Author Notes - Something I've noticed about Marge as a character is that she seems to have a constant strive to please, and well as the desire to make everyone happy. So there's our basis for her subplot of the story...

I'll admit, this chapter was kind of just an excuse to show off one of my favourite Disney movies. Still, because I have some (maybe) dignity regarding my writing, I will bother to make connections between the movie and Marge's family.

CHAPTER EIGHT - SLEEPING BEAUTIES

1959... Whether she realised it or not, Marge was bound to learn one day that life wasn't the happy fairytale she often thought it was.

The 29th of January had finally arrived, far too late as far as Marge was concerned. As for her sisters, Selma thought the wait was just long enough while Patty wished she didn't have to go at all. The older twin had whined more-or-less the entire way there, even as they made their way into the lobby.

'What's wrong, Patty?' Selma asked with a smirk. 'Don't you want anyone to see you in your gorgeous pink dress?'

'SELMA, I AM GONNA KILL YOU IF YOU KEEP BRINGING THAT UP!' Patty shouted back.

The whole family was there, as to be expected. Marge had done herself up in a beautiful blue dress, one with fancy trims on the ends. She wanted to wear something green, but the family could only afford a hand-me-down and Selma only had a fancy blue dress, which Marge was just fine with wearing. Selma too was wearing her best blue dress, if only because her little sister would've liked it. Patty, on the other hand, was stuck with one of the pink dresses her mother had 'recommended' that she wear. Clancy and Jacqueline too dressed up as fancily as they could afford, without straight-up looking like they were going to a wedding.

The moment Marge and her family stepped into the lobby, she could already smell the heavy scent of freshly popped popcorn in the air. She licked her lips, and Clancy could already hear the sounds of his wallet being completely emptied. There were plenty more families there, waiting in line or chasing after their kids, mostly consisting of little girls all dressed up and just as excited as Marge to see the latest Disney Princess movie. Some little girls stood mostly still like good little patience girls, while a couple of them ran around like they had already overdosed on sweets.

'Now girls,' Clancy said, taking out his wallet and pausing to cough. 'You wait here while I go buy us some tickets.'

'And popcorn?!' Marge cried with delight, her eyes sparkling.

Clancy took one glance into those begging eyes, and sighed. 'Yes, and the popcorn.'

'YAY!'

Patty quickly found herself paying no attention to all the kids around her, and instead she glanced around at the movie posters on display. Just about all of them piqued her interest more than the one she was about to see, and if anything seeing what she could've been watching just made her more annoyed.

'Just put up with it, Patty.' Selma said, a mocking tone evident in her voice. 'Marge won't be happy if you happen to miss the movie.'

Patty rolled her eyes. 'Are those the only stakes involved?'

The blonde twin chuckled. 'Aw, you're so cute when you pretend not to care!'

'You're on thin ice already. Don't make it worse!'

Marge could only giggle whenever she heard her older sisters arguing with each other, and this time was no exception. Even someone as young as her could tell that Patty really did care about her, whether or not she was 'too tough' to admit it.

'Try not to kill each other, sweeties.' Jacqueline ordered, sounding a little irritated herself. 'The last thing I need is for the both of you to cause a scene.'

'Don't look at me.' Patty said, pointing at her younger twin. 'If anyone here is gonna start something, it's her.'

Selma laughed. 'I haven't started any fights since I was five. But I sure as heck finish them.'

While Jacqueline worked at her limit to stop yet another twin fight in public, Marge found something odd amongst the crowd of people lining up to see Sleeping Beauty. See, most people in that line were either families with princess-loving daughters, or childless adult fans who had loved Disney movies since their childhood. There was one small family that stood out from this crowd - a mother who didn't seem like she wanted to be there, and her son. The boy must've been at least a few years older than Marge, and appeared to be just as old as the twins.

