AN~ Gnommish is not mine. Sorry for the long break between updates, but this chapter would not form right, and there was this thing called life... boyfriend+other friends+four jobs+two weeks away from computers+sleep+writer's block+necessities=lack of updates.
Erika: What wedding/honeymoon? Mine? I'm not even out of high school yet, I'd better not be getting married.
Scarlet Wolf: I like to wear leggings with my skirts. That makes it work. And yes, cameras make everything harder.
RRB: 0.0 That much of a reaction? I have fangirls... This is odd.
Hiya: I don't watch/read soul eater. I honestly don't really know what it's about. My friend likes it, though.
Purpleflower23: Farm? Cool. I personally like dresses, but I hate wearing them because it's too hard to move. Thanks for checking out my art stuff!
EvilScrapbookerJW13: Your show of care about my personal life is heartwarming. :) You're right about Daphne... she'll return soon.
Cheeky Chica: Thanks so much! I didn't break anything, thanks. Account advice: Don't be obnoxious, people hate that. And I recommend not begging for reviews.
bubblez: Thanks! I hope you didn't explode...
Again, life continued normally for a while. Sabrina learned how to fight in not only a dress, but also a bathing suit, a hazmat suit, a heavy winter coat and a formal evening gown, which was even more difficult than a short dress, because it got in the way of the legs.
The other's training proceeded well, too, and Daphne began learning some of the more magical languages, like Gnommish. Red's posters spread through the town, getting more and more dynamic as she learned how to improve her art. Puck's prank designs became more elaborate and efficient, much to Sabrina's chagrin. Bella began studying with Nurse Spratt, putting her talents with science to good use.
Everything was fine, until Daphne found the tape.
She called everyone to the living room for a group meeting, and when they were all seated as comfortably as was possible in the too-small space, she said, "I think you all need to hear this." She glared pointedly at Sabrina, then stalked across the room to a tape player.
"What did I do this time?" Sabrina muttered to Puck, who shrugged. Then, seeing what Daphne was sticking in the tape deck, she froze. "Oh..."
"What is it?" Puck asked.
"A mistake." Sabrina said quietly as the tape began to play.
There was a brief scratching noise, then Sabrina's voice came crackling through the speakers. "Testing... testing... You know what? I'll just... Whatever. I hope this records. Right. So, this is Sabrina Grimm speaking, and I know I just made all of you decide to throw this tape out the window, I mean, you're the Scarlet Hand."
There was a collective gasp through the room, and Daphne shot Sabrina another accusatory glare.
The recording continued, "You hate me. But listen for a second, OK? Daphne's probably never going to speak to me again after this, but it's worth it. I mean, I'm saving he life. This is worth hearing, because I can get you out of the barrier. I know, you can kill me and get out, but I can get you out without anyone dying. Don't you want that? I mean, Briar's an everafter and a Grimm now. And so am I, and so is Daphne. You like everafters, right? You think they're better than humans. So you don't want to kill them, right? I have a way to keep you from having to. 'Course, I'm not going to just hand it over. You'll forgive me for not trusting you right off the bat. But if you're willing to take me up on this, meet me at..." There was a pause. "Oh, whatever. This is just a rough draft anyway. I'll fill that part in later. So meet me there and we'll negotiate."
Daphne clicked the tape off, and glared at Sabrina, then after a few seconds of silence, asked, "Well?"
Sabrina, not looking at any of them, said, "I can explain. I know you won't understand, Daph, because you see the world as black and white, and anything bad is bad, no matter what my motivation might be, but I do have a motivation, and... well. It was right after Baba Yaga died. And... I didn't want anyone else to die, and I though, I have a way to keep people I love from dying. Is it right for me to not use that? I had it all planned out, too. I was going to meet them at a private, safe place, with a barrier around me, and I was going to swear a blood oath- I had Puck show me how to make one, remember?- my part would be that I'd let the hand out, and theirs would be that they would protect the people I cared about at all costs. I'd thought of every loophole they could possibly find, every monkey wrench they'd try to throw at me, and I'd come up with a solution. I was ready to go through with it, because I thought I'd found a way to save you all."
"So why didn't you?" Veronica asked. "At least, I assume you didn't?"
Sabrina shook her head and spoke again, with a hollow voice. "I remembered what Dad did, how that made me feel. He was trying to protect us, but because he didn't give us the choice, we all got mad at him. And I thought you guys deserved a choice."
"I'm proud of you, liebling." Granny said.
Sabrina looked up, shocked. So did Daphne.
