Disclaimer: I don't own the source material. I just let the story tell itself and these characters seem to have had a bit to say.
:}
Tori, Jade, Trina and Scotty were all sitting together on the couches in the Vega living room, watching some unidentified show. Things had been going good for them the last several of weeks. Of course, Scotty wouldn't tell anyone why he knew the location of every drug store between his home and the Vega household. But today he was talking to Trina about her song at the showcase.
"Are you sure you want to do an original?" He asked her again.
"Given my range, it'll be easier to find something I like then scrounging the internet for a song." Trina insisted. "I thought we'd decided this a long time ago?"
"But the showcase is coming up, and I want to be sure you do well." He assured her. "This is your big coming out."
"I still think you should've just done the full moon jam, or one of the Friday night concerts." Tori reminded them.
"No." Jade said so softly most people wouldn't have believed it was her. "You either go big or go home. Think about it babe. You got into Hollywood arts by singing at the showcase. Now, Trina wants to sing on her way out. Only this is the senior showcase, for the outgoing students. Their last chance to make an impression."
"And I have the right song, the right moves, the right lighting, and the right boyfriend." Trina checked each off as she said them. "This is going to be perfect.
"Speaking of perfect..." Tori let her voice fade as she pulled off of Jade's shoulder to look her girlfriend in the eye. "Sweety, please don't get mad."
"Perfect choice of words." Drifted from Trina.
"What?" Tori snapped back at her sister. "I'm not conveniently huddled behind my meat shield."
"Hey." Scotty said with mock excitement. "I've made it to meat shield."
"Scott, Quiet." Trina said. "Jade, I was just thinking of you when I had Tori do this."
"What?" The goth growled.
"You know, back a couple of weeks ago, when I spent Friday night at your place?" Tori started. "The Friday night after we'd finished your play's run?"
"Go on." Jade's voice was cold.
"Trina kinda had me bring a jump drive." Tori was giving Jade her best doe eyes as she spoke.
"So you waited until after we'd spent the night together, and while I was off to teach my class, you jacked something off my computer?" Jade growled.
'Damn that's sexy.' Tori thought as she tried to keep focused on what she was saying. "I'd thought about doing it after we'd done it, but I was kinda spent." she said.
"You'd written that script for me." Trina I nterupted. "I just had the chance to get it into someone's hands."
"It wasn't finished." Jade snapped, her outrage flashing for a second. Then, more subdued. "It's still not finished."
"And we didn't need the finished product." Trina said knowingly. "I just wanted to get someone on board."
"Who?" Jade asked
"Malcom Reese." Trina replied. "Okay, it was kinda a long shot but this actress who kinda looks like Tori started working on one of the shows they film at the same studio where I do my show. Anyways, this Lola chick said she knew Mister Reese's son, Logan. So I needed a script to send to the son, who'd get it into his fathers hands. And we all know that Malcom Reese likes to give hard working people a chance. So, anyway, to make a long story short..."
"I'd say too late, but it's an old joke." Jade cut in.
"To make a long story short, I had a meeting with him just the other day, and he loved what you'd done. He's interested in seeing more of your work." Trina said calmly. "I know you weren't ready to do too much, but I was thinking, maybe, we could spend the summer making a movie together. I'd star, and you'd write it, maybe play the chief henchman, or something where you can show off some of those sick moves of yours."
"He bought the script?" Jade couldn't believe what she'd heard. "Wait, he bought it without even meeting me?" Her glare came in full force. "Did you claim it was your work?" The black belt asked.
"No, I didn't." Trina replied calmly. "I had your lawyer there to represent you."
"My..." Realization hit the writer like a wrecking ball. "ADAM!" Her scream shook the house.
"So you're not mad at me?" Tori said in a small voice.
"How could he do that and not tell me?" Jade said, standing so she could pace.
"We didn't want you to worry, since we both agreed you sometimes take things too far." Trina said.
"I mean, he always said he'd support me, then to leave me out of the big meeting." Jade kept talking, probably not hearing the others. "Now I don't even get to meet Mister Reese."