The mother looked down upon her son - literally and perhaps figuratively too - with a look of anger and bitterness on her face, like she was pinning some horrible blame on him with her glare alone. The boy tried to smile, for he was excited to see the movie, but his mother's glare beat down upon him. He reminded Marge of a beaten puppy, and that made her frown.

'I hope you're happy, Seymour.' The mother spat, uttering her son's name like it was poison. 'You better like this movie, or it'll be who knows how much money down the drain. I should've known my sissy of a son would've wanted to see the princess movie…'

The boy, now named Seymour, shuddered. 'I-I just like Disney, Mother. It's really-'

'Shut up, or you won't get to see the movie.'

'Yes, Mother.'

Seymour stood up straight and stopped talking completely, trying his hardest to smile despite the presence of his mother. The way he trembled made it look like he was expecting a slap any moment now, and Marge didn't like that very much. Without thinking about any of the consequences, she approached the mother with a frown on her face.

'That isn't very nice!' She declared, pointing at the mother.

The mother turned around, and looked down at Marge. The toddler shuddered under such a threatening glare, but she did not move from her spot.

'What do you want?' The older woman asked, her tone serious.

'You're mean!' Marge said, crossing her arms. 'You're very very mean!'

The woman clenched her fists. 'I'll show you the meaning of mean.'

Before the woman could do anything to the little girl - no one was certain if she really was willing to hurt a child so young - Marge felt a hand grabbing her shoulder. It held onto her tight, like it was afraid of letting her go, and she didn't need to turn around to figure out who it was.

'We're sorry for bothering you,' Selma said, with her tone indicating she wasn't sorry at all. 'Mrs…'

'Agnes.' The woman snapped. 'Now get out of my face.'

Selma nodded. 'Gladly.' She knelt down to speak directly to Marge. 'Come on, she isn't worth it. You don't wanna get involved in someone else's business like this.'

'But… but she's being mean!' Marge pleaded.

'I know, but I don't want her being mean to you.'

Selma - silently and carefully - pulled Marge away from this mean old woman, making sure that her glare did not leave Agnes until they were adequately separated. She didn't trust this woman as far as she could throw her - and, considering that she was an eleven-year-old girl, that wasn't far at all - and didn't want to let her out of her sight until she was certain that she couldn't do a thing.

'I just had a great idea.' Patty said when her sisters returned. 'Do you think Mom and Dad would believe me if I said I just got my period unexpectedly again?'

'I'm gonna say… no.' Selma responded. 'Your last period stopped a few days ago.'

'Oh. Right.' She paused. 'Could you-?'

'No, I am not pretending that I just got my period. I don't wanna make a scene.'

Marge giggled. 'And why could you want to miss the movie? It's gonna be great!'

'And I'm right here.' Jacqueline said, reminding her daughters that she was still there.

Patty flinched, and gave her mother a nervous smile. Seeing as the redheaded twin was already on thin ice as far as her mother was aware, all Jacqueline could do was roll her eyes and sigh.

'Patricia Bouvier,' She said. 'We're watching the movie, and you'll just have to sit through it.'

The eldest daughter crossed her arms and huffed like a child half her age.

'Don't worry, Patty!' Marge cried. 'I know you'll LOVE the movie!'

'God, I hope so…'

Marge knew that the rules of the theatre required her to remain silent the whole time, or at least be as quiet as possible, but keeping herself quiet had to have been one of the hardest things she ever had to do. The little girl sat in her father's lap, getting popcorn everywhere as she stared up at the screen while the ads were playing. Her mother was seated to her left, while the parents had the bright idea to put the twins together on her right. Unsurprisingly, Selma sat the closest to Marge while Patty distanced herself as far away from everyone as her parents would allow.

'How long until these stupid ads end?' Patty muttered.

'Finally,' Selma remarked. 'Something we can agree on.'

As per the usual, Clancy pulled out a cigarette and lit it. No one in the theatre seemed to mind it when he blew out a large puff of smoke into the enclosed area. If anything, the people only gave him looks after he coughed loudly.

