AN~ Sorry this took so long, but I've had a busy two weeks. First it was the senior trip, then I got in a car accident and killed my car- came close to killing myself, actually- and while I was recovering/dealing with the aftermath of that, I somehow acquired a boyfriend.
Scarlet Wolf: No denying that.
Purpleflower23: I thought so. (Look, I didn't fall of the face of the earth! I updated for you!)
Evil ScrapbookerJW13: So you know what I mean when I say walking like a guy? You noticed it, too? No, not ending. *bows*
Puckabrina_Percabeth_Fax101: Thanks! Did you know there are only three fics in this category with more than four hundred reviews? I'm kind of rooting for Art, too, but that may change. I don't know what will happen yet.
FanficLife: 1) Nope. She'd kill me. 2/7/10) Workin' in it. :) 3) She's supposed to be. She's a fairy. 4) Thanks! 5) No idea. Long. 6) You'll see! ;) 8) I can, kind of. I have a deviantart account with the same name. To find it, you type curlscat(dot)deviantart(dot)com, but with periods instead of (dot)s. I've got some SG stuff up. 9) Eh, it happens.
RRB: I know what you mean. :) But I don't know what it's called, either. The table of contents?
alex: I can't email you unless you provide me with an email with which to tell you. The Beast was blackmailed into putting her in that class, if you must know. Mab's hard to resist.
Leah: Sorry, I was in a car accident. I had other things on my mind that writing. I'm mostly better now, but yeah... I was busy. I'm glad you like it so much!
Detention was horrible. Sabrina was in the gym with the Beast, alone, doing exercises. In Sabrina's opinion, there wasn't much worse about gym class than exercises. They were repetitive, exhausting, and mind-numbingly boring. And in Moth's body, she had nowhere near the stamina she would have had in her own, so she grew tired much more quickly, which gave the Beast even more reason to shout at her.
He shouted most of the two hours, actually, about anything he found wrong with her. Sabrina put up with it, because she knew his rules, and she'd broken them, and answering back was the reason she'd ended up in detention in the first place. She wanted to punch something, though, at the unfairness of it all.
She headed home at five, still seething, flying awkwardly with Moth's wings, in Moth's body, furious with the whole world.
When she entered the house, slamming the door shut, Daphne took one look at her face and pulled Red outside. "Come on," She said, "I've seen that look before. She's going to explode on the first person who gives her a reason."
Most of the rest of the family made themselves scarce, too. Her parents were out following a lead about the baby, and Granny was shopping, but everyone else conveniently disappeared, so Sabrina was left to stew in her anger, wandering the house, looking for something that would make her feel better, one way or another.
She found it in Moth.
Moth, unaware of the danger, entered the kitchen, complaining to the air in general about the state of the house.
Sabrina turned to look at her, and, armed with a death glare, said firmly, "Shut up."
"Excuse me?" Moth said, looking affronted, shocked, and offended.
"I said shut up." Sabrina repeated. "You come in here, acting like you own the place, like this is some sort of demeaning thing we forced you to do, when it's all your fault. We did not make you come here. I did not make you steal my body. You chose to. You got yourself into this mess." Her voice rose in volume as she continued. "You could be back in your fancy little house right now if you hadn't decided not to leave well enough alone and come steal my body for your own stupid, failed little plan. And it's your fault I got in trouble today, your fault we lost, your fault Puck and I are in this mess to begin with, your fault neither of us can do what we're good at, your fault your muscles are going to hurt like heck tomorrow- everything is your. Friggin'. FAULT."
Moth stared, mouth agape, completely speechless.
"So I don't want to hear you complaining, OK?" Sabrina asked after a time, somewhat calmer now that she had that out of her system. "We're both back where we belong in less than a day, and I'd like it if you'd make this as bearable as possible. Understand?"
Moth nodded silently, turned around, and walked out.
Sabrina watched Moth walking, then realized that she'd just shouted at herself. And seen herself both acting like a diva and in complete shock. The idea suddenly struck her as hilarious, and she dissolved into laughter.
"What's so funny?" Puck asked warily, walking into the room a few minutes later. Sabrina was still laughing.
Sabrina shook her head, wiping her eyes. "Nothing. I'm just hysterical, that's all."
"Ah..." Puck said, looking lost. "Are you feeling better, then?"
"Somewhat." Sabrina said. "Yelling at Moth helped."
"She deserved it." Puck said vehemently.
"Yup." Sabrina said, sitting Moth's body down at the kitchen table. "I want my body back."
"Tomorrow." Puck reminded her. "Just make sure you're not in her body when it happens."
