Usual disclaimers apply.

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Chapter 36

"Back off, Daphne." My voice was a low growl as I whispered in Daphne's ear. We had been stuck together as partners to find certain wild plants and every chance she got Daphne had been trying to get under my skin by saying nasty things about Mama.

"Why?" Daphne narrowed her eyes at me. "Can't believe your precious mama isn't perfect?"

My fist connected with her nose before I could stop myself. Finding her tackling me, I used the momentum to toss her with my feet over my head and then rolled to the side before standing up. Bracing myself for another attack, I wasn't surprised when she grabbed a fallen tree branch and ran at me. Egging her on with my hands I easily moved and tripped her merely shaking my head when she tripped.

Daphne was on her feet faster than I thought possible and we finally stopped the games and went to all-out war. Daphne hadn't been lying when she said that some of Mama's moves were still with her, and as she and I finally went all out on one another, I tried to stay focused on the reason I was trying to knock her head from her shoulders. Another comment about Mama reminded me easily and I put all of my strength into a roundhouse kick.

Hearing the crunch and then the scream, I knew my ass was grass as soon as the blood began to flow from Daphne's nose. Stopping myself and panting heavily, I merely shrugged and pulled a cloth from my pouch. Shoving it at Daphne I finally put it in place for her. "I know it hurts, but pinch your nose. Keep your head straight. I probably broke it."

Daphne said nothing, but the pain was reflected I her eyes and I sighed heavily as I began to hear Mom in my head. "Look Daphne, I'm not sorry I punched you. You have been pushing not only me, but Mama every chance you get. I know that you are hurting about your father." I then took a deep breath as Daphne continued to just look at me, "Mama didn't kill him, Daphne. She did everything she could to save him and you know that. She's easy to blame. She won't fight back even though what you're doing to her is hurting us all. I wish your father hadn't died, but he did. You are now a permanent part of our family whether you want to be or not. I will kick your ass every chance I get if I have to in order to prove it to you, but please stop trying to hurt Mama. She doesn't deserve it."

"And I deserve this broken nose?" Daphne finally asked.

"Yeah, ya do." I shrugged at her look of disbelief. "You have been a royal bitch and you're lucky I didn't take you down a lot earlier. Or one of the other girls. We're all sick of it. Come on, let's grab our plants and head back. You need to see Cesya and get your nose set."

"My nose set?"

"Yeah, basically she'll move it until it's straight again. If Mama's not around I'll use a pressure point to help the pain, but once I let it go, it's going to hurt like Tartarus."

"Great." Daphne continued to hold the blood soaked rag to her nose as we made our way back towards the group I finally stopped and pointed. "Everyone is that way, come on."

Making our entrance, I cringed at the commotion Daphne's now two black eyes and very swollen, bloody nose caused.

"What the Tartarus happened to you?" Laurel asked moving forward from the younger girls she had been working with.

"I tripped," Daphne stated quietly. "Damned dead tree root. Sam says my nose is broken and needs set."

Moving the rag from Daphne's face Laurel looked at both of us and shook her head. "I'm not asking anything else. This is a family matter if there's any more to it than a dead tree root. Sam get her to Cesya and make sure all mothers are notified."

I nodded and then gave Laurel a wan smile, "We made progress?"

"Yeah, ya did," Laurel suddenly swatted me on the back of my thigh, "This nation is in for quite the ride when you take over, Sam." She winked at me and picked up the bag I'd brought back from the hike. "Thanks for the plants, I'll sort them for you and make sure you didn't miss any."

"You know they didn't," Rory moved towards me. "This is Sam, Laurel."

"Go back to your group, Rory," Laurel directed as Rory winked at me and then began to sing, "Money, money, money," in my direction.

Groaning I took Daphne by the elbow and led her towards the village before anyone could ask what in the world Rory was doing.

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"Let me get this straight," Yaya's voice was too quiet. "You fell over a dead tree root and ended up with a broken nose."

"And Sam just happened to trip too and managed to get that lovely shiner from the same branch?" Mom interjected.

Daphne and I were silent from our perches on the table in the healer's hut and Mama finally spoke. "Seriously, you expect us to believe that you both tripped over a dead tree root?"

"Yes?" Daphne replied quietly.

Mama pinched the bridge of her own nose before hopping up on the table between us. Putting an arm around each of our shoulders Mama finally looked at Yaya and Mom. "Sounds plausible to me," she finally said. "The girls tripped. One shiner, one broken nose," Mama's knuckle then rubbed the top of my head. "Very nice shiner by the way. Oh and the broken nose," she grinned at Daphne's very black eyes and splinted nose, "The broken nose is a work of art. You are going to have some great coloring as you heal. Build it up and really impress the younger girls."

"Xena!" Mom and Yaya glared as Mama merely shrugged.

"What? It happens, right girls?"

"Right Mama," I agreed. "Daphne?"

"Yup. Big sis here is right, Cyrene. And I will be sure to look out for dead tree roots in my future."

Yaya began to say something only to have Mom touch her on the arm and shake her head slightly. "We might as well give it up, Mom. With this one," she jerked her thumb towards Mama who was still wearing the biggest grin on her face, her arms back around our shoulders, "on their side, we'll make no progress."

Taking a deep breath Yaya finally nodded slowly, "I know." Moving forward towards us Yaya finally narrowed her eyes and caused all three of us to gulp. "If the two of you ever trip so badly every again over a tree root you can be sure that my spoon will be tripping ever so badly on your backsides. Understood?"