'Are you okay, Daddy?' Marge said, her mouth full of popcorn. 'You cough a lot.'

Clancy managed to stop coughing for a few seconds to answer. 'Oh, don't worry about that. It's perfectly normal.'

He wrapped his free arm around her, and she cuddled into it like her father was her bed. The constant coughing still worried her, but Daddy insisted he was okay, and adults were always right. Well, except for that Agnes woman, but she was the exception. Speaking of which, Marge could've sworn she saw that woman and her frightened son seated just a few rows in front of them. Agnes was muttering something that Marge couldn't hear from that distance, but judging by the way Seymour was flinching away from her, it wasn't nice.

After what felt like an eternity of sitting through all the previews, the movie finally began. Like all the classic Disney movies, it began with the opening credits while some classical music played in the background. And, like many Disney movies, the music had lyrics to go along with it.

'I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream…'

Marge's eyes twinkled at the pretty visuals before the animation even started, and the choir sounded as lovely as honey tasted. She was already leaning forward in anticipation, especially when the book appeared and a narrator read out the words. The royal family had tried so hard for a child, and were so happy when they eventually had a daughter who they named Princess Aurora.

'And then they realised that they were better off without a child…' Patty said, imitating the narrator, before Selma elbowed her in the chest. 'Ow! Selma, you know I'm sensitive there…!'

'I don't wanna hear you complain for the next hour and a half.' Selma said. 'Now try to keep quiet.'

Then, the book faded away into the animation. Almost the entire theatre gasped at once at the drop-dead gorgeous visuals on display. They saw crowds and crowds of marching people and horses, with designs and colours straight out of expensive old tapestry. They bore witness to highly-detailed backgrounds of towns and stone bridges as the crowds sang for their princess.

'Hail to the King. Hail to the Queen. Hail to the Princess Aurora!'

While he was no animator himself, Clancy must've been the only one of his family who understood, to at least some extent, just how hard it was to animate. Just looking at those detailed backgrounds and massive crowds made his hands hurt. Even though he couldn't see her face when she was cuddled up in his lap and staring right at the screen, he knew Marge's eyes were sparkling at the amazing sights.

The 'cameraman' carried the audience into the castle, where the King and Queen were holding a celebration for the birth of their daughter. The backgrounds were still so damn detailed that you could almost hear the animators losing a ton of money on every shot and crying over their aching hands. A young Prince Philip arrived, and looked upon the newborn princess with confusion.

'An arranged marriage? Really?' Patty commented, resting her head in one of her hands.

'Hey, he's cute.' Selma said. 'And that's all you need in a movie like this.'

Then, the royal announcer - whoever they were - introduced three new characters. They were fairies, dressed up in red, green, and blue. They were named, in order of appearance and colour, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather. Their names made Jacqueline chuckle a little; it sounded as if their parents were expecting twins, and had no idea what to call the third child. It didn't help that Merryweather's black hair compared to the grey hair of her sisters made her look a lot younger.

The Three Good Fairies, as they were collectively known, were to give the newborn princess one gift each. Flora gave the gift of beauty, while Fauna gave the gift of song. Each gift came with a gorgeous and rather trippy animation that reminded Clancy of Fantasia, from all the way back in 1940.

Halfway through the gift of song, Patty groaned. 'When does the plot start?'

Right on cue, when Merryweather went to present her gift, she was interrupted by the arrival of none other than the horrifying Maleficent. The evil fairy arrived with a mighty windstorm, and every child in the audience gasped with fear at once. Marge held onto her father for dear life, as if the evil fairy really could hurt her.

'Don't worry, Marge.' Clancy said, holding her tighter. 'I'll make sure that evil old fairy doesn't hurt you.'

Maleficent, after insulting the Three Good Fairies and angering Merryweather by doing so, seemed a little peeved that she didn't receive her invitation to go to the celebration. That's when Merryweather dropped the bomb on her.

