AN~ Cammycrazygirl: You, my friend, have earned yourself a review reply. Congratulations. It takes quite an anonymous review to do that nowadays. Especially because you reviewed like, all my stories after you read this one. I won't really reply to those because of lack-of-updates-on-completed-stores and all, but... Don't suppose you'd consider getting an account? Now, responses: Sorry, this is a fairly epic-length story, and they don't get together 'til almost the very end. Also, what does Idc mean? And I like really long reviews. The longer, the better! Especially if they contain constructive criticism.
Sabrina was bombarded at school the next day, which didn't help her dizziness. Everyone seemed to want to find out something about her powers: where they had come from, what they were, why she hadn't told anyone about them. Daphne, too, was pestered with questions about her own abilities. The Scarlet Hand members, though, already seemed to know the answers.
That scared Sabrina. How had they found out? No one had been in the room that they couldn't trust any time she'd talked about Daphne being an everafter. And why did it seem like the known Scarlet Hand members were the ones starting all the rumors? Could they have a spy?
Many of her teachers questioned her, too, so it was a relief to walk into gym and to hear, "Leave the girl alone, people! You have lunch to talk, and we have work to do!"
"I love him." Sabrina said, smiling as the crowd dispersed.
"Why?" Daphne asked, wrinkling her nose. "He's so... loud."
"Like you aren't." Sabrina rolled her eyes.
"Well, not loud exactly, but... tough. Angry. Mean."
"He's exactly what I want to be when I grow up." Sabrina said. "Minus how he looks and the fact that he's in the Scarlet Hand."
"But he's all drill-sargeant-ey!" Daphne protested, going ot grab a pinny.
"Exactly." Sabrina said. "He's getting us in shape so that we can train next marking period."
Daphne rolled her eyes, and the two girls separated, heading for their respective teams to play the game of the day- as Bella had started calling them.
That marking period passed almost as quickly as the last one- at least until they reached mid-marking period and Christmas. The kids studied all the time, and the study group had grown to about fifty or so kids and teens on a good day. Sabrina and Daphne were both so exhausted that they made almost no progress magically, though they did try to fit it into their schedules. Baba Yaga had begun testing Daphne at least once a week to discover what her latent abilities were- if any, Thumbelina and Sabrina met up on Sunday afternoons to talk, and Uncle Jake was helping the duo figure out the workings of the sword.
One day, while they were doing this, Uncle Jake looked at the two swords thoughtfully, sitting on the table, innocent-looking and wooden.
"Why do they have your initials on them, I wonder." He said thoughtfully. "I mean, a simple dot would most likely do, if it's just for the two of you."
"It's not." Daphne said. "There will be more."
"Back up." Uncle Jake said. "You can't just spurt off facts about the future without explaining!"
Daphne shrugged. "I don't really have an explanation. It just sort of happens."
"You got anything for me, 'Brina?" Uncle Jake asked.
Sabrina shrugged, looking through the diminished, but still present black ring around her vision at the swords. "It's had a lot of owners. I'm getting... overlapping memories."
"Say what?" Uncle Jake asked.
Sabrina shrugged again, and leaned on the table, hiding the latest of her dizzy spells. They were getting better, but she still felt like the world was spinning sometimes.
"I've told you, it's less like a vision and more like a memory, what I do." She said. "And I'm getting flashes that overlap. Like, two scenes at the same time. Like, exactly the same time. I don't think Daphne and I have two swords. I think we have the same sword in two different spots."
Daphne nodded. "That would make sense, since I see it splitting."
"So... how do we make it split?" Uncle Jake asked. "How did you two make it split, to start with?"
"We, like-" Daphne started, grabbing her sword.
"Recreate it with me." Uncle Jake said. "Do the same thing, only instead of doing it with Sabrina, do it with me."
"All right." Daphne said. "Grab the sword handle below where I have it." Uncle Jake did so. "And Sabrina and I just sort of... pulled in opposite directions!"
As Daphne was saying that, she and Uncle Jake did so, and, miraculously, though neither of them let go, they both came away holding the swords, identical except for the paint-and-sharpie on the edge of the handle. Uncle Jake's was inscribed with a J inside of a white circle.
"Amazing!" He cried, examining his sword. He ran his thumb around the paint dab, and the sword morphed into a simple, long sword with a large moonstone in the hilt. "Absolutely astounding! We should see how many times we can get it to split!"
They did so, and the whole family ended up equipped with their own swords. Henry's was different than the others- it had a black dot of paint with and h inscribed in what looked like white-out, and it transformed into a sword with an onyx stone in the hilt. Red's sword had a ruby in the hilt, Granny's had a stone in the hilt that she called purple chalcedony, which seemed almost to glow, Veronica's stone was orange, something Granny identified as a fire opal. Puck's stone was jade, a nice, soft color, and Bella's was tiger's eye, which, when in paint-format simply looked like a brown dot on browner wood.
