AN~ Well, this chapter came faster than I expected, too. Maybe you'll be lucky and I won't get writer's block again until book 9 comes out.
Naya Lopez Thanks! Do I have more haters than I'm aware of, or is it just the... four?
RRB: When I edit it, I'll try to work in more Moth/Puck. But I'm not really a Moth fan, so I put in the jump cut and kind of hoped people would assume they'd bonded over their three weeks of almost constant company.
Evil Scrapbooker: Are you aware that you've disable private messaging? It makes it hard to talk to you. I think I'll work Tom in somehow, he's fun. He kind of came out of nowhere, though, so I'm not sure how he'll fit in yet.
ANannyMouse: Chapter 80: Sorry. But she has a backstory, too! I pulled a JK Rowling that chapter. I'm done with that for now. And the shower thing was fun. Chapter 81: Someday, I will go back and completely revamp this, but right now I'm just correcting errors. I'm through chapter 67 on corrections, though! And I DID update! Probably right after you reviewed, actually. :) Chapter 82: Tom's in the Scarlet Hand, but he's not evil. He just wants his piece of the pie. And I'll fix those.
Sabrina sat down on the couch in the living room with a sigh. It was good to be home. It was good to be clean,and it was good to be surrounded by her family.
However, it would be even better to have her arm to herself.
"Daph, you can let go now." Sabrina said wearily. "I missed you, too, but I'm not going anywhere."
"No." Daphne said, stubborn.
Sabrina sighed but didn't protest. She looked around the familiar room, taking in the sights, but stopped when she noticed a large tree sitting in the corner- a Christmas tree.
"Daphne?" She said slowly. "What's today's date?"
"December twentieth." Daphne said promptly.
"Holy cow!" Sabrina yelped. "We were in that dungeon for almost three weeks!"
Daphne nodded. "See why I won't let go of you?"
Sabrina nodded, too. "Yeah." She said. "Sorry about that. I'm glad I didn't miss Christmas, though."
"Me, too." Daphne said.
There was silence for a time, an odd thing with Daphne around. Sabrina thought about what had happened earlier: they'd come home on a Sunday, thank goodness, so the family was actually home at ten in the morning, and what a party there had been! Sabrina had been passed around and hugged for almost half an hour, then, just when she thought she'd be able to sit down and take a nap, it turned out Granny had called friends, and they'd come to give her hugs, too. Peter joked that he should try getting captured more often, because it made him feel more liked. They'd told their story, and most people were a lot more understanding of Puck than she was, and Granny and her mom had cooked a huge lunch to celebrate. Now everyone had gone home, and Sabrina was mentally preparing herself to catch up on everything she'd missed.
Puck came in, looked at Sabrina warily, and sat down on the armchair instead of the open seat on the couch.
Sabrina almost smiled. She should give him the silent treatment more often. She wasn't really mad anymore, but she wasn't going to be friendly yet. In a day or two, then she might go back to how it used to be. But let him see how it was to think your best friend hated you! ...All right, so maybe she was a bit mad. But she'd forgive him eventually.
"So what did we miss, Marshmallow?" Puck asked tentatively.
Daphne shrugged. "Not much. We looked for you guys, did a lot of schoolwork, and looked for the baby a bit." She paused, then added, "Oh, and Mustardseed and Renee are kind of almost not quite dating."
Sabrina sat up straight. "Say what?" She asked.
"Come again?" Puck said at about the same time.
"Renee decided she was over you and started to like Mustardseed, and they both know they like each other, but they're not dating yet." Daphne explained.
"Took them long enough." Puck said, adding a 'puh' of air to his sentence.
Sabrina, on the other hand, said, "That was fast."
"What?" Puck asked.
"She got over one guy and started liking another one in three weeks?" Sabrina asked, forgetting that she wasn't talking to Puck.
"Well, she has been mooning after a guy who doesn't like her for decades." Daphne pointed out, then shuddered. "That's so weird... the decades thing? I'm still not used to it."