'You weren't wanted!' The blue-clad fairy said.

It got a chuckle out of Patty. 'I like her already.'

Maleficent really didn't take this well, so she decided to give her own little 'gift' to the child. At any point between then and the eve of her 16th birthday, she would prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel…

'And DIE!'

The children all gasped again, and Marge emitted a quiet whimpering sound. The moment Selma heard it, it reactivated the maternal instinct inside her and she reached over to hug her, except her father's arm was in the way.

Luckily, Merryweather hadn't spent her gift yet, and so she could grant the princess a way out of such a horrible predicament. She wasn't able to cancel the spell outright, but she could change it from death to a mere sleep, from which she could be awoken by a true love's kiss.

Patty groaned. 'It's just not a Disney movie unless true love's kiss can magically save the day.'

'Are you sure?' Selma asked. 'I'm pretty sure they haven't done that since Snow White.'

'Well, it was dumb then and it's dumb now.'

The Good Fairies came up with the plan to take Aurora with them to leave in the woods until her sixteenth birthday, where they would raise her as humans without wings or magic wands - much to Merryweather's objection. So, the King and Queen allowed them to take their child away, as much as it broke their hearts.

Marge frowned, and ate away at her popcorn to help her cope. Selma didn't realise it, but she placed her hand over her heart. The thought of missing her own child growing up, or god forbid having said child die, was a little more than she could bear.

'Is the kid's movie making you sad?' Patty asked with a smirk on her face.

Selma directed a glare her way, but otherwise said nothing.

While Maleficent got very mad at her idiotic minions for not realising that a baby would grow up after sixteen years - much to the fright of some kids and the delight of others - Princess Aurora, who had now been named 'Briar Rose', had been living with the Good Fairies in the cottage for almost sixteen years. And Flora's gift of beauty must've worked, because… she was gorgeous, as to be expected of a Disney princess.

Marge gasped. 'She's so pretty!'

Clancy coughed into his hand. 'Indeed she is, sweetie.'

None was more stunned than, perhaps surprisingly or perhaps not, Patty. Now this was a whole new experience for her. She couldn't explain it, but there was something about 'Briar Rose' that she found… she couldn't even think of the word. An expert on the field might say she found the princess 'tantalising'. Sure, she was just an animated character, but Disney always did great work on their protagonists.

'She's… beautiful…' She muttered.

Selma gave her a strange look. 'Uh, okay? She looks nice, but not that nice.'

Patty wasn't listening to her, but not because she was just so enraptured by Aurora's beauty or anything like that. She was too busy trying to figure out what on earth this feeling was.

The Good Fairies wanted to plan Aurora's sixteenth birthday, and so had to shoo her out of the house. While Merryweather wanted desperately to use their wands since none of them had any real experience - after sixteen years, somehow - Aurora sang to all the animals like any good Disney Princess does. That's when she, and by extension the audience, were introduced to a grown-up Prince Phillip riding on his heroic and somewhat sarcastic steed.

Immediately, he stole Selma's heart.

'Woo!' She said, leaning forward in her seat. 'Now who's this soon-to-be Mr Bouvier?'

'A prince in an arranged marriage?' Patty sarcastically answered. 'Who isn't even real?'

'Be quiet and let me have this one.'

Perhaps if Patty saw what the big idea was, she might understand why her twin reacted in such a way. She simply didn't understand what made Phillip so desirable when Aurora was much prettier, and now that she thought about it… wasn't she supposed to find the prince more desirable than the princess? Well, it wasn't her fault that Aurora was drawn to be much more gorgeous than Phillip. Right?

Phillip wasn't aware that he was dancing with the girl he was soon set to marry, and she organised a meeting for them that evening. Meanwhile, Marge laughed out loud at the Good Fairies' attempts to get a birthday ready for their 'niece'. Fauna's terrible cake that she hadn't even baked before layering in particular made her laugh so hard that she got popcorn everywhere. Merryweather finally convinced her sisters to use the magic wands, and with them they worked so much better.