"I'll be cutting it kind of close." Sabrina sighed. "'Cause I don't remember exactly when I left. It'll be mostly guesswork."
"Granny probably knows." Puck said. "And Moth definitely does."
"But how can we be sure she won't want to keep my body, just to spite me?" Sabrina asked.
The answer came in the form of a scream. Moth ran into the kitchen a few seconds later, stopped at Sabrina- well, herself- and whispered harshly, "What are these?" She pointed to her- Sabrina's- face, which had a few small pink bumps on it.
Sabrina scrutinized them. "They're zits." She said. "I assume you've heard of them? Also known as acne or pimples, zits are small areas of skin under which are trapped dead skin cells and oils. There are many ways to prevent them, two of which I use, but some still show up anyway, and I have to pop them. It's not that big a deal."
"Yes it is!" Moth wailed. "I've never had a pimple in my life. I can't stand this! I want my body back! I can't go around in a body with pimples on it!"
"I don't think she'll keep your body out of spite." Puck said dryly.
Sabrina grinned. "I agree. So, Moth..."
"What?" Moth wailed. "Are you going to make my day worse?"
"No," Sabrina said, "I was just thinking..."
"Thinking what?" Moth asked suspiciously.
"Well, since you want to make sure you don't get stuck in my body, maybe you could tell me around what time you ended up in my body- you know, so that I can make sure I'm not in yours when the time comes?"
"Two." Moth said shortly, turning to leave.
"Wait," Sabrina called. "Two what?"
"Two in the afternoon. What else?" Moth said, exasperated. "That's about when I... entered your body."
"Stole, you mean?" Puck muttered.
But Moth was gone, and didn't hear.
The rest of the evening was a confusing mess of mistaken identity, so Sabrina spent it hiding in her bedroom. She would have hidden in there for the next day, too, but Veronica wouldn't let her skip school. So she dressed in a pair of ratty jeans and an old T-shirt, trying to avoid looking at the body she inhabited while she dressed, and went downstairs, prepared for another day like the one before.
Moth, unlike Sabrina, dressed even nicer than yesterday, wearing Sabrina's one formal dress over black stockings, with heavy makeup, to boot.
Sabrina blinked. "Are you sure that's me?" She asked. "'Cause it kind of looks like you switched my body for someone else's."
"Someone female." Bella added.
"Not funny." Sabrina said, still staring at her body. "What did you do to me, Moth?"
"Tried to make you look as acceptable as possible." Moth said, looking distastefully at her own body. "I think the more appropriate question is: what did you do to me?"
"Nothing." Sabrina said. "I wanted to be as comfortable as possible until I got back in my old body. This one still doesn't feel right."
"That nothing of yours made me look terrible." Moth hissed.
"Is this what Moth looks like without makeup on, then?" Bella asked, tilting her head sideways to examine the body Sabrina was inhabiting. "Hm. Not as bad as I thought it would be, but still no supermodel. About average, for a fairy, actually."
"Well, I'm still better looking than this body is." Moth snapped back.
"Not at the moment." Puck chuckled.
Sabrina turned. "Was that a compliment?" She asked.
"Maybe, kind of?" Puck shrugged.
"A backwards one." Daphne supplied.
"That works." Sabrina shrugged, too.
"Time for school, kiddos." Veronica said. "Get in the cars, everyone."
They complied, and headed off to school, which was, as Sabrina had predicted, worse than the day before. People either avoided her like she had the plague or gave her pitying looks, and she noticed quite a few guys giving her own body some less than polite glances.
"I'm going to kill them." She muttered.
"Who?" Puck asked. "The guys staring at you? Or the people who put Moth in your body?"
"All of them." Sabrina glowered.
"That may take a while." Puck noted. "Want help?"
"Please." Sabrina said. "I was thinking a gas leak, honestly. Get everyone I don't hate out of the school, then blow it up?"
"Nah." Puck said. "It'd be too hard to get just your friends out, and you'd get in trouble."
"Not if I didn't get caught..." Sabrina mused.
"You would." Puck said. "They're smart, and it'd be way too convenient."
"Fine, then, smartypants." Sabrina sneered. "What's your grand scheme?"
"Take them out one by one." Puck said. "Make it look like an accident. One here, one there, and leave Moth for last, because if she dies, it'll throw suspicion on you."
"But she's the one I want to off the most." Sabrina complained.
"Exactly." Puck said. "So if she's alive, nobody will suspect you."
"Who do we start with, then?" Sabrina asked.
Puck scanned the cafeteria and pointed to a boy. "That one."
"The guy in black?" Sabrina asked. "The redhead?"
Puck nodded.
"Any particular reason?" Sabrina asked. "Or did you just pick someone random?"
