groggily greeted the girl, "What's up, Ruby? … Okay. … I'll see you later." Soon enough, the mother hung up and put the phone back down.

"What did Ruby want?" Jefferson asked, having awoken during his wife's phone call.

"Not completely sure." Kat responded, "She want me to meet her later today for something."

"Well, until then." Jefferson started leaning over his wife, "How about we pass the time."

Easy to say that Kat was no longer tired after that comment, though she might be, by the time she meets up with Red.

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In another room,Kyle sat cross-legged on his bed, chatting on the phone with a certain werewolf who called his phone shortly after hanging up with the Halfling.

"So everything is ready? … Awesome! … Yeah, I doubt she has any clue what is going on. … Okay, I'll head out in a few minutes to help with last minute touches. Crap, never mind, I'll be a bit longer. I promised Kat I'd walk Grace over to her friend's house today for a play date, but I'll be there as soon as I drop her off."

"Where are we going, Ruby?" Kat asked as the werewolf dragged her through town.

"You'll see when we get there." Red responded, a knowing grin on her face. The two soon rounded a corner on the sidewalk and Red stopped, causing the Halfling behind her to bump into her. "Okay, now close your eyes."

"Seriously?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Just do it."

"Alright. Alright." The New Yorker sighed before she felt Red place her hands on her shoulders, guiding her forwards. After several steps, twenty-six according to Kat's count, Red stopped and turned her so her back was facing the street.

"Okay, you can open your eyes now."

Slowly, almost suspiciously, having spent too much time around Jareth and his surprises, Kat opened her eyes. Now, Kat didn't really know what to expect, really she didn't. But what she did not think she would see before her was a building with a blank sign, large window next to the door that you could peer inside to see Charming and her brother, along with about twenty other people, all ranging in ages from ten to mid-thirties, all standing inside, wooden swords in hand.

"What?" Kat stuttered out.

"Surprise." Red grinned before walking over to the door and opening it so the two could enter, "It's an fencing school."

"Eh, what?" Kat blinked, needless to say she was stunned speechless as she walked into the room. Sure it wasn't perfect, but it was a good start for a place to start teaching fencing to people.

"I thought about what you said the other day about their not being a place to properly teach swordsmanship." Charming started, "So I called up Mr. Gold and asked him if there were any buildings up for sale. You'll need to pay the rent but the dwarves and I can help with and construction you need."

"Eh?"

"Wow, I've never seen sis so speechless." Kyle stated before laughing slightly, "David told me and Ruby about it the other day, so we've been asking around seeing if anyone wanted to learn."

"As you can see, there are quite a few people who want to learn." Red stated as stood next to the stunned woman.

"I know they don't have proper equipment in town for fencing classes." Kyle stated, having watched her as both instructor and student since he was young, "But I figured you could make due with some make shift weapons. At least for now."

"…" Kat was silent for a moment before looking at them all questionably, "Why?"

"Well, I figured there would be a lot of people who want to learn how to use a sword. And you're the only one qualified to teach." Charming explained.

"Plus you love fencing." Kyle added.

"Thank you." Kat nodded appreciatively, she really missed being a fencing instructor.

"How about to commemorate the opening of this place we have ourselves a duel." Charming said.

"You sure?" Kat asked, unsure if the man was even knowledgeable in the rules of fencing.

"Yeah, what better way to show these guys their instructor's skills than with a match."

"Alright then." Kat nodded, taking a wooden sword from her brother before giving it a few experimental swings. Nodding to herself, she turned towards the group of people, "Alright, listen up, everyone go against the wall. We'll need the space for this match. And watch closely, in the following weeks I shall teach you the basics of fencing. Eventually, if you exceed my expectations, I shall teach you advance techniques and more freestyle movements like the ones I shall be using against David."

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Underground

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Sweat dripped down Kat's brow but she couldn't wipe it off as the mask restricted that. Even so, she was too busy concentrating on Sir Didymus' attacks to worry about a little perspiration. Their sabers met roughly and quickly, blocking each other from meeting their opponent's flesh.

Clang!

After almost an hour of sparing, the small creature managed to knock the saber out of Kat's hand.

"Hmm, you seem distracted, M'lady, that is normally not like you." Sir Didymus commented as the teen removed her mask.

"Sorry." She apologized, "Heads not in it. Too stressed out over Mizumi's training for even this to relax me."

"Perhaps you need a different opponent." A soft, but cold voice commented causing the two in the courtyard to turn their heads. Standing in the archway was one of Mizumi's daughters, a sword in hand a fencing mask on.

"Lady Moulin!" Sir Didymus gasped in surprise. It was hard enough to get the chivalrous male to understand that Kat fenced, so finding out another female would fight was a shock.

"Well, are you up to the challenge?" Moulin asked as she stalked closer to the teen, "Or are you really so weak that you can't fight again?"

That caused the adrenaline in Kat to start pumping again as she replaced her mask and then retrieved her saber, "Bring it."

Clang!

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Storybrooke, Maine

"Oof!" Charming gasped as his back hit the ground, his sword falling a few feet away from him. Kat's sword pressed lightly against his neck as the people in the room applauded.

"You okay, David?" The brunette asked as she withdrew her sword, reaching a hand out to help him up.

"Yeah. You're really good, I think you'll do a fine job teaching these guys." The prince said as took her hand, allowing her to help pull him up.

"Thanks." Kat said before getting a rather impish grin on her face, "I bet you're happy Henry wasn't here to see this."

"…" Charming stayed silent for the moment, honestly grateful that his grandson wasn't there to see him be defeated.

So yeah, I'm going to try to get as many of these chapters out as quick as I can. There are only eight chapters left of this until another hiatus, as after that will be the completion of season 2, but this one will last until a few episodes in to season 3 of Once Upon a Time, which by then I will hopefully have several chapters written out for it.

Thank you for reading, I hope you all enjoyed this and, as always, reviews are greatly appreciated.