AN~ I rushed to get this chapter in before I left for Alabama.
Kawthar: Thank you for your very energetic reviews! They made me very, very happy. Maybe if I share them, my dad'll buy us a laptop, but I don't think so since the government has decided that we owe them upwards of 200,000 dollars. When did we get this money?
1maylee99: Thanks for the review!
dr spellwriter: Yes I do, and right now she's in dnager of going lame and I feel like it's my fault. Nobody else agrees with me, but...
"What is it?" Henry asked brusquely, once he and Sabrina were outside.
Sabrina took a minute to answer, first looking around at the yard, and the rain, until the downpour slowed gradually to a drizzle, which faded away to sunlight.
Finally, once she'd made sure the rain would stay away until after she had done what she had to do, she turned to her dad, grabbed his arm, and leapt off the front porch into the sky, pulling him with her.
"Come with me." She called. "I have something I want to show you."
"It's not like I have much of a choice." Henry muttered, but Sabrina ignored him.
She flew them up, up, up, away from the river, away from the cluster of streets and brownstones that made up Ferryport Landing proper, over the forest, towards the mountain, always up, but never too high, because she was eternally conscious of the barrier glistening in oily colors over her head, beautiful, but restrictive.
After a while, Henry broke into Sabrina's enjoyment of the fresh breeze by asking, "Where are we going?"
Sabrina scanned the mountain, found a nearby beautiful spot that looked fairly dry and comfortable, landed and said, "Here."
"That was convenient." Henry muttered.
Sabrina shook her head. "You're getting as bad as I am. Stop being angry for a minute and look around."
It was a pretty view. The rocks were covered in moss and lichen, with an occasional stubborn wildflower or small tree, all of which were dotted with water droplets from the rainstorm earlier that day.
Sabrina's reverie was, yet again, interrupted by her father's question, "What am I supposed to be looking at?"
Sabrina gestured at the view off the side of the mountain. "The view. The sky. How pretty Ferryport Landing looks from up here. The forest."
"I don't want to." Henry muttered stubbornly.
"Why not?" Sabrina asked, thinking ironically that she was being a lot more parental than her father at the moment.
Henry pointed down at the forest floor below them. "See down there? That's where your grandpa died. Killed by one of the everafters we have living in our house. The people you want to stay with!"
"Don't you see, Dad?" Sabrina asked, shaking her head, "I have to stay here because of things like that!"
"What?" Henry asked, looking blank.
Sabrina continued patiently, "For starters, Red was insane at the time, and now she's not. But, I have to help them because it wasn't all the everafters that are the reason generations of Grimms died of unnatural causes, and because it's unfair that the very people who don't want us dead are the ones that shouldn't be trapped here, but the barrier doesn't care. But the other everafters are going to fight for ages if something doesn't happen, because the want out. And I understand that. You do, too.
"But we have a chance to do something about that. We can make things better for the everafters! Better for everybody, actually. But only if we stay. If we leave, we can't do anything. And you know that even if you leave, mom and Daphne will still go looking for other everafters to help? They'll find them, too. There's no escaping them, they're just more open about it here. And Dad, I am one of them now. You'd better accept that soon.
"And Daphne and I aren't babies you can order around anymore. I spent two years without you, and three quarters of that without any adults I could count on. We have brains of our own, and they work pretty well. Daphne's amazing with maigcal things that I still, even now that I'm an everafter, have no hope of learning how to deal with. I don't want to."
"But don't you want to go back to New York?" Henry asked plaintatively. "See your friends again? Not have to run for your life all the time?"
Sabrina laughed bitterly. "My best friend turned me back in to the orphanage, even after I told her how awful it was. She 'thought it would be better' if I was locked up in that heckhole again. And I ran for my life plenty in the city, too, Dad. That's where I got turned into an everafter, for gosh sakes!
"Besides, I need to be a good example for Daphne. I screwed that up pretty badly right before you woke up, and I'm not going to do it again. Running away is the coward's way out, and let no one say that Sabrina Grimm is a coward. I want to show Daphne that I'm a good older sister, one who protects her, but still lets her think for herself, one who's brave, and smart, and thinks before she acts, and knows how to laugh, is comfortable with who she is, can accept what's in front of her face, doesn't lie, and more than anything, doesn't run away when she can do something to help.
"I used to think you were most of those things, once. That was before I found out you lied about my family, history, and a huge portion of who my friends are, now, that you ran away from home, supposedly to 'protect me,' even though your protection has kept me from having a clue what I'm doing, and that you won't accept that I have a brain.
