Title: Diamonds, Chapter 1.
Rating: G.
Warnings: angst, maybe.
Characters/Pairings: Sheridan, Pilar, the Cranes.
Summary (for chapter): Tracing a finger down the cool window pane, Pilar whispered a soft prayer of sorts, so sure the child had more goodness in a tiny corner of her heart than Alistair and Julian put together and hoping she would forever stay that way. "Don't ever let them taint you."

Chapter 1

Sheridan pushed her Eggs Benedict back and forth on her plate boredly. It was her first breakfast with the family and as of yet, no one had dared to speak a word. She sighed and shifted in her high-backed seat, praying the torture would end soon.

"Would you like some more juice, Miss Sheridan?"

A thankful smile blossomed on Sheridan's lips with the polite question. Finally, an end to the dreadful, oppressive silence. "No thank you, Pilar." Curiously and with genuine interest, she asked, "How's your family?"

"Sheridan," her father tersely chastised, a warning look in his glacial blue eyes.

Sheridan was intimately familiar with that look (translated, it meant: We Cranes don't waste our time with the help, the locals, the…). She was so tired of it all. What she wouldn't give just to be normal.

"Sheridan," her sister-in-law spoke up. "Would you like to go riding this afternoon?"

Sheridan's fork clattered against the fine china as she accepted the invitation with a smile. "I'd love to go riding with you."

"Don't be silly, Darling. Of course I can't go with you," Ivy apologized. "But Ethan would love to. Wouldn't you, Ethan?" she prodded gently.

"But Mother," Ethan whined.

Sheridan bit her lip to keep from bursting into a fit of very unlady-like (but very Sheridan-like) laughter when Ethan suddenly yelped in pain and very quickly changed his mind (nothing like a good old-fashioned kick to the shin to make you see the light of day).

"I'd love to go riding with you, Aunt Sheridan," Ethan winced.

"Thank you, Ethan," Sheridan kindly let her nephew off the hook, "but you don't have to go if you don't want to. I'll be perfectly fine all by myself. In fact," she told him, clasping her hands together, "I'd actually prefer to be alone if you don't mind, do a little exploring."

"Exploring," her brother Julian scoffed snobbishly. "Such a juvenile notion, Sister Dear."

You forget, Dear Brother, Sheridan thought to herself, I know nothing of my own home, if I can even call it that. I hardly even know my own family. "Yes, Julian," she said instead. "Exploring. Do you have a problem with that?" Sheridan smirked when her brother seemed to choke on his own tongue.

"Father! Are you going to let her talk to me like that?"

Sheridan swallowed nervously, anxious to hear her father's reaction. She braced herself for the worst; nothing she'd ever done had been pleasing to her father. Why should this be any different?

"Julian," their father laughed mirthlessly. "I'm not letting her do a thing. You are."

Julian glared at Sheridan but didn't protest further.

What a baby, Sheridan thought. Taking one last sip of her orange juice, she made a request, "Father? May I be excused?" Her father's cool blue eyes appraised her for several seconds before he deigned to give her the answer she sought.

"You may. And Sheridan," his authoritative voice echoed in the dining room as he called after her. "Don't do anything to malign our good name."

Sheridan froze in place, pondering the meaning of his words. Did he really have so little faith in her? She tucked an errant strand of blond hair behind her ear and answered calmly. "Yes, Father." She held her breath until the dining room door closed behind her then released it in a whoosh, muttering to herself, "Thank goodness that's over. How am I ever going to survive this day? It's too much." She trailed her hand across the smooth wood of the banister with a soft sigh as she ascended the stairs to the safe haven of her room and barely had time to get settled inside before a gentle knock at her door startled her. "Oh, Pilar," she breathed in relief as she opened the door. "You scared me. I thought you were Father," she explained, "telling me he had changed his mind and had decided to keep me locked up in this stuffy old place forever." Sheridan stepped aside briefly to allow Pilar entry. "It's just not home, Pilar. It has no character. I guess I don't have a home really, just four impersonal walls."

"Miss Sheridan," Pilar chided as she sit down beside her young charge on her pale lilac comforter. "Don't speak like that. You've only been home two days. Give it time," she wisely suggested.

"Time," Sheridan echoed, testing the word out on her tongue. "I guess I can do that," she was slow to agree. Her blue eyes sparkled happily when Pilar smoothed her blond hair back from her face with a motherly hand and smiled at her.

"I brought your riding habit."

Sheridan threw herself back against the downy softness of her bed with an exclamation of disgust. "I hate those things with a passion. What purpose do they serve except to make a person look stuck up and stupid? I want to be comfortable, have fun. Is that too much to ask?"

"I don't think so," Pilar admitted quietly. "Which I why I brought you these." She produced a faded pair of cutoffs and Sheridan's favorite turquoise tank top with a smile and a twinkle in her brown eyes.

Sheridan threw her hands around Pilar's neck in a fierce hug and grabbed the clothes from her hands, stripping on the spot. "I just knew Father had burned these! Thank you, Pilar!"

Pilar laughed softly and turned around to give her some privacy, even if the action was too late in coming. "He tried."

"But you rescued them," Sheridan grinned as she appeared before her. Her beautiful face radiated happiness in the face of the thoughtful gesture.

Pilar stroked Sheridan's cheek affectionately and smiled after her with love as she watched her bound out the door. "Have fun, Mi hija," she called. Once she was gone, Pilar smoothed the wrinkles from the girl's covers and bent to retrieve her forgotten clothes, moving to the window to watch her race away on horseback moments later. Tracing a finger down the cool window pane, Pilar whispered a soft prayer of sorts, so sure the child had more goodness in a tiny corner of her heart than Alistair and Julian put together and hoping she would forever stay that way. "Don't ever let them taint you."

Whatever would Sher do without Pilar?

:)

Hope you're enjoying this walk down memory lane.

Now, don't peek ahead.

Let the anticipation build and read the new and improved chapters as I post them, lol.

In the meantime, feedback is love!