The last week had been one of the most strenuous the home of Fairy Godmother had seen in recent memory. Things had more or less cooled since that catastrophe of a family dinner, though it was clear that Jane and Mal were still at odds with each other. They barely spoke to each other, and did their absolute best to avoid each other unless it was necessary that they be in the same room. The tension was so thick, that Fairy Godmother had to stop with the dual magic lessons, and begin teaching each girl individually. They were so angry at each other in fact, that they finally stopped fighting over the bathroom, letting Fairy Godmother get some much needed sleep after the days of dealing with them. Despite the now quite mornings, Fairy Godmother actually found herself missing the arguments over who needed the bathroom more in the mornings.

Fairy Godmother been forced to ground Jane after what happened, which angered Jane even further when she found out that Mal was not getting punished along with her. She wanted to explain to her daughter that while she was trying to be fair with both of them, in the end, Mal had not actually done anything wrong that night; but Jane wasn't hearing any of it. All Jane heard was that Mal was getting treated differently; treatment she blamed on the fact that Mal was the next Fairy Godmother.

Jane sat sulking on the couch, trying to reach a book since she wasn't allowed to watch TV until she ungrounded, or all three of them were together; and even then, it was usually whatever Mal or her mother chose. This sucks, she thought as she tried for umpteenth time to get into the story, but found her mind wandering to what was happening outside. Today was the first day of Mal's training with the wand; an event that she could tell Mal was unbelievably excited about, even if she tried to hide it. She wanted to stay in her room while it was going on, but her room overlooked the backyard, and the last thing she wanted to see was Mal, her mother, and the wand all together.

They had been out there for almost an hour when she heard the door leading back into the house open. She braced herself for seeing Mal come in, thrilled beyond belief over having finally handled the wand properly. What she actually saw, she was totally unprepared for. Her mother and Mal were slowly making their way through the house, and if Jane didn't know better she could've sworn she heard pained groaning. Getting up from the couch, she slowly made her way to the door that led to the hallway and peer around its threshold.

Her mother was leading Mal through the hallway toward her bedroom. One of Mal's arms draped over Fairy Godmother's shoulders, and from Jane's perspective, it looked like her mother was the only thing holding Mal up. As they moved closer, Jane caught a glimpse of Mal and became a little frightened. Mal looked paler than normal, her ski so sickly white that she could have been mistaken for a ghost. And while Jane knew it was physically impossible in just an hour, she could've sworn that Mal looked thinner. Her eyes were glassy and half open, a glimpse Jane was lucky to even make since Mal could barely hold her head up.

"Mal, are…are you okay?" she asked so softly the question would've been completely lost had Mal not been nearly in front of her.

Mal's head never lifted, but Jane could see that she was trying to shake her head. She could also see that Mal's lips started to quiver and if she looked close enough, Jane could almost see Mal begin to cry.

"Mom?"

"Mal's going to be alright, sweetie, she just needs to rest," Fairy Godmother answered as she continued to slowly help Mal toward her bedroom. Eventually they made it and Jane watched them disappear into it. Almost immediately her mother came back out and went to the kitchen. She then went back to Mal's room, this time carrying a bowl of ice water and a washcloth. A few minutes later her mother came back out, a look of worry written all over her face like a neon sign.

"What happened?" Jane asked, concern for Mal for the first time in days.

"The wand," her mother answered flatly.

"The wand did that to her?" Jane questioned almost in fright. Fairy Godmother nodded. "How? Why?"

Fairy Godmother looked back into Mal's room, and making sure that the girl was still in bed, and more or less down for the count, she motioned for Jane to follow her. She led her daughter into the living room and sat her down on the couch, and then took a seat next to her.

"Remember after you got angry, how I explained that the wand chooses who will be its next wielder?" Jane nodded. "Well, once that fairy is chosen, she must begin training to use the wand, like I'm showing Mal. The thing about it is, the wand is a very powerful object. So powerful, that during training, it's been known to drain the strength of the successor. Now under normal circumstances, the drain is taxing, but tolerable since that fairy's body will have been accustomed to dealing with the drains involved with handling new magic's over the years of their normal magical instruction. But Mal got started so late in life."

"I'll say – all of two weeks ago."

"Normally I would've waited for Mal to have more time with her normal magical training, but the same connection the wand has with me, I can already feel it being made with her; so I had to start her training earlier than I wanted to," Fairy Godmother explained as Jane listened with concern.