"I understand that you're mad about how things turned out, and that you're afraid because your dad died, and you think it's your fault."
Henry started at that.
Sabrina smiled wryly. "I get you, Dad. We're two peas in a pod, you and I. But you need to give in. At least give living here a try. They need us here. We have stuff that they can use to win this war! Dad, if you take us out, what happens when- if Uncle Jake dies? Granny's old. What if she has a heart attack? If we're not in town, then all the everafters get out. Not just the good ones, but the Scarlet Hand, too. There would be no humanity left, other than some slaves. But if we stay, then we can help, and we can keep that from happening.
"Look at this town, Dad. You grew up here. Can you imagine it gone? Nothing left but ashes, a dead forest? The house you lived in most of your life, destoyed, with a fortress for the very people who want you dead built on top of it? I've seen the future, Dad, and it's not pretty. Daphne and I have changed some of it, but if we don't stay, that's what's going to happen."
They were silent for a time, looking out at the town, Sabrina's description of the future overlapping the beautiful summer day in their minds' eyes.
After a while, Henry sighed. "You have a point. Several good ones, actually. I give in. We can stay-"
As Sabrina began to jump in the air in glee, wings unfurling, he continued.
"For now. And go easy on the everafter thing, would you? It's hard to get used to. But if I feel like it's getting too dangerous, I can move us out at any time. After all, you may be older and much more mature, but you're still my daughter, and I still have to take care of you."
"I can deal with that." Sabrina said, landing back on the mossy rocks. "Any other conditions?"
"I have to go to the city with you." Henry replied.
"What?" Sabrina stared. "Dad, Puck and I were going to fly- we can't-"
"You can still fly." Henry replied. "But you're too young to be going on a trip like that by yourselves, and too old to be going with a boy and no chaperone. Besides-"
"Puck may not be very mature, but he's thousands of years old, Dad! And there is nothing like that between us. He's just a friend-"
"The lack of maturity is what worries me." Henry replied.
"He's fine around me!" Sabrina snapped.
"But it will still look bad for the king of Faerie to be running around with a very pretty girl the same age he is without a chaperone, no matter what the two of you say." Henry said, "And I don't just want to go to keep an eye on you. Ms. Smirt made a good point. I need to regain custody of you, and reclaim our car and other assets if we're going to be staying here for a while."
"All right." Sabrina gave in, unfurling her wings. "You win. And not just because of the pretty comment. But let us do the talking to get them to come. You'll probably scare them off. And don't kill Moth."
"I don't believe I have to." Henry said wryly, grabbing Sabrina's hand as she prepared to lift off. "You appear to have plenty of other people to do that for you, if you don't do it yourself, which I believe you are perfectly capable of."
"Got that right." Sabrina laughed, taking off for home.
Back at the house, Puck waited impatiently for Sabrina to return, wondering what had been so urgent that it had required her to take off so quickly. She hadn't even heard the end of the meeting. And it wasn't like her dad had been acting particularly badly, just his average jerkiness.
When Sabrina and her dad appeared in the sky in front of the house, Puck jumped up and headed out for the porch to tell her what had happened at the part of the meeting she'd missed.
By the time he reached her, though, he was distracted by how tired she looked. He'd have dismissed it as the result of carrying her father to wherever they'd been for so long and back, if it wasn't for her weird energy swings, which he still wasn't sure weren't a sign that something was wrong with her.
He grabbed Henry's free arm and took his weight, deciding that Sabrina was more important than his desire to be as far away from Henry and his dirty looks a possible. Henry, however, nodded approvingly at Puck when he relieved Sabrina of her burden. Sabrina, for her part, glanced gratefully at Puck, grabbing his other outstretched arm and using it as a crutch.
Puck could practically see the energy draining out of her as they neared the house. Once they reached the porch, Sabrina collapsed on the ground as Puck landed gracefully on the top step, lowering Henry more gently than he might otherwise have if it hadn't been for that weird nice thing, but more roughly than he would have if he wasn't worried about Sabrina.
The two males headed for Sabrina worriedly. Puck reached her first. but he didn't touch her, partly because, even though they were friends now, they still remembered what people thought was between them, and partly because he wanted to stay on Henry's newly discovered good side.
Instead he simply looked at her and asked, "You OK?"
She rolled her head to one side and nodded drowslily. "Just tired. Don't tell me the Trickster King actually cares about someone." She quirked a sleepy half-smile.