"It's kind of easier when they're older, isn't it?" Sabrina asked. "Adults are already all old, it's OK that they're older than they look, but when a kid is actually, like, two hundred... it's disconcerting."
"What's that mean?" Daphne asked. "Disconcerting?"
"Weird, creepy, strange, kind of, but mostly, the sort of thing that knocks your worldview off a bit." Sabrina explained, looking idly at the Christmas tree. Then she sat upright. "Presents!" She said abruptly. "Christmas presents! I need some!"
"Having you home is present enough for me." Veronica called from the kitchen.
"I want a pony." Daphne grinned. "But you're close enough."
"What, you want a pony ride?" Sabrina joked.
"Yeah!" Daphne grinned, bouncing up and down a bit, still holding on to Sabrina's arm.
"That was a joke." Sabrina said wearily. "Besides, you're too big for horsie rides."
"I'll give you a piggyback ride, Marshmallow." Puck offered.
"But..." Daphne said, looking a bit crestfallen, "then I'd have to let go of Sabrina..."
"Cute, but no cigar." Sabrina said dryly. "You can keep hugging me or you can get your ride. Hey, maybe if you're lucky, Puck will give you a real horsie ride!"
Daphne turned a pitifully adorable face to Puck. "Would you?" She asked.
Puck looked at Daphne for a moment, his face twisting. Finally, he gave in and said with a sigh, "Fine."
Daphne bounced up off the chair, hand working its way towards her mouth as she ran for the hallway. She grabbed Puck's arm on the way, tugging him with her.
"Put a coat on!" Sabrina called after them- Daphne, mostly. After all, fairies didn't need coats. That was one thing she envied them of- she still felt the cold like any other person.
She sat in the living room by herself for a minute, rubbing her sore wrists. Apparently, while she'd been gone, Nurse Spratt had declared that they'd have to start rationing medical supplies: only serious injuries got magical healings, the rest were simply tended with bandages or sometimes pain medicine or stitches. Sabrina's wrists, though badly bruised, were not considered serious medical issues.
After a few minutes, though, she got antsy. She wanted to see her family again. Personal space was nice, and all, but she'd been away from them too long. She stood and headed for the kitchen, where Granny was cooking something purple and Veronica was setting the table.
"Hello, Sabrina." Granny smiled from the stove.
Sabrina smiled at Granny Relda, then picked up a handful of forks and began laying them around the table to give her mom a hand- as if she'd had a reason to be in the kitchen other than loneliness.
Veronica stopped her halfway around the table with a long, tight hug. "Mmm." She said, squeezing Sabrina tight, still holding a bunch of napkins. "I missed you."
"Missed you, too, Mom." Sabrina said, holding Veronica's arms, which was about all she could reach from her position.
"I've been talking to Jake." Veronica continued, "About the baby? He thinks that he might have found a way to look for him, but he needs you and Daphne to help. I know it's a bit much, since you just got out of that horrible dungeon, but..."
"Of course I'll do it." Sabrina said, still dropping forks onto the table. "One thing, though."
"What's that?" Veronica asked, laying down the last of her napkins and going to the cupboard to get out plates.
Sabrina put down her final fork and returned to her own drawer for spoons, saying, "Can I have some money? And a ride to town? For Christmas presents?"
Veronica laughed. "That's all?" She asked, doling out plates. "Of course. We can finish our shopping together."
Sabrina grinned. Quality time with her mom! Just the two of them, doing something normal! "Thanks." She said.
"Did I hear shopping?" Bella asked, sticking her head in the doorway.
Sabrina amended her last thought. Not just the two of them, then. Shopping with Bella would be a bit- a lot- more of an ordeal than a mother daughter date, but it would still be fun. "Christmas shopping." She explained. "Since I kind of missed the pre-holiday buy-time."
"So, if I go, I'll know what you're going to get me." Bella said thoughtfully, leaning on the doorframe. "Hm... surprise versus getting out of the house..."