Tori stood up and got in Jade's path. "Jade, your probably making a movie this summer. That's fast track for pre-production, or at least that's what our film teacher said. Regardless, I expect you'll meet him on the set, and that's only if he somehow manages to avoid you otherwise. Jade, this is your big moment."
"You'll meet him sooner." Trina said. "Adam has a meeting set for the day after our last class at the community center."
"Why wait so long?" Jade asked. It was only two more weeks, but it felt like forever.
"So he can get funding lined up." Tori guessed.
"So you wouldn't be splitting your focus." Trina added. "Jade, this is my big break. A lowish budget martial arts movie, with wrestling undertones. And I couldn't do it without you. But we both have other things to prove as well, don't we? I've got a song to sing, and you're still working on redefining your family. Lets enjoy that I had the opportunity, he had an opening come up, and we're going to make a movie. By he time you and Tori are seniors, things will be in motion for all our careers."
"And I'll be going to collage." Scotty said. All eyes turned to him. "What, I wanted to be involved. Besides, I have this sweet gig with a private investigator lined up for after graduation. I'll work part time as I get my degree, then I'll go to the academy with a lot more then four years of field work. Who knows, maybe I'll get to Major crimes."
"Maybe you will." Trina said as she cuddled into her boyfriend. "Maybe you will."
"We have an understanding here." Jade cut in. "No sex in the living room."
"It's okay." Sinjin said from his place at the kitchen table. "We don't mind."
Sitting next to him, Crystal slapped her boyfriends arm. "Sinjin." She scolded. They had run into a lot of rough patches, being from such different high school worlds, but much to everyone's amazement, Crystal put in the work to get past most of their problems. The lingering one seemed to be that, in simple terms, Sinjin was male, an incurable condition. He'd sometimes think about other women, despite never wanting to cheat on his girl. But that led to saying the wrong things. He was a technical genius, more then capable of holding his own behind any control board. Now, Crystal was busy teaching the boy social skills.
"Sorry." He said quickly.
"We discussed this." She said. "Nice boys don't ask psychotic killers if they can watch them having sex."
"Oh Vega, she burned you there." Jade said to her girlfriend.
"I know" Sinjin said like a scolded child.
"She...?" Tori started to say.
"Let me have that one, please?" Jade begged. "My rage killings are way down this week."
"It's okay, just think it instead of saying it." Crystal reassured her man with a soft kiss on the cheek.
Tori had also kissed her girlfriend, but that was just her taking advantage of the lull in the conversation. "What about the serial killings?" Tori jokingly asked, cuddling into Jade. She was guiding her girlfriend back to the couch.
"Please, woman, you can't expect her to just stop everything." Trina quickly added, trying to get ahead of the joke.
"Girls, please, just promise me that I'll never have to worry about you as suspects." Scotty said.
"Then you'll have to teach me how to dispose of the bodies." Jade replied. The future police officer groaned in response.
Cat wasn't too surprised to hear about Jade and Trina making a movie. She'd pulled back on her spying on friends, but that was because she needed the time for her new project. Cat had apprenticed with the same PI who'd be teaching Scotty. It had been easy, since she brought a lot to the table, including Robbie and Sam, as well as Sinjins technology. Again, this was part time, but for Cat it felt good running her own group of spy's, even under supervision. She planned on opening her own agency while working as a singer slash actress slash fashion designer. She'd have Sinjin work part time making her whatever cool tech things they'd need, while Robbie would be working only when he wasn't perfecting his comedy skills.
Of course the ventriloquist was working there to be with Cat, and had plans to join a comedy group, maybe get the kind of training that could lead to a television deal, or just do standup until he broke through. Whatever he did, the time as a PI was going to help him work on his persona control. That, and he'd be there to help Cat stay grounded.
"Jade's going to be in a movie, huh?" The puppeteer asked.
"Looks like." Cat replied.
"Should we see if we can get parts?" The nerdy boy asked.
"If we have time." The redhead replied. "I'm sure they'd give us a week or two. Just, you know, lets not get too famous until I learn everything I need to know."
"And Sam?" He asked. "Why is she learning to be a Private investigator?"