'I'll be honest,' Patty said. 'Merryweather is the only thing keeping me awake. She has got to be the first Disney character who doesn't deal with anyone's sh-'

'She's a lot like you!' Marge said with a laugh.

'Uh… I'll take that as a compliment.'

Then a problem arised. Merryweather did not like the pink dress that Flora had made for Aurora, and so she used her magic to turn in blue.

'Oh no, not pink… make it blue!'

Flora wasn't so happy with that, so she made it pink again. So Merryweather made it blue. Then Flora made it pink. Then Merryweather… well, you get the idea. They quickly forgot about the dress and began attacking each other, changing the colours of each other's clothes. Meanwhile, Fauna just worked on the cake and didn't bother to deal with her sisters' fighting.

'I'm with Merryweather on this one.' Selma said, motioning to her own blue dress. 'I think blue looks a lot better.'

'In that case,' Patty said. 'I'm siding with Flora. Make it pink.'

'No, it should be blue.'

'I say pink.'

'Blue.'

'Pink.'

'Blue!'

'Pink!'

'BLUE!'

'PINK!'

'B-!'

'GIRLS!'

Jacqueline yelled just loud enough to get her daughters' attention without upsetting too many people, or at least more people than the twins themselves were annoying. It halted their argument dead, and they both gave their mother frightened smiles. Though they said nothing, one could hear the conversation in the faces. It went something along the lines of 'Be quiet or no candy tonight' followed by 'Yes Mom!'. Marge just laughed, not just because she always found the twin fights funny but because it reminded her so much of the Good Fairies onscreen.

Clancy chuckled. 'I think they made a movie about our daughters.'

Marge gasped. 'Can they do that, Daddy? That's so cool!'

If anyone went into a Disney movie expecting nothing but sugary goodness, then they had never seen a Disney movie before. Whether it was Pleasure Island or Bambi's mother, no movie was safe.

The Three Good Fairies had failed. Just as they were returning Aurora to her real home - news that she took very badly - Maleficent used her magic to force Aurora to prick her finger on the spinning wheel. By the time the Fairies got there… she was already lying on the floor in a deep sleep. The evil fairy cackled at their failure while they all blamed themselves.

'Why did they bring her back on her sixteenth birthday?' Patty asked. 'Instead of, I dunno, waiting an extra day?'

She expected her family to tell her to shut up during such an emotional moment, but she found them in no state to do that. Marge was quietly sobbing to herself, burying herself in her father's shirt, while Selma was leaning up against her father's arm for the sake of getting as close to her little sister as possible. The sight made Patty lean back and groan - she was surrounded by sissies.

'Oh, come on now.' She said. 'You remember what Merryweather did. She's just asleep! All they have to do is the stupid kiss thing and then-' A quick glare from Selma shut her right up.

Most of the audience was near silent, allowing the impact of the situation to sink in. In fact, while the Good Fairies put the entire castle to sleep so no one could find out that they had failed their mission, only one voice could be heard.

'Stop crying, Seymour…' Agnes muttered loudly enough for the Bouviers to hear. 'It's just a movie.'

'B-But Mother…' The boy replied, sounding like he had just been whacked. 'It's really sad.'

'I thought I raised a son, not a complete sissy!'

She raised her hand, and Seymour flinched away instantly. Patty, as the only one not crying over Aurora's 'death', was the only one who saw it, and she had to wonder what the hell that woman's problem was.

'Now sword of truth, fly swift and sure... that evil die and good endure!'

That climax was much more than anyone could have expected. Gasps of fear and awe echoed through the entire room, as Prince Phillip charged in against Maleficent's powers with the help of the Three Good Fairies. When the moment came that Phillip jabbed his sword directly into Maleficent's chest, making her bleed and die in her own flames, almost everyone cheered. Even Patty, who was only paying attention anymore because of Merryweather, had a smile on her face.

