Author's note: Sorry for the delay with this chapter, I got distracted with another story I started writing, my apologies! I actually quite like the way this one's turned out, hopefully you do too.

Thanks for your reviews:)

Enjoy :)


11

She's been so very bored these last few days with Mary spending more and more time with Granny and Edith pretending she's too grown up to play her sister's 'silly games'. Normally, when her sisters are unavailable, Sybil would simply take herself outside and play in the gardens but it's been so miserable lately, and her Mama and Carson have been extra vigilant with regards to her whereabouts so it's been difficult for her to sneak out.

She knows her sisters are upstairs somewhere, now, probably avoiding one another and she'd like to go and seek them out but she can't bring herself to move from the window seat where she's tracking the raindrops moving down the window. She's willing them to race to the bottom of the pane but they refuse to cooperate. Every droplet seems drawn to another and when they meet and merge together she feels disappointed and a little cheated.

She tears herself from the window with a deep sigh and traipses out of the warm library and up the stairs. She doesn't knock when she reaches Mary's room but simply strides in and throws herself dramatically onto the bed with another big sigh, ignoring her sister's raised eyebrow and questioning glance. Eventually she hears her sister issue her own sigh before she comes and seats herself a little more gracefully beside the youngster. Before Mary can say anything Sybil groans out, "Gosh Mary, I'm so bored. I feel like the rain has washed all of the fun out of the world". Mary barks out a laugh that's neither ladylike nor sympathetic towards Sybil's misery, "Oh darling", her sister laughs, "must you be so terribly dramatic?" Sybil tries, and fails, to fight the pout on her lips which only makes Mary laugh harder.

Sybil knows that Mary's laughter is not unkind, however, so she ignores it and manoeuvres herself so Mary has to lie back on the bed and Sybil can snuggle up against her and she hums contentedly as Mary teases her fingers through her hair. Normally Sybil needs to be on the move, needs to be doing something, but she enjoys these quiet moments with her eldest sister. Edith doesn't have the patience or the tenderness to lay with her like this (although she's sure she's the only person in the house who would describe Mary as tender or patient). She loves both of her sisters dearly, of course she does, but she's always felt closer to Mary.

She hears the door click open behind her but she's too comfortable to move and look around so she doesn't know who has entered the room until her sister says, "I knew I'd find the two of you in here". There's a bitterness to Edith's tone that Sybil's never understood and it brings out a sharp edge in Mary's voice that Sybil's never cared for, "What do you want, Edith?" she almost hisses. Sybil burrows closer to Mary trying to block out the scene around her; she's always hated her sisters fighting. "Oh I'm, sorry, Mary," Edith bites back, "Am I not allowed to join in the sisterly bonding session? Is that privilege only for your darling Sybil?" That stings. Edith may be a little harsh at times but her barbed comments are usually reserved solely for Mary. Sybil feels hot tears prick at her eyes when she realises that maybe it's not only Mary that Edith has a problem with. She doesn't want to be caught up anymore in their arguments so she tries to extricate herself from Mary's arms; Mary attempts to stop her but Sybil's much quicker and is soon running down the corridors looking for a room she can hide in.

She finds herself in the room Cousin Patrick usually uses when he stays at the house. She climbs onto the plush window seat and pulls the curtains shut behind her. The rain's coming down much heavier now and the droplets aren't so much joining together as they are obliterating each other, she finds it all rather fitting. She wonders if it's her own fault that Edith's displeased with her; maybe she seeks out Mary more than she should, but then Edith never wants to play her games or tell her stories.

She's been sitting there a while and has almost given up on hiding when she hears the door swing open and two pairs of feet sneak into the room. The door clicks shut and she can hear her sisters whispering in hushed tones, of course they'd find her eventually. The curtain slides back but Sybil keeps her face pressed to the glass, she doesn't want her sisters to see how upset she's been, particularly Edith. "Sybil darling", Sybil almost flinches at the endearment and chances a glance at Edith, who has the good grace to look a little ashamed of herself, before Mary goes on, "we've been looking for you everywhere. We want to apologise. I know you hate when we fight, but I'm afraid not all of us are blessed with your sweet temper and Edith and I have never gotten along too well. We do promise, though, that we'll make more of an effort to be pleasant towards one another". Sybil thinks that's a very nice sentiment but it's only Edith she's upset with at the moment, after all Mary never used her as a weapon in an argument. As if on cue, Mary nudges Edith and the middle sister coughs a little before muttering, "Yes, Sybil, I, er, well I'm very sorry. I should never have brought you into it before; that was very mean of me. I hope you can forgive me?" She sounds so hopeful, and truly sorry, and Sybil's never been one for holding grudges so she smiles at her big sister and shifts a little on the window seat so they can both join her.

