Magica's words echoed in her mind. Lena had murdered her father. She had let too much time lapse; her father had lived far beyond that of a normal bird and now, when she could have saved him, she'd turned traitor for Webby's sake. Her throat was tight. She didn't want to wake up. She didn't want to face the reality of what she'd done. Webby was holding her and crying, which incited guilt, but not enough to rouse her completely.

Magica would have every right to kill her now. Her being trapped in dragon form was one thing. Lena permitting her father's death was another thing entirely. Lena was a bad niece and a bad daughter. She was an awful person. A choked gasp escaped her and she felt Webby's regard more keenly.

"Lena?" Webby murmured. "Are you awake?"

Another choked gasp later and Lena knew the gig was up. She opened her eyes and Webby's eyes, which had been tear-filled, spilled over. From what she could distinguish, she was lying on a plush four-poster bed, far posher than anything she'd ever been on before, and she remained in McDragon Manor with Cal's necklace about her neck. It was alongside Magica's amulet, which Lena fingered.

"Are you okay?" Webby pressed. "You...Cal said you would've had a grand mal seizure if he hadn't intervened."

"I would have deserved it," Lena said flatly, rolling away from Webby's embrace. Webby was undeterred and followed her across the bed. Lena was too weak to get up and walk away and although she permitted the younger girl to hug her, she felt wretched for deriving comfort from it. She wanted to kiss her again and go back to the way things had been a few hours before. Or however many hours it had been since Lena had no idea how long she'd been out.

"No, you wouldn't have," she replied fiercely. "Why would you think that? I know Magica has it out for you, but no one deserves-"

"My father died," Lena said in that same toneless voice. "He died because I didn't steal the elixir in time. Because I spent all my time being with you and the others and trying to have some semblance of a normal life. Because I didn't want to risk hurting you by doing what Magica wanted."

For a long moment, the blonde girl fell silent.

"...oh."

"Magica wanted me dead; an eye for an eye. I should have died instead of him. It was my failure. My fault."

"You couldn't have known," Webby countered. "You had no way of knowing when his time was. This isn't your fault."

Webby turned Lena's face around and kissed her softly. And damn her, but she kissed her back, unable to resist her for too long. This was wrong, she knew it was wrong, but she rolled over and wrapped her arms about her. She tasted tears and realized she was crying. So much for striving to remain unemotional.

When they broke apart, Lena was sobbing so hard she couldn't see straight. She clung to the younger girl and fisted her hands in Webby's dress. Webby stroked her hair, particularly the pink streak, and for once in her life, Lena's tail was still, not whipping around in agitation. It was tucked between her legs like a dog that knows it has done something bad.

"What happened to your father isn't your fault," Webby said softly. "You didn't want to do Magica's bidding because she's an evil bitch. Maybe it wasn't fair that he was transformed into a bird and she into a dragon, but that's not your fault either. Magica caused them both to change shape. It had nothing to do with you. Sssh, Lena. Sssh. I'm not going anywhere. I love you."

Lena said nothing. She didn't trust herself to speak.

"When you were lying there, so still, I thought you could die. I thought that even though you had a petit mal seizure, that you might die anyway. Or have brain damage. You were bleeding pretty badly. It scared the shit out of me. I thought I was going to lose you.

"And I couldn't bear the thought of losing you any more than you could bear the thought of losing me."

That didn't change the reality, that Lena had let this happen. Webby nuzzled her and hugged her until it felt like all of Lena's broken pieces were, if not reassembled, at least collected en masse. She loved her so much. And that love had cost her Poe.

"How long was he a bird for? Fifteen years, right?"

Lena nodded slowly.

"You didn't really get a chance to know him, did you?"

She shook her head.

"So you couldn't have missed him if you didn't know him, right?" she pressed and Lena nodded again, albeit reluctantly.

Lena bit back a sigh. Webby didn't get it. Then again, she'd never known her parents, from what Lena could glean. She never spoke about them. And she'd been more consumed with Della's mystery than her parents' disappearance, so perhaps she already knew what had happened to them and didn't want to inquire further.

"That's not the point, Webs," Lena said, shaking her head. "The point is that I had a responsibility to my family and I blew it."

"But you didn't feel beholden to them because they never gave you a reason to," Webby argued.

"It's not that," Lena said. "It was stupid. I wanted to be with you and everyone else because you didn't treat me like crap like Aunt Magica does. But I put myself first and now my dad's dead. Because of me."

"You're allowed to put yourself first once in a while, you know," she murmured and nuzzled her again. Warmth blossomed in Lena's chest and she hated herself for pulling Webby closer. She hated herself, even more, when she kissed her again and Webby enthusiastically kissed her back. This had to be the last time. If she were ever going to redeem herself...or was it too late for that?

Webby entangled her legs with Lena's and Lena sighed, cupping the back of Webby's head. She was allowed to be selfish. She was allowed to care about her needs first. That went against the grain of everything Magica had told her over the years. Lena was supposed to sacrifice herself for her family. She was supposed to be the good daughter, the good niece, no matter what.