"If you're going to stand there, help." Veronica said firmly, handing Bella a cup. "Fill up the drinks while you think."
Bella sighed, but did as she was told.
"So are you coming or not?" Sabrina asked, once she'd laid down the last of the utensils.
Bella looked from Sabrina to Veronica thoughtfully. "Nah." She said with a half smile. "I've done all my shopping, and I'm pretty much broke."
"Where do you get money?" Sabrina asked. "You don't have a job, you don't get an allowance- or at least you better not-"
"My mom." Bella said. "She feels guilty, I guess, so she gives me a twenty every time she sees me."
Sabrina pursed her lips. "How much do you think it would take to guilt my dad into paying me for disappearing for two years?"
"No." Veronica said.
Sabrina shrugged. "It was just a thought."
"Hey, c'mere." Bella said, tugging on Sabrina's wrist.
Sabrina followed, saying, "Where exactly are we going?"
"My room." Bella said. "We need to catch up."
"Sure." Sabrina said. "But can you let go of my wrist? That hurts."
"Sorry." Bella said, dropping Sabrina's wrist and looking at it. "I didn't- holy crow, Sabrina, what happened?"
"They had these wristcuff things on the wall that we were attached to, but they were one-size-fits-all, and I was too short." Sabrina said. "So most of my weight was on my wrists."
Bella hissed, then changed course.
"Now where are we going?" Sabrina asked, following.
"The bathroom." Bella said, not looking at Sabrina as she marched forward. "I'm doing something about those bruises.
"Bella, it's no big deal, I can manage." Sabrina said,still following. "It's not like they're broken or anything. Besides, aren't we supposed to be conserving medical stuff?"
"That's potions and things that we have limited supplies of." Bella said, pulling the bathroom door open and pointing to the toilet. "Sit. I'm Nurse Spratt's in-training, though, and Frau Pfefferkuchenhaus's, too. I need practice. And this is renewable."
Sabrina pulled the toilet seat cover down and sat, looking at Bella warily. "What are you going to do?" She asked.
"This." Bella said, and turned into a large, greenish thing with blonde hair.
Sabrina tried to keep herself from recoiling- it was Bella, after all- but when the giant frog ran her tongue over Sabrina's wrists, she couldn't help but shudder.
Bella morphed back to her normal self and said, "I know, it's gross. But my spit can numb pain, apparently."
"That's both awesome and creepy." Sabrina said, holding up her wrists. They still looked awful, but Bella was right, they were starting to hurt less already. "Can you do it without turning into a frog?"
Bella shook her head. "Believe me, I tried." She said. "I have to take a shower every time I turn into a frog, otherwise I get really gross. But if it helps..."
Sabrina nodded. "You're right. Thanks."
"No problem." Bella said. "Mind if I hop in the shower real fast?"
Sabrina gestured towards Bella, saying, "Be my guest. We can talk after dinner."
Bella smiled greatfully at Sabrina, who was already standing and walking out the door. "It's good to have you back." She said into the closing door.
Dinner was full of just as many happy looks at Sabrina and Puck. It was a bit weird, actually. Every time she looked up, someone else was just sitting there, smiling at her.
"Would you stop that?" Sabrina snapped, finally. "I'm not going to disappear on you, you can look at someone else!"
Uncle Jake, who had been the one staring at her that time, grinned and looked back at his food. "Sorry, 'Brina. It's just nice to have you back- and know they didn't break your spirit while you were in there."
Sabrina wrinkled her nose and stuck her tongue out at him, then went back to eating.
Red, who was sitting between Sabrina and Puck, looked up at Sabrina out of the corner of her eyes, then turned back to her plate. This happened several times, before Sabrina realized she was afraid to look at her.
"Oh, for crying out loud." Sabrina sighed. "Red, it's not that you can't look at me, just don't stare, 'kay?"