In fact, the redheaded girl was in no mood to snark at the movie further as Phillip's kiss awoke Aurora from her enchanted slumber. Maybe it was because the movie won her over, or maybe it was because her little sisters were enjoying it too much for her to ruin it, but she would never admit to either.

As the movie came to an end, Marge began laughing again. Why? Flora and Merryweather, even in such a cheery scene, couldn't help devolving back into their colour war. Aurora's dress continued to change colour as she and Phillip danced together, and even as the movie turned back into a book it still turned pink on the page right before the book was closed once again.

And Marge could not stop cheering. Thank goodness she had already finished her popcorn, or it would've gone absolutely everywhere. More so, that it.

'Did you like the movie?' Clancy asked. He was well aware of the answer, but he just wanted to see his little daughter excited some more.

'I LOVED IT!' Marge cried in utter joy. 'IloveditIloveditILOVEDIT!'

'Gee, did you like it?' Patty said. 'I can't tell.'

No one bothered to tell her off for her snark, for Marge was simply too happy.

'And then, Phillip stabbed her with the sword, and then he-!'

Marge could not stop gushing about how awesome that movie was, even as she and her family walked out of the theatre room. Most of them found it quite cute, but Patty really wanted her to be quiet for a few minutes. She didn't say anything about it, perhaps because she found it as cute as everyone else but didn't want anyone to know that.

'Who was your favourite character?' Clancy asked.

'Oh, Fauna!' The little girl answered. 'I know Aurora's the princess, but Fauna was so nice and sweet!' She giggled. 'And her cake was so funny! Who was your favourite, Selma?'

The blonde twin flinched a little from the unexpected question. She racked her brain for an answer, when in reality there wasn't one but she didn't want to leave her little sister disappointed.

'Uh… I don't know.' She said, after a little while. 'Maleficent might be Disney's most terrifying villain yet, but… I guess I'd have to go with Flora.'

Patty scoffed. 'You're both wrong. The only character worth anything was Merryweather. She didn't put up with anyone's bullcrap for a moment.'

'But I'm sure we can all agree on something.' Selma continued. 'That Prince Phillip was a hunk!'

Jacqueline could only laugh, remembering her own animated crushes (not that there were many options for that back in her day). She glanced over to Patty, expecting the eldest daughter to respond with agreement. Surely Patty felt the same way, seeing as Phillip was practically drawn to be attractive. Instead, she laughed like she had a knife to her neck.

'Y-Yeah, he was great…' She said, trying her best to give a convincing smile and failing.

Jacqueline frowned and narrowed her eyes. Between not finding Phillip hot in any way and showing no signs of a passion for motherhood, Jacqueline had no idea what was wrong with her eldest daughter. She almost felt like she had raised a boy instead, and not a good one either. So, she made the mental note then and there to work on that, and to keep pushing Patty towards what she thought was the 'right' path.

Marge didn't notice. She was too deep into her own world to notice anything that was happening around her. In fact, she hardly even noticed that they had already left the building. That was, however, except for one thing.

'You are just a sissy, aren't you?!'

The voice of Agnes snapped her out of her happy little fairytale land. She saw the mother and son standing just outside the door to the theatre, and it wasn't looking pretty. Agnes stood over her son, glaring down at him with a look that even Maleficent would envy, while Seymour recoiled away. It was obvious that he had been crying, and it didn't look like he was going to stop.

'B-But…' He stammered, sounding like he was a second away from losing it completely.

'DON'T TALK BACK TO ME!' Agnes yelled. 'When we get home, you're sleeping in the cot tonight. It's all a baby like you deserves.'

Seymour crunched up his face, like he wanted to cry but was using every ounce of strength not to do so in front of his own mother. Marge bore witness to everything, and frankly she was sick of it. She tore away from her father's hand and confronted this wicked old witch, just like how the Good Fairies confronted Maleficent to save Phillip from her grasp.