She wanted to melt into Webby until there was nothing left of her. Or maybe just link with her until they were a single entity, Weblena. When Webby's tongue darted at her lips, Lena opened her mouth and kissed her deeper, more fiercely than before. She was being selfish...she shouldn't...she couldn't...but...why not? The only person left to save was Magica and she'd rather die than help her.

Besides, Magica had a corporeal form. If she wanted her freedom from being a dragon so badly, why couldn't she take it herself?

Webby's chest was pressed up against hers and Lena could feel the warmth of her body through her clothes. She sighed, deciding to focus on nothing but Webby. Webby's smell, her soft skin, and her goodness. She was the light to Lena's darkness.

There was something about Dewey she was supposed to remember, but she couldn't bring herself to care just yet. Webby scooted closer, although there was nowhere for her to go but to press against Lena tighter.

When they finally broke off, Lena gasping, she'd forgotten what she was upset about. Webby intertwined their fingers and kissed her neck. She didn't understand what drew Webby to her. She wasn't anything special. If anything, she was a shell of a person. She was…

Now that they had regained their breath, Webby kissed her again, as if by kissing her, she could remove all the doubt and fear that Lena had. What was worse was that it was working. When she kissed her, she started to forget everything that was troubling her. She was surrounded by everything Webby and she wanted more, more, more.

There was a knock at the door and they both startled, springing away from each other. Lena's heart raced.

"Uh, hey," Dewey said, poking his head into the room. "I wanted to check in on you guys."

Lena blushed scarlet. If he'd just barged in, he would have found them making out. That was the thing she was supposed to remember. That Dewey also had feelings for Webby and she'd been hogging her. Shit. But Webby had kissed her first...that had to count for something.

If she was supposed to be fair, then she should let Dewey court Webby. After all, he'd been there first, he hadn't had a secret agenda, and he loved her too. But Webby liked her too. Then there was the idea that they could both share Webby and Lena didn't know how she felt about that either.

"So, are you okay?" he asked Lena.

"I'm better," she said, pushing herself to a sitting position on the bed.

"Did I miss something?" Dewey asked, looking from one girl to another. Webby just offered him a beatific smile and Dewey melted. Lena smiled. If Webby had been looking at her that way, she would've melted too.

"Sloppy makeouts," Webby ventured, shrugging. "If you want in, you can join us."

"Then you did make up your mind!" Dewey exclaimed and this time, Webby flushed.

"No...I still like you both," she protested. "But...my feelings for Lena are more intense. Maybe 'cuz she almost died."

"Should have died," Lena muttered and Dewey and Webby threw her a sharp look.

"Magica told me that my father died," Lena explained to Dewey, whose expression had changed to bafflement. "And he died because I didn't steal the elixir in time. Birds only live for so long…"

Dewey rushed over to her and glanced quickly at Webby. They seemed to share a silent communication, probably along the lines of "you did tell her that this wasn't her fault, right?" "of course I did!"

"It's not your fault," Dewey said. He sat beside her. "You didn't ask for any of this."

Lena glanced shyly at Webby. "Well, actually…"

She had asked the powers that be repeatedly for Webby. She just hadn't thought that her wishes would be respected or even acknowledged. Webby sat up too and she rested her head against Lena's. Lena's heart ached thinking of how much she loved her.

"That doesn't count," he scoffed, noticing Lena's glance at Webby. "I mean, you didn't ask for your father to be a bird or your aunt to be...Magica."

"You can call her a bitch," Lena said, shrugging. "I do all the time in my head."

When Magica wasn't sharing her thoughts, that was. Lena shivered, grateful that she didn't have that burden. She fingered Cal's necklace this time, a pendant in the shape of a dragon. She hadn't had time to study it earlier and now that she had, she saw that the dragon bore the McDragon coat of arms. Something in her broke and opened the floodgates again.

Scrooge did care about her. He wouldn't have given her this if he didn't. Scrooge cared about her and so did Dewey and Webby. She was wanted. She was loved. Tears pricked her eyes and she reached out to hug both of them. They hugged her back.

She still felt horribly guilty for what had befallen her father. And she knew Magica was out there waiting and ready to strike. But she wanted this moment, for what it was worth. She wanted Dewey and Webby hugging her and feeling like she was safe.

So, even though it was selfish, even though it meant she'd betrayed her father's memory, she took it. She closed her eyes and enjoyed it, for whatever it was worth. To her, it was worth everything.

He still needed to lure Magica to them or go to her, but he couldn't ask for Lena's assistance. For God's sake, the lass had nearly died just now. He paced the floor of his office and tried to think of another way to find Magica. Another boom shook the manor, which was odd because he thought Magica had expended all of her energy attacking Lena before.

He needn't have worried about tracking Magica down to her lair. She was here, right now, outside his window. And she looked pissed as all hell.