"She likes easy money." Th petite girl replied. "I'm letting her think this will be her future, until I can get Jade to tutor her on writing."
"Sam's going to be a writer?" Robbie was stunned at the thought.
"She wrote skits for iCarly." Cat replied. "I figure she'll make a decent comedy writer sometime down the line. Maybe even work with you. Or she'll take what the nice PI teaches us and moves back to Seattle. I'm just looking out for her."
The two didn't speak much about them as a couple. Both Robbie and Cat had pretty much accepted they were, and that they'd been dating for a while now. But, of their friends, only Beck knew the details. Cat felt that Jade might do something end-of-lifey to Robbie if she knew how far the two had gone.
Beck and Andre were both single, and both looked forward to being the most eligible boys in school. Andre was, as expected, getting closer to Shawn Quincy. He just avoided the mans house, and his daughter, and there were no problems. It was expected he'd spend his summer working at the record label, and maybe start gathering materials for his own debut album as he got ready. But the producer saw more then just a couple of singles out of Andre. The musician was being prepared to make a splash in the industry, as a performer, producer, and anything else he chose to be.
Beck had called Alyssa Vaughn, and talked her into getting him a few meetings with her fathers friends. The result was he now had a small recurring part on a Dingo channel drama, and was working looking at scripts, trying to choose the right vehicle to carry him into the movie business. He was also, without knowing it, on the short list of actors to play a role in Trina's breakout movie.
Of course, Beck's sudden push forward came at the hands of his now involved friends. Specifiably, it came from Trina, who told him that contacts, more then talent, was going to make him a star. Over several hours at a pool party she pointed out the various celebutants who were working in entertainment. None of them had half his talent, but they knew people, or had the resources to know people, so they wound up in movies or on TV. Trina, who practically dialed the number to his famous friend, recommending she "Introduce him around." That gave him more chances to audition, the freedom to not go after certain parts, and the right contacts to get his TV role. As much as the Canadian hated the politics, he was in awe of the results. They'd practically written the role for him.
Trina had grown so much Beck considered her a friend now. Of course, most of the gang considered Trina a friend now. They all had heard her sing, or seen her dance, and they all knew she'd do great in action movies where she didn't have to act so much as react. But with her family and friends beside her, she could go far. And her friends would be there with her.
Especially Jade. Trina knew Jade had come a long way, but the goth still had a chip on her shoulder, and could be counted on to take things the wrong (Or sometimes right) way. Tori would rein her in, and Adam would keep her from making the big mistakes, buy it was Trina who had to keep her eyes on the prize. Jade was going to be the key to making all her little family very successful. They just needed vision.
Wyatt would be so pleased. Trina was going to be the next living advertisement for the dojo. Of course, becoming part of the structure of the dojo was it's own experience. Trina was learning more then how to teach students. She was becoming part of the family.
"Of course, normally we kinda adopt them." Wyatt told her. "You know, spiritualy. But if you want to marry your way in, that works too."
"Does marrying my sister to Jade really count?" Trina asked, enjoying the conversation.
"Might as well." The dojo Patriarch said. "But we're all happy to have you, no matter how you enter the family."
"I'm not a black belt yet." Trina reminded him.
"But your getting there." He said. "I like the effect you've had on Jade. Girls biggest problem was that chip she had on her shoulder. Always ready to prove something, but unwilling to use what we taught her to do it. Now, she finally gets it. The philosophy behind the fighting. We train out minds and bodies to fight, and use whatever tools we have to win our battles."
"But the greatest battle to win is to avoid unnecessary violence." Trina said, completing the thought.
"Jade's got more to lose now." Wyatt observed.
"But that keeps her grounded." Trina replied. "She'll stop to think before she commits to an action. It may not be the way of the warrior, but it's the way of the master."
"Close enough." The old man said. "Mastery, truly becoming a master, that will take decades. But the philosophy, knowing what to do, and once you've committed to doing it, not worrying about why until later, are just steps. The master is always asking why, wondering at the complexity and simplicity of the universe." He refocused on Trina. "I'm hoping that both you and Jade have the patience to seek that kind of understanding. My boys, they're great, but we focus too much on the fighting. By the time I understood the rest, it was too late."