"Will she be okay?" Jane asked the obvious worry in her voice.

Fairy Godmother nodded. "Mal's strong, and as she gets used to the wand's power, along with her own powers, she'll get better. But right now, she's as weak as a kitten, and I need to go get few things to help her heal. I need you to watch her for me for a little while," Fairy Godmother informed her daughter.

"But Mom," Jane protested.

"I know you're still angry with Mal, but you saw her just now. If I go, I need to make sure that she's taken care of. Please, Janey, for me, and for Mal's well-being, can you set aside your problems with her for about an hour or two?"

Jane looked back in the direction of Mal's room and actually thought about saying no. But then she decided that if she were in the same situation, she'd want Mal to swallow whatever pride she had and watch over her. "Fine," she relented.

"Thank you, sweetie," Fairy Godmother breathed a sigh of relief and hugged her daughter. "I'll try to make it quick, but stay close. In fact, since your room is right next to Mal's, stay there. You can even watch TV again while I'm gone, okay?"

Jane nodded nonchalantly and watched as her mother left. A few minutes later, she was laying on her bed, trying to find something to watch when she heard a crash followed by what sounded like retching. She walked over to Mal's room and gasped in shock when she saw Mal leaning half-way off the bed, the bowl of ice water spilled onto the floor, the water mixing with the vomit Mal had thrown up.

Jane immediately ran to the bathroom and grabbed some towels. She went back to Mal's room and saw Mal trying to lean back onto the bed. She helped her finish laying back before beginning to clean up the floor.

"J…Jane, I'm sorry about –"

"Don't worry, I got it," she told Mal a little more harshly than was necessary. "Just try to rest. I'll…I'll clean this up."

She heard Mal groan before she tried, weak as she was, to speak again.

"N-no, not the floor. I'm sorry…"

"Mal, shush," Jane cut her off flatly. "You need to rest. Mom will be back in a little bit to take care of you."

Jane was already doing her best to clean up the vomit, while at the same time trying not to throw up herself from the smell. She had managed to get it all without upchucking, and then went to put the dirty towels in a trash bag. When she came back, she saw Mal curled up in the fetal position, tears running down her face.

She went and grabbed some tissues from the bedside table and, surprising herself, gently wiped the tears.

"Please don't hate me," she heard Mal sob as she was starting to make her way out of the room.

"What?"

"I…I know how much you…how much you wanted to the wand to be yours, and instead, it chose me," she started. With great effort, the purple-haired teen lifted her head to look at Jane. "I'm sorry. Please don't hate me."

With one struggled plea for forgiveness, Jane felt herself become guilty for a week's worth of anger. She was mad that she wasn't getting the wand. Anyone could understand that, she thought, but its's not like it was Mal's fault that the wand chose her. And watching her now, Jane doubted that Mal would've intentionally chosen this if she knew what kind of pain she'd be going through.

Without warning, she moved back into the room and got on the bed and crawled up next to Mal. She wrapped and arm around her, trying to help her relax. "How do you feel?"

"It hurts," Mal groaned. "Janey, I feel so weak it actually hurts," she answered, as she began to cry, no longer caring that Jane would see it happen.

"Shh, it's okay, Mal. You're gonna be okay," Jane comforted, hugging Mal a little tighter.

"I don't know if I can handle –"

"No, don't say that," Jane interrupted her. "You're the toughest person I've ever met, well at least after my Mom. That's why you got the wand. And Mom says you'll get better, you just need to tough it out. And I know you can do that, and…and I'll be right here for you, okay?"

Jane felt Mal nod her head. She held the suffering girl for a few minutes longer. Determined to wait as long as it took for Mal to fall asleep. She was so fixated on helping her, that Jane didn't notice that Mal had finally calmed down enough that she had fallen asleep. She also failed to realize that she was falling asleep herself, and she certainly didn't notice when it finally happened.

Twenty minutes later Fairy Godmother was walking back into the house. She refrained from shouting out for Jane for fear of disturbing Mal. Instead, she quietly made her way through the house until she found both Ma and Jane asleep. Mal looked quite peaceful, and she had to fight back tears as she looked upon Jane holding Mal, obviously trying to comfort the older girl in her time of need. She smiled, and thanked the stars that the girls had made up, because if this didn't mend the bond they had begun constructing, nothing would.