Uncle Jake had insisted on trying the sword trick out on Briar, and, to no one's surprise, it had worked. She ended up with a sword of her own with a pink pearl the size of her fist in the hilt. However, when they attempted to do the same thing for Snow, nothing happened except that she lost her grip and fell in the dirt, which no one understood.
"Bet you have to be family for it to work." Baba Yaga croaked cheerfully.
"You try, then." Daphne said, offering the sword to her.
"Child, since when am I family?" Baba Yaga asked.
"Since I say so." Daphne said, stubbornly holding out the sword. "Try."
Baba Yaga sighed, but grabbed the sword and pulled weakly. After a flash of light, the two were holding separate swords, to Baba Yaga's shock. She ran her finger over the hilt, which was gray, and cackled when the sword transformed into a simple sword with a hematite stone in the hilt.
"I guess if you do our chores, you're part of our family." Sabrina shrugged.
"Briar doesn't." Daphne said.
Sabrina gave Uncle Jake a look, and he blushed furiously.
They were busy with other things, too. The search for Veronica's youngest child was under way, though they'd made little progress. Mr. Clay began training Red in meditation to restore her memory, and the other family members joined him occasionally. He, too had been given a sword, his with an aquamarine stone in the hilt. Red was beginning to remember things, but all she had acomplished so far was a memory of two different sets of eyes, which did them no good.
In that manner, Christmas arrived before Sabrina was expecting it, and she found herself with one week until Christmas and no presents for anyone. To top it of, she had a lot more people to buy for than she was used to, and very few funds.
"I have no idea what to buy anyone!" She complained to Daphne one day in their room
Daphne. who was spread out on the floor with a mess of crafts, shrugged, "Make presents, then! Granny and Mom would love that!"
"That's so... cheap, though." Sabrina said. "And I don't want to do that with my friends. Family it's all right for."
"Do you have money?" Daphne asked.
"Maybe five bucks." Sabrina said. "Which is the other problem."
"So... give them presents you can't wrap!" Daphne said. "Or give them your own stuff."
"That may have to work." Sabrina sighed. "Unless you know where I can find a lot of money by tomorrow. Or Thursday."
Daphne shook her head. "Nope. Can you go bother someone else? I'm trying to make presents here."
"Got enough crafts for me?" Sabrina asked with a sigh, after a short break.
"Help yourself." Daphne said. Sabrina sat down on the floor next to her, and the two spent the afternoon crafting.
Sabrina took Daphne's advice, making personalized Christmas cards for most of her friends instead of presents, and decorated three mus, one each for Granny and her parents. She wasn't sure what to get Briar, Snow, Mr. Clay, Puck, Red, Bella, Daphne, or Uncle Jake for Christmas, though. Cards didn't seem quite right, and she had no money for actual presents.
She decided to do a survey and see who wanted what.
"I don't want anything." Puck told her when she asked. "Unless you want to make me a mix of my favorite music or something. I'm too lazy."
"Let me give you a makeover- please?" Bella begged. "You need one. Badly."
"I'd like some new art supplies." Red said quietly. "I'm down to some crayon stubs."
"Your uncle is the only one who can give me what I really want." Briar sighed quietly.
"Child, I have lived through so many Christmases I don't want anymore presents." Mr. Canis said.
Snow told her, "I'd like a white Christmas. Can you manage that?"
"Briar." Uncle Jake had said dreamily.
"I want some space. Or someone to treat me like an adult." Daphne said.
Sabrina, thus informed, began to formulate a plan that would give everyone what they wanted, spending her five dollars on colored pencils for Red.
She wasn't sure if she wanted to give Baba Yaga or Charming a present. She decided, eventually, that she might as well ask them what they wanted. If she couldn't give it to them, then they just wouldn't get anything.
"Warmth." Was Charming's vehement answer, which provided Sabrina with a conundrum.
Baba Yaga had seemed shocked by Sabrina's question. "I don't believe anyone's ever asked me that before, child. I suppose... I'd like some chocolate."
"Chocolate?" Sabrina asked, hiding her surprise with a smile. "I think I can do that."
Christmas arrived in a bustle of joy and laughter, with time off from school and another ban on homework, which Sabrina took much more gracefully than she had the first time.
"How's your present situation coming out?" Daphne asked on the twenty-third.
"I need some help." Sabrina said. "I don't know how to make a CD mix, for one thing, and I also need to figure out how to give Snow a white Christmas and Charming warmth outside. It'd be so much easier if they weren't in the same place."
"I can show you how to make the CD." Daphne said brightly. "Can you make the snow warm?"
Sabrina shook her head. "I tried. It melted. Or stayed cold. Baba Yaga said it went against its chemical makeup or something."
"And they're in the same place?" Daphne asked. "Have you been to the fort recently?"
"Not for about a month, why?"
"Snow set up a new system where they built a lot of the barracks into the wall around the fort." Daphne said. "She's living in one of them."