Red nodded, blushing, but didn't say anything. She didn't talk through all of dinner, but afterwards, when Sabrina and Bella were sitting on Bella's bed, looking at a magazine, Sabrina looked up and noticed Red standing outside the door, peering in through the side.
"Red?" She asked. "Wassup?"
Red disappeared behind the wall, then stuck her head forward a bit.
Sabrina sighed a bit, then turned to Bella and said, "Listen, I'll be right back."
"Mm-hm." Bella said, flipping a page in the magazine. "Be back in time for the quiz."
Sabrina levered herself up off the bed and followed Red out into the hall. "Hey." She said.
Red didn't say anything. In fact, she didn't even look up at Sabrina.
"What's wrong?" Sabrina asked, squatting down so that she could look up at Red. "You're treating me like I'm some big scary monster or something, have been since I got back. What did I do?"
Red turned her head to the side, still looking down, but Sabrina followed her. "Listen," she said, "I don't know what's up, but something's obviously bothering you. So tell me what it is so we can fix it."
Red looked at Sabrina, wide eyed. "You're not mad?" She asked.
Sabrina gave Red an incredulous look. "Mad about what?"
"That I didn't stay with you." Red said "At the battle. You're not mad that I left?"
"Red, I told you to go." Sabrina said. "I melted the handcuffs. I wanted you to be safe. How could I be mad?"
"If we hadn't been attached in the first place, you could have fought better." Red whispered, squeezing her eyes shut. "So it's my fault you had to get captured in the first place. The least I could have done is stayed with you."
"No." Sabrina said. "I would have hated for you to have to stay with me. For you to go through that..." She shook her head. "What you're feeling is called Survivor's guilt, Red, and it's totally normal, but I don't want you to have to keep feeling it. I'm not mad at you, I'm back now, and everyone's fine. So smile for me, please? 'Cause you have nothing to feel guilty about."
Red gave Sabrina a small quavering smile and said, "OK."
Sabrina stood up straight, clapping Red on the shoulder. "Good." She said with a smile, heading back into Bella's room. Halfway in, she leaned back out and said, "It'll probably take a while to forgive yourself, won't it?" She smiled when Red shrugged. "I'll just keep reminding you. And get Daphne to, too."
Red's small smile grew a bit, and Sabrina walked back into Bella's room with a smile, then stopped. Her back was bothering her. She stretched, twising from one side to the other.
"I'm too young to be this stiff." She told Bella, sitting back on the bed, cross-legged.
"I can't imagine why you'd be stiff at all." Bella said, then asked, "What do you look for most in a boy: a sense of humor, good looks, a romantic, or smart?"
Sabrina gave Bella a 'really?' look that went unnoticed as Bella marked her own answers onto the quiz. "Well, looking at who I like, I'd go with a sense of humor, apparently. But my ideal guy would be smart." She sat up straight after a few seconds. "I remember now!"
"Remember what?" Bella asked, looking up from the quiz for the first time, a little wary.
"My back reminded me." Sabrina said, "Staying in shape and stuff. We were going to start working on your stamina!"
Bella made a face. "I'd almost forgotten about that. Kind of hoped you had, too. Can we finish the quiz first?"
"How about we do both?" Sabrina suggested. "I'll ask you the questions while you do pushups, then you ask me questions while I do...something. Maybe something magic, I guess, since I need to work on that kind of strength."
Still making a face, Bella sighed, then tossed the book to Sabrina and got on her hands and knees on the floor. "How many pushups do I have to do?"
"As many as it takes for you to finish the quiz." Sabrina said, picking the magazine up. "What's you're favorite of these colors: red, blue, purple, or yellow?"
Bella dropped almost to the floor, then levered herself back up. "Green." She said, grunting. "But since that's not there, let's go with purple."
Sabrina marked it off, and then asked the next question. They spent the rest of the evening like that, thoroughly exausting themselves, but it was, in Sabrina's opinion, one of the best possible ways to spend an evening.