Triple nods answered her question and Yaya merely smirked before taking Daphne's hand. "Come on, daughter. Time for you to rest. I swear, worse than your sister…" Yaya trailed off and Daphne slid slowly from the table.

"Thanks Xena," Daphne gave a small smile and finally allowed Yaya to lead her from the hut.

Feeling a squeeze on my shoulders I looked up into twinkling blue eyes, "Am I in trouble?" I finally asked.

Mom shook her head and hopped up on the other side of me. Feeling her arms around me as well I allowed my head to drop on her shoulder. "I think Daphne and I have made progress."

"I think you have," Mom finally answered. "And I think that your mama and I are going to trust how you chose to work out those differences today."

"You are?" I looked at my mothers in disbelief. "Why?"

"You're almost sixteen, Sam," Mama sighed. "It's time we start to allow you handle some things on your own, especially when the outcomes seems to be alright."

"Oh," I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "Am I supposed to be happy about this development?"

"You'd rather we bust your tail feathers for the obvious lie?" Mom asked.

I shrugged. "I'm actually not sure how I feel," I admitted. "I'm glad you trust me to handle this with Daphne, but a part of me actually misses the fussing."

"You miss us fussing?" Mom asked.

"Yeah, what can I say, I'm nuts." My attempt at a joke didn't come out as light as I had wanted and I sighed heavily. "I'm tired," I finally lifted my head from Mom's shoulder. "I'm going to head home." Sliding from the table without another word I left the now quiet hut with my mind swimming. I had meant what I said on both counts, but something inside me felt hollow at the moment and I wasn't sure why or what had caused the emptiness.

Finding myself heading towards our hut I made my way to my bedroom and lay on my bed. Opening my locket I allowed the pen Auntie had given me on my last birthday to materialize along with my journal. Turning to my stomach I opened the journal and began to write with no thought hoping that I would somehow be able to sort through my feelings without too much difficulty.

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"Sam?" The whisper next to me caused me to groan and I slowly opened one eye.

"Yeah?" I finally managed.

"Why are you sleeping in your clothes?"

"I must have fallen asleep writing," I replied as Eve finally laid down next to me and tried to snuggle in closer. "What are you doing in my bed anyway?"

"I did something I shouldn't have," she finally whispered.

Taking a deep breath I sat up slowly and made sure my pen and journal returned to my locket. Standing up, I quickly stripped out of my clothes and pulled a loose tunic from my drawer, donning it like a nightshirt. "Tell me about it," I finally prompted slipping into my bed, under the covers this time allowing Eve to cuddle into me.

I allowed Eve her quiet knowing that she was too much like Mama to tell me anything until she was ready. Just when I thought she'd tell me nothing else that night I heard a small sniffle, "I didn't mean to do it, Sam."

"Tell me what you did, little bit," I encouraged.

"Do you remember that assignment I was supposed to do for school?"

"Which one?" I asked.

"The one about the story?" Eve whispered.

Thinking hard I suddenly remembered the assignment, "You mean the story that you were supposed to make a new ending for?"

"Yup."

"I saw your ending for the story, little bit, there was nothing wrong with it." Now confused why Eve was so upset by how she had changed the Amazon folktale given to her class I waited in the darkness a little longer.

"Well," Eve slowly sat up and took a deep breath. "I kinda made my story interactive."

"Eve?" I sat up now and tried to hold in the fear that had suddenly gripped me. "What do you mean interactive?"

"I accidently," Eve stopped. "Damn it, Sam, I had us act out the story in class today."

"I didn't hear anything that..."

"Well that's because the teachers aren't sure what to do about it yet," Eve finally admitted.

"Eve?" My voice was serious now and my sister threw herself into my arms.

"I shaved all of Marni's hair off when I got to the end of the story. I didn't mean to! I just got carried away and the next thing I knew her braid was in my hand and she was screaming and all the girls were telling me I was in trouble. I ran, Sam. Then I yelled for Aunt Hessie. She came and helped calm things down."

"And Marni?"

"Auntie Dite heard the fuss and grew her hair back for her," Eve sniffed again. "But Marni is still real mad and the teachers, and even Addy and Mavis are mad at me. I don't have any friends anymore, Sam." Eve's sobs broke my heart as I held her and began to hum. I knew that Mom and Mama had heard by now and would be making an appearance in a few moments.

"What can I do, little bit?" I whispered.

"Help me show my friends how sorry I am," Eve finally gasped. Her cries continued and I wasn't surprised when Mama was suddenly at our side lifting Eve into her arms.

"Oh Trouble," Mama's voice was soft and the large hands gentle as they rubbed my sister's back. "Come on, Eve, you're going to sleep with Mommy and me tonight. It will all work out in the morning."

"I'm sorry, Mama!" Eve's wail tore through the hut and her sobs finally were the only sound heard as Mama carried her from my room into her own.

Lying back down I shook my head and then sat up straight as I felt a tingle, "Who's there?"

"It's just me, Sam." Aunt Hessie's quiet voice replied as she sat on the bed next to me. "I wanted to let you know that I decided to help my little Imp out tonight and her sisters, all of them, will sleep through until morning. Eve needs her mommies right now."

"She does," I sighed and smiled as Aunt Hessie began to tuck me in. "Thank you."

Feeling the kiss to my forehead I smiled as the covers were tucked around me gently. "Sleep well, Sam." I closed my eyes and yawned. The next morning I couldn't remember if I'd fallen asleep before the goddess had left or not, but I silently thanked her for tucking me in and allowing me to rest in a way I had done so long before my world was taken over by gods and sisters.

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Hope everyone enjoys the update.