"Do they have windows outside?" Sabrina asked.
Daphne nodded brightly.
A slow grin formed itself on Sabrina's face. "I can make it snow everywhere but in the fort!" She exclaimed. "It'll be warm and sunny inside, but cold and snowy outside! Daphne, you're a genius!"
"I know." Daphne smiled as Sabrina hugged her.
Before Sabrina knew it, it was Christmas morning. She spent the day at home, opening presents and enjoying the feeling of peace and joy that permeated the house.
She gave Bella a bunch of paper coupons which allowed her to control what Sabrina wore for the day, and Bella decided that her present to Sabrina would be to give her one of the makeovers that day. Daphne gave her one of the numerous crafts, a small mug with a picture inside it. From Red she got a pretty picture of the whole household entitled 'My Family,' which made Sabrina feel all warm and mushy inside, a way she hadn't allowed herself to feel in over two years.
Her parents gave her a laptop- nothing else, not that Sabrina minded. Laptops were expensive, and she hadn't gotten any presents from them in so long, she didn't care what they gave her. Granny, on the other hand, showered her with clothes and games, as usual. Uncle Jake and Briar gave her a joint gift of a fat but pretty ring with her name written on it. Baba Yaga gave her an old rusty key with no explanation.
Puck, much to everyone's surprise, gave Sabrina a very pretty necklace with a heart-shaped ying-yang charm in blue and green.
"Thanks, Puck." Sabrina smiled, flushing a little.
Puck, a much darker shad of red, mumbled something that might have been 'You're welcome,' and left the room quickly, taking his presents with him.
Sabrina decided it was time to enact her plan to give Briar, who was visiting, Daphne, and Uncle Jake all their Christmas presents.
"Daphne." She said. "Can you come here? I need your help with something."
"Sure." Daphne got up and followed Sabrina out of the room. "What is it?"
Sabrina leaned in to Daphne's ear and whispered, "Uncle Jake wants to ask Briar to marry him, and he has the ring in his coat pocket, but he hasn't asked, and Briar's getting impatient and so am I and it's time for him to ask her already!"
"What?" Daphne yelped. "How long have you known about ths?"
"Sunce summer." Sabrina said.
"And you didn't tell me?" Daphne asked.
"I can keep secrets." Sabrina said loftily. "Besides, Uncle Jake asked me not to. But he still hasn't done anything, so I've decided to make him do it."
"How?" Daphne asked.
"You're going to ask him for something from his coat. He's not wearing it now, so make sure it's something he has in there, and go look for it. He doesn't think you know, so fake surprise when you find it - third row, fifth column, by the way- and carry it back in. I'd do it, but he'd suspect something."
"Right." Daphne grinned.
The two girls re-entered the living room
"What was that about?" Veronica asked.
"Just giving Daphne her present." Sabrina said nonchalantly, sitting back down and fiddling with her necklace. "Where'd Puck go, do you know?"
"Uncle Jake, have you seen the magic snuffbox?" Daphne asked.
Granny, ignoring Daphne, replied to Sabrina, "Probably to his bedroom. Why?"
"It's in my coat." Uncle Jake replied to Daphne, not looking away from Briar. "You can go get it if you need it."
"She probably wants to give him a more private thank you for the present." Bella said meaningfully, glancing at Sabrina, who blushed.
Daphne left as Sabrina snapped, "It's not like that!"
Right." Bella grinned. "I saw the shape of that necklace. Gonna give him his present in private, too?"
Sabrina glared at Bella. "I gave him his present already, actually. And stop suggesting that we're going out. We're not, we never have been, and we never will be."
"Des he know that?" Bella asked as Daphne came back in.
"Uncle Jake?" Daphne asked, holding up the box for everyone to see. "What's this?"
"Gyeunghagive me that!" Uncle Jake cried, leaping up and reaching for the box.
"What is it, Jake?" Briar asked.
"...Uh..." Jake said, stalling.
Puck poked his head into the room. "What was that noise? It sounded like someone died."
"Uncle Jake had a spaz attack." Sabrina said. "Apparently he doesn't want us to know what's in the box." She nodded to the black velvet box that Uncle Jake was now taking posession of.
"So what's in there?" Puck asked.
"That's what I'd like to know." Bella said.
Sabrina smiled knowingly.
"Tell us, Jake?" Granny asked. "We're all dying to know, and after a reaction like that-"
Uncle Jake sighed. "I'd meant to wait for a more romantic moment to do this- after I'd known you longer-" He got down on one knee in front of Briar- "But I suppose the cat's out of the bag. Briar Rose, will you marry me?"
Briar gasped. "Of course I will! I've been waiting for you to ask since- since June, at least!"
Uncle Jake smiled dryly, slipping the ring onto her finger. "Funny. I bought the ring in June."
The family laughed and then clapped as Uncle Jake pulled Briar up and into a passionate kiss.