When they're all sufficiently bored of staring out of the window Edith tentatively suggests they play a game, a game of Sybil's choosing. Sybil doesn't need asking twice and is up in a flash poking around the room looking for inspiration. She finds it in the wardrobe and the game is Pirates and Princesses. She ignores the unsure glances passing between her sisters and starts pulling out garments from Patrick's wardrobe. Mary splutters out a protest as Sybil launches a pair of trousers and a shirt at her but Sybil merely raises an eyebrow, as she's seen her sister do many times, and says, "Do you want to play, or not?" Mary grumbles out her consent, on condition they don't leave this room, and retires behind the curtain to change. Sybil's not sure when Mary became so shy about changing in front of them, she has no such qualms, and it's only a brief moment before she starts stripping off and getting into her own costume. Edith stands there fiddling with her dress sleeves looking unsure of herself until Sybil informs her that she doesn't need to change, as she'll be the princess. Sybil would much rather be a swash-buckling pirate than a princess, and she knows Mary would scoff at the idea of being a damsel in distress, but Edith seems happy enough with her role. They share a good laugh whilst trying to hold Sybil's trousers up with the curtain tie and Sybil thinks Edith's quite fun, when she wants to be.

They laugh even harder when Mary comes out from behind the curtain. She stands with her arms folded and a petulant look on her face as her younger sisters cling to one another and Edith breathes out, between giggles, "Oh Mary, you look positively indecent!" Mary glares at her sister and huffs, "Well it's hardly my fault Patrick refuses to grow". Her trousers, in particular, look uncomfortably tight and Sybil, despite her laughter, appreciates that Mary is still willing to participate.

The game goes on for a long time; they use Patrick's bed as their ship and a small table as a plank that they continually make Edith walk along and Sybil doesn't think she's ever had so much fun in her life. The game comes to a sudden and bloody end when Edith trips off the end of the 'plank' and hits the floor face first. Her nose is bleeding quite heavily and she's whimpering in pain as Sybil rushes to her side and tries to soothe her, but it's Mary who puts a plan into action and supports Edith as they head downstairs in search of Carson.

They're only halfway across the entrance hall when a voice booms out behind them, "WHAT ON EARTH DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" Sybil's never heard her father quite so angry so she has to steel herself before she turns to face him, "Um, Papa, we-we-re just taking Edith to Mr Carson, she's hurt her nose...It's bleeding". Her Papa seems to find this explanation lacking and the look he levels at her leaves her feeling a little cold. She wishes her sisters would say something but they're both still facing the other way, barely moving a muscle. Eventually their father orders her to escort Edith downstairs to Mrs Hughes. When they reach the door that will lead them downstairs Sybil chances a glance back at her other sister; Mary is still staring after them but offers a weak smile which only falters when their father barks out, "Mary. Library. Now."

Mrs Hughes is very kind to the girls and fixes Edith up relatively quickly, although there's not much she can do for the purple bruise slowly making itself known across Edith's face. When Sybil innocently wonders why their Papa was so angry, and why he only wanted to speak to Mary she notices Mrs Hughes gets a little uncomfortable, and Edith tries hard to fight a smirk. "Well, my lady", Mrs Hughes starts hesitantly, "I think Lord Grantham was probably a little upset to see Lady Edith hurt and just wants to get to the bottom of why it happened". Sybil thinks this makes sense, after all Mary would probably explain things much better than she could, she'd just be tumbling over her words whereas Mary won't let Papa's anger affect her. Once she's done all she can for Edith, Mrs Hughes packs the girls off upstairs with some biscuits complementary of Mrs Patmore; Sybil's allowed to take some up for Mary although she may have accidentally eaten one of those herself.