'Stop being so mean!' She yelled.

For a moment, Agnes didn't pay her any sort of attention. It took her a few seconds to gather up the effort to turn her way. And when she did, Marge trembled under that evil glare.

'What do you want?' Agnes demanded.

Marge gulped. 'Y-You're being mean. A-And that isn't nice. You need to stop.'

The old woman scoffed. 'What makes you think I'd listen to a brat like you?'

'B-Because good always beats evil!'

Agnes stared her down, using her eyes alone to make the little girl back off. Marge didn't obey and stood her ground, even as she began to tremble like a leaf.

'S-So be nice, a-and treat your son like a mother should!'

Agnes chuckled. 'Ha ha… how quaint that you think I'll listen to you.'

Clancy furrowed his brow. 'Margie, get away from that woman. I don't like what I'm feeling.'

'But I can't! I can't stop until she stops being mean to her son!'

Seymour slinked away, as if he was taking advantage of the situation to run away, before Agnes grabbed him by his arm and yanked him closer.

'STOP IT!' Marge yelled, beginning to cry.

Agnes groaned. 'Oh, this again. I don't need to deal with two babies tonight. Now get outta here!'

Clancy stepped forward to confront this woman, or at least remove Marge from the situation, but Selma was already way ahead of him. She pushed her little sister aside and stood in her place, staring up at that old woman like she was a dragon.

'Back off, lady.' She spat, clenching her fists. 'Messing with your son is one thing, but I won't let you mess with my little sister. Say one more bad thing about her, and you're gonna get it!'

Agnes said nothing to this defiant child, and instead directed her glare at the child's parents. 'I see what the problem is. The both of you don't know how to discipline your children correctly!'

'Oh, I've been disciplined very well. Mostly by my twin over there, but still. And I could discipline you too if I wanted to!'

Agnes narrowed her eyes, trying to scare this older child away with just her stare. It always worked for Seymour, but it didn't seem to be working for this random blonde girl.

'This is what happens when you don't discipline your kids.' She muttered. 'They turn into brats like you. My son will never grow into someone so disobedient.'

Selma laughed. 'You think I'm scared of you? I've dealt with the most annoying twin sister in the world. I think I can handle anything a grumpy old lady like you could-'

SLAP!

'Selma!'

'SELMA!'

The blonde twin stepped back, and stared up at the old woman in horror. There was a red, hand-shaped mark on her cheek, one that hurt more than any light smack she had received before. She had been reduced to silence, and though she tried her hardest to fight against it, she couldn't help crying. Seeing her older sister in such a horrible state made Marge cry too.

'Why…?' Was all Selma could manage to say.

Agnes groaned. 'Kids these days… they always cry at the slightest provocation! I got slapped all the time as a kid, and I never cried!'

Jacqueline wasted no time and rushed over to Selma, bringing her into a tight embrace. The young girl felt so much safer in her mother's arms, but still was in no state to say or do anything. Clancy ran over to Marge just half a second later, lifting her into his arms and holding her close. He just wanted to take his sweet little girls and get out of there as soon as possible, but there was still one little girl unaccounted for.

'HEY LADY!' Patty shouted as she approached the old woman.

Unlike her younger sisters, who used just their words alone, Patty did not think that mere diplomacy would fix anything. She slammed her entire body into Agnes and sent her falling over to the ground. Before the awful mother could figure out what was going on, the redheaded girl stood above her.

'You made my little sisters cry!' Patty yelled, glaring down at her. 'And you slapped my twin across the face! Do you really think you can get away with that? If I ever see you messing with my sisters ever again, I'M GOING TO SLAP YOU ACROSS THE FACE, YOU BITCH!'

Before Patty could do anything more to Agnes, Clancy grabbed her by the arm and the entire Bouvier family booked it. Even as they ran away, the eldest daughter continued to deliver her murderous glare at Agnes until she knew she couldn't see her anymore.