"Someone random." Puck said, leaning back in his chair. "Besides, he's a ginger."
"So is Granny Relda." Sabrina pointed out. "Or... was. And the baby. Have you got something against them, too?"
"Your brother?" Puck asked. "That baby?"
"No, the baby orca in Sea World." Sabrina said sarcastically. "Of course that baby. Do we know any other babies?"
Puck shrugged. "You never know. Peaseblossom could be pregnant."
Sabrina raised an eyebrow. "I don't think she ever talks to her husband. How exactly would that work?"
"Magic." Puck said. "And about your other question- I don't have anything against gingers. I was just trying to think of a reason I picked him first."
"I figured." Sabrina said. "I was teasing."
"I figured, too." Puck grinned at her.
They spent the rest of the lunch period and the afternoon plotting the best ways to kill hormonal teenage boys and make it look like unrelated accidents, up until Gym, which started around 1:45.
Sabrina and the Beast were on thin ice, and it seemed to be reflecting poorly on the Beast's mood. He was louder and meaner than usual, and nobody complained that they were doing another practice fight- not even Moth.
As two o' clock rolled closer and closer, Sabrina started to get antsy, and at 1:54, she couldn't stand it anymore.
"Can we hold everything for the next fifteen minutes?" She shouted. "'Cause I'm about to get my body back, and I don't want anything to go wrong!"
"Keep going, everyone!" The Beast roared. "Don't stop until I say so!"
Sabrina made a face at the Beast, then snuck off into the woods, dragging Moth- well, herself, really- with her.
"What on earth are you-" Moth started, fighting to get her- Sabrina's- arm free.
"Listen, brat." Sabrina interrupted, stopping and turning to face her. "We are going to stay put, right here, until we both have our bodies back. I don't want anything to go wrong, so don't you dare move back to the battle."
Moth nodded, glaring.
"Good." Sabrina leaned back, satisfied, and left Moth's body, which still had a death grip on her own body's arm. She floated there, more at peace than she'd been in days, and waited for her body back, listening to the clock tick on the not-really-a-wall.
She lost the peacefulness as 2:00 drew closer, and started fidgeting. The time passed, and she was about to jump back into Moth's body just so she could strangle Moth out of her own form when-
Her body collapsed.
Then Moth's body gasped, and unfroze, letting go of Sabrina's and standing up straight.
It had worked. Moth was back where she belonged, and Sabrina could have her own body back.
She took advantage of that, slipping back into her own form like a favorite pair of jeans. She smiled, rolled her shoulders, flapped her wings once or twice, then stretched. It was so nice, to have her own body back.
"That's much better." Sabrina sighed happily. "Your body's nice and all, but it just doesn't fit right. And you're not as strong."
"Yes, yes, it's wonderful and all, but we ought to get back to the battlefield before we're missed, correct?" Moth asked, looking bored.
"Right." Sabrina agreed, started to walk forward, then stopped. "I can't fight like this!" she shouted.
"What's wrong?" Moth sneered. "Too tired?"
Her shout had, unfortunately, been a little too loud, and the others started to appear in the woods nearby, quizzical looks on their faces.
"I'm wearing a dress!" Sabrina explained. "How do you expect me to fight wearing a dress? Come to think of it, how did you fight wearing a dress?" she asked Moth.
"Not very well, that's how." Puck muttered.
Sabrina snorted, then turned to the Beast hesitantly. "Sir, could I please be excused to find alternate clothing?"
"No." The Beast said. He raised a hand, cutting off the look on Sabrina's face. "It's not because I'm still punishing you for your behavior yesterday- though it was deplorable, as was your behavior today- it's because this is a phase in your training that I've been meaning to introduce for quite some time. You won't always be in a fight in comfortable or practical clothes. Thus, you must be trained to fight in all sorts of clothing, and to compensate for the problems these clothes create. For the next several weeks, you'll be changing into special clothes for our simulations."
There was a collective, if quiet groan from the class.
"So, Grimm, you're simply getting a head start. Carry on, all!"
The fight continued, and Sabrina fought her hardest, but she still lost. Fighting in a dress was hard. She was too afraid to fly because her underwear might show- and she didn't even know which underwear she was wearing- and she was afraid to fall because this was her one formal outfit, and if she messed it up, she'd be in trouble. Plus, she couldn't move as freely without pants on. How had women lived when they had to wear that sort of clothes?
She resolved to ask Snow or Briar that when she had a chance. And to never wear skirts without shorts under them again.
But still, let it never be said that Sabrina Grimm did not rise to a challenge. She was determined to master the art of fighting wearing a skirt, even if it would never do her any good at all.