Prompt: That didn't stop you before Rating: K+ or teen? A little sad, but also has a an amazing message.

Summary: A brother and sister one-shot. Seth worked hard to have it erased seconds later, but Kendra is there to help.

Seth was breathing hard as he straightened the piece of wood against the frame and it was almost ready to be nailed down. His project would be finally completed, but the satyr's had wanted to play football. Maybe that is how it all started. Perhaps I should go back a bit before I go into this.

Ever since Seth was young, he had wanted to have a treehouse. One for spying, one for hiding, one for him. When he had seen there was a treehouse at Fablehaven he was overjoyed and had claimed it for himself. Kendra didn't mind, said it didn't look safe enough for her and she would rather have a section of the gardens for herself, and Seth enthusiastically agreed.

Why Kendra proffered the gardens over a super epic treehouse, Seth didn't know. When they had first gotten to Fablehaven, before all the craziness started, he spent a lot of time in the treehouse. Again, whether it was spying (and hiding) or just hanging out for the heck of it.

To say he was sad when it got burned down was an understatement. Back when the centaurs took over for the fablehaven household for a bit, they decided they had no use for a treehouse and burned it down. No wood was able to be salvaged or anything that had been in there.

He had planned to rebuild it at some point, but craziness got in the way. Now, he finally had the time to rebuild it and he felt amazing to finally get to it.

He never knew building a treehouse would be this hard. I mean, it looked so simple to do at first. Just dig a few pieces of wood into the branches and voila! (Not the cow) You have a treehouse! Have a cookie! Maybe add a few shingles on the roof If you were feeling particularly fancy.

He had been working on this treehouse for days now and had barely succeeded in completing the frame. He had designed the plans with Kendra beforehand. One of her dreams was to design buildings or be an artist, but man, his sister could draw nice. The plans looked better than he had ever seen and it also looked simple.

He was on the final board of the frame, nailing it into place when disaster struck. And by disaster, I mean Newel and Doren, your not-so-average resident satyrs.

"Hey, Seth!" Doren called.

"Hey dude," Seth huffed, as he pushed the board into place so he could nail it in.

"You up for a game of football?" Newel asked, throwing his ball in the air and catching it for emphasis. Ever since they watched a football game, they had become obsessed with the sport. One of Seth's favorite things was that Newel supported Michigan and Doren Michigan State, who were both rivals.

"Yeah," Doren agreed, "You can play for the better team," he emphasized the better, pointing a glare at Newel.

Newel huffed, "You mean the losing team," he taunted, "Come on bro! Be on the winning team for once! Don't put your loyalty in them!"

Seth started to chuckle, "Sorry bro," he said, "But I'm trying to work on my treehouse right now. Been wanting to for a while, do you want to help?" Seth remembered his grandfather said this once, but the best way to get rid of satyrs was to mention work.

"Actually," Newel turned to Doren, "We already promised some other dudes we would play with them. Right, Doren?"

"Yeah," Doren agreed, scooching backward, "Sorry."

Seth chuckled again, "I understand," he said as he pushed the board into place.

"Hey, Seth!" Newel called, "Think fast!"

Newel then quickly chucked the ball towards Seth, who had his hands full with the boards and was unable to catch the ball. Seth watched in slow-motion horror as the ball sailed straight for the boards he had been working so hard to balance.

And the ball hit the target. Seth could barely speak as he watched the boards hit the ground, erasing hours worth of hard work and determination. Just like that.

"Oops," Newel said, scooting away.

"We'll be going now," Doren agreed once he saw the murderous look on Seth's face.

To say he was furious would be an understatement. He had so many mixed feelings, there wasn't a single word that could describe half of what he was feeling. All the emotions came bubbling up as he saw the fallen pieces of wood that had taken hours to balance, the ones he was just about to nail in.

Newel and Doren dashed away, which was honestly probably a smart move. Seth's posers tended to act up with his emotions, especially his negative ones. And this was more than Warren taking the last brownie, which was a huge sin in Seth's opinion.

Truthfully, Seth wasn't mad about the treehouse. He was mad for a more personal reason. A more… real reason. This treehouse was going to be his break from the past few months.

The project that showed he hadn't given up. He hadn't let fear control him and he was now moving on from adversity. This was his message to the world, saying I'm still fighting. You may have made me lost, but I will stay happy.

But it seems the universe didn't want him to be happy. Because it still took a single football to knock it down.

Kendra had been walking to the gardens when she heard the crash. Instantly, she jumped along with the fairies she had been talking/gossiping with.

"Did you hear that?" Kendra asked, instantly scolding herself at how stupid it came out. Of course, they heard that, because it happened. Boy, did she felt dumb.

"Yeah," Shiara tittered, "What do you think it was?"

"I don't know," Kendra admitted, "But I better go check it out. Ten bucks Seth is behind it?"

"Bucks?" Shiara asked, her perfect face scrunching up in confusion, "What do you mean, bucks?" Kendra mentally slapped herself for the second time in one minute. She often forgot that most magical creatures at this preserve were behind on modern terms, for example, money.

"Never mind," Kendra shook her head, "Bye Shiara! It was nice talking to you!"

"Likewise," Shiara agreed as she fluttered over to a tulip to inhale its fragrance.

Kendra wandered over to where she heard the crash. She honestly didn't know what to expect, but she was pretty sure either Seth or Warren were going to behind it. She can see how those two are related.. but how she was related to them? Ugh. She sometimes didn't like to think about being related to such idiots.

Kendra then realized in what direction she was walking. She was walking straight for where Seth was building a treehouse. She walked a little faster.

Soon, she arrived at the spot and the sight made her want to break into tears. Pieces of wood were scattered around the area, and the frame in the tree was half destroyed. And right in the middle of it, sat her brother, looking so defeated it took all her willpower not to kill him with a hug.

She walked slowly over to her brother, who barely even looked up at her.

"You alright?" She asked.

Seth sighed, "I'm fine. This was a stupid idea anyway."

"Seth, it was not a stupid idea!" The hardness in her tone made Seth flinch. She noticed this right away and took care to soften it, "I thought it was a great idea."

Seth shrugged, "It's not going to work."

"That never stopped you before," Kendra allowed a small smile, "How about we try this again?"

Seth looked up at her, "You mean it?" He asked

She smiled broadly, "Of course! Let me see the amazing blueprints that I made and let's get started!"

Seth chuckled at her self promo, but agreed and handed her the blueprints.

Maybe that is why Seth felt so good. Whether it was the fact they completed the treehouse or the fact that he knew his sister would be there and she was right. It had never stopped him before and even if the universe didn't want him to be happy, he wouldn't stop.