The young Seymour managed a genuine smile for the first time in years. He could only hope that he would meet that pink-clad girl again.

Luckily for little Marge, she had enjoyed the movie so much that she had mostly forgotten all about her encounter with the awful woman. She had been put to bed in a good mood, and would no doubt be dreaming of her new favourite movie all night. While Clancy and Jacqueline were enjoying some time between each other, the twins were in their room.

Selma sat on her bed, wincing as she pressed the ice pack against her cheek. She refused to believe that Agnes hadn't hurt her own palm with such a painful smack. It didn't hurt so much now, but it had still developed into quite the bruise.

Patty leaned up against the wall. 'You sure you're gonna be okay?'

'Yeah…' The younger twin said. 'I'll be okay. It was just, erm, unexpected. I didn't think she'd actually, you know, slap me.'

'If it makes you feel any better, I would've kicked her in the stomach if Dad didn't pull me away. I don't even want to imagine what that little boy is going through with a mom like that.'

'I'd prefer not to think about that.'

They were silent for a bit. Patty was the one carrying the conversation, but now she wasn't talking. Her mind drifted over to Prince Phillip and Princess Aurora. Almost every work of fiction she had ever consumed told her that the man and the woman always got together. The other girls in middle school were already talking about that cute boy or hot singer they had a crush on. All evidence pointed towards Phillip being the one she found attractive. So why was she more into Aurora?

'Hey,' She said. 'I've got a stupid thought.'

'Oh no.'

'Shut up. So, I noticed that you were heads-over-heels for that Prince Phillip. I thought the same thing, but not about him. About…' She sighed. 'Aurora.'

Selma, who was previously staring out the window, spun around to give her twin the greatest look of confusion you had ever seen.

'Aurora?' She repeated, like she was being taught some complex math equation. 'You do realise that Aurora was a girl, right?'

Patty groaned and rolled her eyes. 'Yes, I know that! How dumb you think I am?'

'Well-'

'Don't answer that. Yes, I know that Aurora was a girl. Yes, I know that Phillip was a hunk, or whatever it was you said. I still felt more towards Aurora than any 'hot' guy I've ever seen.' Her irritated expression loosened. 'Is that bad?'

Selma groaned. It was nearly bedtime, and after what had happened to her that day, she didn't feel like dealing with a difficult conversation such as this.

'How should I know?' She replied. 'Ask Mom about it or something.'

'I'm scared to tell her.' Patty said. 'I don't know why, but I have a feeling that telling Mom about this would be a terrible idea. Besides, talking about personal issues is between twins.'

Selma sighed. 'Look, I think it's weird. Like, really weird.'

'Thanks for that.'

'But I don't think it's anything to worry about. It was probably just a fluke. All girls fall in love with a guy sooner or later. Just shut up and stop worrying about it. And if it turns out that something is wrong, well… I have better things to make fun of you for than that.'

That relieved Patty's worries, if only a little bit. Even though she rarely took her twin's word as anything but an annoyance, she had some relief in knowing that she had someone to go to after all.

'Hey, Patty...'

'Now what?'

'Thanks. For dealing with that cranky old woman.'

'Don't mention it. Ever.'

Author Notes - The thing with Abe is that I need to keep him at least a little likable, seeing as he is a major character and will soon be the only one raising Homer. Agnes has no such distinction, meaning I could make her as awful as I wanted!

I used this chapter to finally develop Patty a little bit more. I noticed that I had given Selma and Marge plenty of character development, but Patty had mostly remained the same 'tough tomboy type' for the past four Marge chapters, and that needed correcting. Not only does she FINALLY show that she cares for her younger sisters in a manner very similar to Abe defending his son, but also have the start of her 'sexual awakening' if you will by showing her finding Aurora much more attractive than Phillip. While I do want Patty to be a character beyond her sexuality (something I have hopefully succeeded at doing), it is still a major part of her story.