She leaves Edith in the hallway and goes in search of her eldest sister to bestow the remaining biscuits on her. Instead of Mary, she finds her Papa alone in the library. He's facing the window she was looking out of before and she wonders if maybe he's tracking the raindrops like she was earlier. The thought makes her smile and she greets him brightly and asks if he knows where Mary is. He doesn't return her smile, when he eventually turns to her, and the biscuits are getting warm and mushy in her hand. "Sybil" his tone is low and resigned "Go upstairs at once and change out of that ridiculous outfit. I don't want to see you or your sisters until dinner", with that he turns back to the window and Sybil considers herself well and truly dismissed.

On her way upstairs she considers the injustice in her father's words; ridiculous, she thinks, he never says the clothes are ridiculous when Patrick wears them. She giggles as she catches a glimpse of herself in the glass of a picture and thinks maybe I do look a little silly. She decides, as she nears Mary's room, that her sister won't like the biscuits that are now crumbling in her hands so she finishes them off like a good sister before opening the door to her bedroom.

She's happy to see, when she walks in, that Mary hasn't changed yet but her joy is short-lived when she realises her sister is too preoccupied with sobbing her heart out to bother with changing. Sybil's never seen her sister like this before, and she doesn't like it. "Mary" she breathes out. She doesn't get any further before her sister hiccups and growls out "Leave me alone, Sybil". Sybil can't stop her own lip trembling then, Mary's never spoken to her like that, but she refuses to abandon her sister now. She climbs up onto the bed and wraps her arm around Mary, pressing her face between her sister's shoulder blades. Despite her earlier order, Mary doesn't protest, she only places her own hand over Sybil's where it rests on her stomach and makes a determined effort to control her tears.

The two girls don't exchange anymore words but, eventually, Mary lets out a soft sigh and turns onto her back so Sybil can rest her head on her shoulder. She presses a sweet kiss to Sybil's head and starts playing with her hair again. "Mary" she tries for a second time, "Please don't be sad. I'm sure Papa doesn't mean it when he says we can't wear our outfits again". Mary's laughter rumbles through her own chest into Sybil's and Sybil can't help but join in, even though she's not entirely sure what Mary finds so funny. "Oh Sybil," Mary finally gets out, "You're such a darling. Don't ever change!"

This time, when the door opens, Sybil has no doubt as to whom their visitor is. She almost wants to tell Edith to leave them alone; she can't bear for them to start arguing, especially as Mary's finally smiling again. Her sisters surprise her, however; Edith doesn't utter a word and Mary doesn't protest when the redhead climbs onto the bed behind Sybil and snuggles up with them. Sybil's a little ashamed to acknowledge the brief stab of jealousy that stings her as Mary's hand leaves her own hair to start playing with Edith's. She must be pouting a little too obviously because Mary suddenly chuckles and orders her to lie on her other side before continuing her earlier ministrations. From her new position she has a good view of Edith's face and she has to stifle a gasp on first glance; she looks awful! She won't tell Edith that though, she wouldn't like to be unkind, so she only offers her a reassuring smile and asks if it still hurts. According to Edith, she's lucky she doesn't have to have it cut off; Sybil doesn't remember Mrs Hughes expressing any such notion but she's saved from pointing this out when Mary jokes it might have been an improvement. Sybil squirms waiting for a fight to break out, but Edith seems to accept it in good humour and merely pokes Mary in the ribs before cuddling in closer.

The girls stay huddled together for what seems like hours; Mary tells stories, Sybil talks of the places she wants to travel to and Edith makes suggestions on how they can get Fraulein Heinen to leave. They're not disturbed until Anna comes in to get Mary ready and send the others back to their room; if she's shocked at their choice of clothing, she doesn't show it. Sybil practically skips to her room, holding Edith's hand, and she can't keep the grin off her face all through dinner. She remains quite oblivious to her Granny's disapproving looks, her Mama's fussing over Edith's face and her Papa's frosty attitude towards Mary; she's just so happy her sisters are getting along and not snapping at one another all the time. She vows to enjoy the newfound peace between the Crawley sisters and make the most of it by thinking up more games they can play together; as she's completely certain the truce won't hold up forever, or even for the rest of the week.