Granny smiled a little. "We all get tempted sometimes. And we all want to keep our family safe. But you did the right thing, in the end, deciding to let us make our own decisions. It showed a great deal of faith and trust in us."
"I still think she shouldn't have made it in the first place." Daphne said hotly.
"Maybe she shouldn't have." Henry said, "But she didn't send it off, in the end. Looks like I have a few lessons to learn from my daughter."
Jake looked around. "Can anyone here- other than Daphne- honestly begrudge Sabrina? I mean, who hasn't been tempted to do something drastic to keep the family safe? Look at what Charming did!"
"And look at how Snow reacted." Sabrina pointed out dully, looking back at the floor.
"Sabrina." Puck said, touching her shoulder. "Yeah, it was stupid. But none of us are mad at you. Actually look at us, and you might see that."
Sabrina looked up, and saw that the only person glaring at her was Daphne. She grinned a little sheepishly. "Sorry. Guess I'm just so used to you guys getting mad at me for trying to help that I figured this time wouldn't be any different."
Daphne snorted.
Sabrina sighed and turned to her sister. "Can you forgive me? Please? I hate it when you're mad at me. I know, it was stupid. But I was grieving, and I wanted to protect you. You used to like it when I did that. And I didn't send it. I made the tape, but I... I let you make your own decision, Daffy. I didn't want to. But I did."
"I don't forgive you yet." Daphne said mulishly. "You didn't have to make that thing. I'll be fine."
"Daph, this is serious." Sabrina said exasperatedly. "You. Could. Die. Maybe that doesn't sink in because you're younger, and I'm glad, but this isn't a movie. Anyone who falls down out there isn't getting back up. I thought Baba Yaga," She swallowed, "I thought she would have shown you that. I guess not. All I wanted to do was keep you safe. And I didn't even send the tape off. I never even made the real tape. Why do you have to be such a white knight about everything?"
"Because you're supposed to be my role model." Daphne snapped. "And you keep messing up."
"Yeah, well, I'm not perfect." Sabrina said with a sigh. "I make mistakes, just like everyone else. I'm trying to do the right thing in a messed up world, and I screw up. What do you want me to do? Stop trying?"
"No." Daphne said. "Just stop making mistakes."
"I'm trying." Sabrina said. "It's hard, though."
"Try harder." Daphne muttered.
"I'm working on it." Sabrina said. "Could you try to cut me some slack, though? And maybe take the war a little more seriously?"
"Fine." Daphne sighed, deflating. "I forgive you... this time."
The family, who had been watching the exchange with interest, began to go back to what they had been doing before Daphne called the meeting, except for Veronica.
"Sabrina, I'm proud of you." Veronica said. "And I'm glad that you brought up taking the war seriously, because I wanted to talk to the two of you about that- there's a chance there will be some pretty major battles, you know that, right?"
The two girls nodded.
Veronica smiled grimly. "Now, you two know I want to keep you safe. And I have to make sure you will be taking this seriously, because if you go into a battle and you're fooling around, or not protecting yourself properly, you might get seriously injured... or worse. So I want you to know that... I, at least, won't forbid you from fighting, but I will be watching you two, and if I don't think you're serious about this, I'll keep you at home. Capische?"
The girls nodded again, and Daphne asked, "Am I still grounded?"
"It's been how long now?" Veronica asked. "It's November, and you've been grounded since... August?"
"Ish." Daphne agreed.
Veronica smiled. "I think it's been long enough. You're all free, as far as I'm concerned. Go Christmas shopping or something."
Daphne jumped up with glee and ran out of the room.
Sabrina, shaking her head, got up to follow, then stopped. "I've been here for two years." She told her mother. "Almost exactly, actually. Weird, huh? It doesn't seem like that long. Or it seems like I've always been here. I'm not sure."
Veronica smiled and gave Sabrina a sideways hug. "Time is funny that way. I'm sorry you weren't here for your whole life. I wish you could have been."
"I... sort of do." Sabrina said, cocking her head to one side. "Because I'd probably have had a lot less issues and stuff. But New York, and you and Dad disappearing, that made me who I am today. And I don't know who I'd be otherwise."
Veronica ruffled Sabrina's hair. "You're a good kid, Sabrina."
"Not as good as I'd like to be." Sabrina muttered, ducking her head.
"You know..." Veronica said thoughtfully. "If you could combine you and Daphne, you could create the perfect person..."
Sabrina snorted. "Right. With my luck, we'd get the bad side of Daphne and the bad side of me and have one giant mess."
Veronica laughed, and the two walked off together. It wasn't until later that Sabrina realized it was the first time her mother's laugh hadn't been shadowed by pain for the baby since before the kidnapping.