Puck snorted back. "Of course not. I have no heart, remember?"
Sabrina gave a tired chuckle. "Can I have some food before I pass out?"
Puck looked at Henry, who nodded and went inside to get something Sabrina would enjoy eating. Puck would have gone, but he had no idea what Sabrina found edible. Daphne was much easier to please in that department. Actually, Daphne was much easier to please in most departments. Her last name shouldn't be 'Grimm,' that was too sinister. Grinn fit her better. He laughed a little at that.
"Whasofunny?" Sabrina asked tiredly.
"I was thinking that your sister should be called Grinn instead of Grimm. It suits her much better." Puck explained.
Sabrina laughed, too. "Thazzagooddidea."
Thankfully, Henry appeared as she was finishing her sentence, with a bowl of ice cream, which he handed to Sabrina. Puck reached a finger out, but Henry smacked it back with a glare.
"Get your own food." He muttered. "My daughter's almost passed out, here."
"My best friend knows how to share." Puck said. "Right, Sabrina?"
"Not my ice cream." Sabrina mumbled around her spoon.
Puck made a face, but backed away from the ice cream. Once Sabrina had eaten enough that she looked awake enough to remember what he was saying, he began to tell them what they'd missed.
"You left before the meeting was over, you know." He began.
"It was important." Sabrina said.
"I figured." Puck replied. "And you can tell me what you had to do later, but right now I'm going to tell you what you missed."
"All right." Henry nodded for him to continue.
"Snow picked her partner for the trip to the Baumlands, as everyone's calling Oz and Ix and all those places. It's Daphne."
Sabrina spewed ice cream all over Puck's sweater. Puck glanced at it, then up at Sabrina, his eyebrows raised. Sabrina blushed, then composed herself. Henry just sort of gaped.
"Veronica said it's all right." Puck continued, wiping off Ice cream stains and licking them up, which made Sabrina blanch, "But Daphne has to be careful and check in every night. And they decided that we're leaving the day after tomorrow, so that you have time to figure out just how to get through into the outside world. Because if you can't do that, we're screwed. That also gives us time to pack, and those of us that the Scarlet Hand's watching time to set up good excuses as to where we'll be."
"And this excuse is...?" Henry asked expectantly.
"I have no idea yet." Puck replied. "But Charming's working on it. I leave the thinking to people who enjoy that sort of thing. Which reminds me, Grimm, I need you to tutor me."
"Me?" Sabrina asked, licking the last of her ice cream off her spoon.
"Yes, you." Puck said. "Bella can't stand me for that long, Red won't teach me anything, and Daphne gets sidetracked too easily. Besides, I want to get up to your grade level."
"Starting from first and getting up to seventh in a month and a half is going to be kind of hard." Sabrina said dryly.
"Why don't you have an adult teach you?" Henry asked.
"They won't put up with him, either." Sabrina said. "Plus, this was, we can make sure we're at the same level."
"Exactly." Puck said. "And we can get help if there's something that we don't get, or that she can't teach."
"And we can start in New York." Sabrina said.
"Why not now?" Puck asked.
Sabrina rolled her eyes. "I've got to pack and figure out how to get us out of here right now, like you just told me, remember?"
"Oh." Puck blushed. "Right."
Sabrina stood up. "I've got to wash this. And I want to talk with Daphne."
"About what?" Henry asked.
"About how she has to promise to tell me everything that she sees in Oz, and some ideas I have for getting them on our side." Sabrina responded, not turning around.
Puck raised an eyebrow and followed Sabrina into the house, wondering what she mean by her ending comment. Henry followed, too.
"Daffy?" Sabrina called upon entering the kitchen. "Where are you?'
Daphne poked her head out of the living room. "Here. What's up?"
"I heard you're going to Oz." Sabrina said, dumping her bowl in the kitchen. "Congrats."
"Thanks." Daphne said warily. "Anything else you wanted to talk about?"
"Yeah, actually." Sabrina said. "But not about being careful."
Daphne blinked. "What?"
"I figure Dad'll read you the riot act on that." Sabrina said dryly. "So I might as well concentrate on giving you my ideas for getting them on our side."
"Which are...?" Daphne asked.
"Giving them back their witch and wizard." Sabrina said.
"Excellent idea." Baba Yaga said from behind Sabrina, who whirled around at the sound.
Baba Yaga continued without blinking, "But you can discuss that later. Right now, we are going to work on getting through the barrier."