"It was just a late start." The brown belt corrected the master. "A late start isn't too late, accepting that you learn what you can, and don't get down on yourself for the missed opportunities."
"Very good." He said. "Where'd you learn that?"
"Wondering on Youplay one day." Trina said. "You take wisdom where you find it."
"Welcome to the family."
It had taken Tori multiple interactions to get Jade to truly be all right with how they were making their movie. The couple had their arguments, made up, and even tried to fuck each other into agreeing with their individual points of view. But in the end, Jade was happy to have lost. If she waited for the story to be perfect, they probably would never have gotten it made.
So Jade found herself sitting in front of the whole class, with Trina to her right and Andy to her left. Adam had shown up to be the guest Sensie for the day, but was patently waiting for her to give her speech and introduce him.
"For the last couple of months, Trina and I have had the honor of filing in for Stan as he trained for his big fight." Jade started. The class was unusually full for a Saturday, but that was expected with a guest teacher. "I for one was amazed that he didn't win that fight, but his opponent was something amazing. Still, bright side, He's almost fully healed and will be back in a week."
"While it's early to be saying our goodbye's, Trina and I won't get a chance to stand in front of the whole class again." The Black belt continued. "Not all of you advanced as quickly as I'd have hoped, but you did better then most people expected. I couldn't be prouder."
Jade then gestured to her left. "Andy here will continue to help out running the class. He's also working now at the center as a trainer, all while learning to be a trainer for MMA fighters. I'm sure he'll have a lot to say about that, and everything, but I personally would like to thank him for everything he did to help me. Andy, your insight was refreshing. It opened my eyes."
"Now onto the rumors that Trina and I will be making a movie." Jade said. "If went to and looked up her performance at the Seniors Showcase, you'd understand that there is very little my Senpai cannot accomplish if she's just willing to put the work in. But about the movie. It's going to be filmed twice, once in Spanish and once in English, and we hope to have it done before school starts in the fall. Stay alert in case we need extra's who can follow instructions."
"But beyond that, or my last year at Hollywood arts, or anything you might want to talk to me about, I want to say thank you for accepting me as your Sensei. I think I got more from you then you did from me." Jade had to call on all her acting skills not to shed a tear. "But enough mushy stuff. Trina and I won't be gone. We'll be around, helping out when we can. And I expect you all to go up in belts. Especially you, Andy."
Jade let the smattering of chuckles die down. "But now, it's my great pleasure to introduce to you, my older brother, one of the finest martial artists I've ever met, and the man who taught me everything I know about hurting people. Ladies and gentlemen, former bangers and those on your way out of the gangs, I give you The Batman, Adam West!"
The polite applause was broken as he walked out and started leading them in some warmup exercises. Jade, Trina, Andy, and a couple of others from the main dojo were all behind him, helping out with the class. But Jade was having trouble following along. She kept going over what her brother had admitted just hours before the class. It mad it hard for her to concentrate, stifling that laughter.
"Jade, a moment." He'd said at breakfast.
"Yes?" She gave her brother her best innocent smile, hoping he wasn't backing out of helping out. Not after she'd been hyping it all week.
"I have a confession to make." The elder West said. "It's kinda embarrassing. It's just, I've never taught a group larger then ten, and I knew all of them."
"What are you saying?" She asked.
"I get a little nervous talking in front of large groups." Adam admitted. "I have stage fright."
:}
Yep, that's where I'm going to end this. I realized as I was writing it that this felt kinda epilogue-y, so I just decided that I'd let the story end at sixty one chapters. I want to thank everyone who's read, followed, favorites, or commented on this story. After over a year, it's going to be hard not writing another chapter. I even had my specific day to write this. But it's better to look to the future, and think about what I'll be writing once I get past the holidays.
At this point, I'd like to reflect on what I'd written in one of the early chapters, how reviews keep fairies alive. Lets just say, this story has helped those at Pixie Hollow stay breathing. Now, some stories, that just left dead pixies all over the place. I mean, I had to use a shovel to clean the place... Never mind that, lets just say, review if you want to. No pressure.