AN~ The prank idea comes from NoraeKaye.
ANannyMouse: You're welcome! I think Tom should switch, too. This right here isn't filler, it's a respite. They need a break for Christmas. I hope that I'll finish before book 9 comes out, but if I don't I'll write past there. My goal is to be done by April. That's why updates have been speeding up. And the writer's block thing, that was from my mononess.
Naya Lopez: Thanks! I used to feel bad, but then I remembered that I'm never going to meet those people, and if they don't know me, then why should their opinion matter? The people worth getting to know, I do, the ones not worth getting to know I just don't react the way they want me to.
squrriel101: Thanks very much for telling me what you liked! I'm off the cliffies for a bit, I think. In a few chapters, maybe they'll come back, but for now we're good. Christmas respite!
Sabrina overslept the next morning, and stumbled downstairs to find everyone else almost ready for school- except Bella, sitting at the table finishing up breakfast.
"I'm not going to be ready in time." She said, sitting down at the table with a thump.
"Stay home." Henry suggested, doling sausages onto her plate. "It's perfectly understandable that you wouldn't go right back after what you've been through."
Sabrina sighed. "But I'm already way behind! How am I supposed to catch up if I don't go today, either?"
"I'll talk to your teachers." Henry said firmly, adding three toaster waffles to her sausages. "Get your work from them, and bring it back to you. You need to rest and heal."
"I'm not hurt that bad!" Sabrina protested. "It's just my wrists, mostly!"
Henry sighed. "Look, just stay home, OK?" He asked. "It's not just because you'll be late, Sabrina... I'm worried about you. Give the Scarlet Hand some time to cool down before you go back, all right?"
Sabrina sighed. "Fine." She said. "But what am I going to do all-"
A shriek from the bathroom cut her off. A few minutes later, Bella ran in, hair sopping wet and looking greener than usual, holding a hair dryer in her hand, her face white. "Puck!" She snapped, shaking the hair dryer at him, "What did you do?"
"Eternal renewal spell on a thing of baby powder." Puck grinned, leaning back in his chair in satisfaction. "Every time you turn that hair dryer on, you'll get blasted with talcum."
"I'm going to kill you." Bella said, murder in her eyes, tossing the hair dryer at him. "You owe me a new one of these, now. I can't believe it! First day back, and already you broke my hairdryer!"
"That's not all he did." Daphne muttered, putting a hand to her mouth to hide her snickers.
Bella's narrowed eyes grew wide. "What did he do?" She demanded. "What happened?"
Sabrina stood up with a sigh and said, "Here, Bella, let me help you." She walked her to the bathroom, shooting Daphne a glare and mouthing, 'it's not funny.'
Daphne just grinned, and so did Puck, who Sabrina wasn't looking at (on purpose). She shook her head. She'd been where Bella was, and she understood. Honestly, she wondered why it wasn't her getting pranked.
"What did he do?" Bella asked Sabrina again, twisting to see her back.
"He put something in your shampoo, I guess." Sabrina shrugged, "'Cause your hair is green."
Bella stopped and turned to Sabrina. "It's what?" She hissed.
"It might not be green green," Sabrina said, pushing Bella a bit to get her walking again. "But it's definitely tinged. I'll see if I can wash it out for you, but you need to move."
Bella started walking again, muttering under her breath about how she couldn't let Wendell see her with green hair.
"Maybe you'll be lucky and it'll just be jell-o." Sabrina suggested. "It doesn't look dark enough to be actual dye."
Bella just leaned over the side of the sink without saying anything, and Sabrina turned on the faucet, starting to scrub Bella's head.
"Yeah, it's coming out a bit." Sabrina said. "You're going to have to go to school with wet hair anyway, is that all right?"
"Can't you fix it dry for me?" Bella asked pleadingly. "I mean, I was there for you the time Puck dyed your skin green, remember? With all that makeup? So can you make me look normal?"
Sabrina complied, taking a break from washing green out of Bella's hair to pull all the moisture out of it and shove a greenish waterball at the tub, where it splashed around a bit, but didn't make too much of a mess. Bella stood up straight, turning to Sabrina angrily.
Sabrina cut her off, turning her to the mirror. "You know," She said thoughtfully, "You don't look that bad with green hair. Maybe you should keep it."
"OK, ay, I didn't mean dry my hair now." Bella said, "And bee, just no."
"Maybe just a few streaks?" Sabrina asked. "You can pretend you're being festive."
Bella sighed. "Fine." She said. "Just get as much of it out as you can, please?"
Sabrina shrugged and went back to washing Bella's hair. "You know, you're going to have to leave before I can finish, anyway." She said conversationally.
"What do you mean, you're going to have to leave?" Bella asked. "You're coming, too."
Sabrina shook her head. "Dad wants me to stay home so the Scarlet Hand has time to cool down. I figure, I'm already way behind, what's one more day?"
Bella shrugged, accidentally shoving her shoulder into the spray from the sink.
"Bella!" Veronica's voice called up the stairs, "Time to go!"
Sabrina turned off the sink and pulled all the water out of Bella's hair again, noting that it had worked out nicely, with actual streaks in her hair, instead of green patches or something like that. She washed her hands free of the dye as Bella walked downstairs, then hopped into the shower to clean herself.
When she stepped out, she checked herself in the mirror warily, then stepped right back into the shower. Her hair was green, too. Maybe if she caught it fast enough, she'd be able to stop it. She turned the water back on, then, before stepping into it, stopped and examined the shower with suspicion. The water looked oddly tinted. She unscrewed the center of the head, and found, unsurprisingly, a ripped packet of lime jell-o shoved into the space between the screws and the side of the showerhead.
She pulled the packet out, muttering, "I'm going to kill that boy," as she threw it in the garbage, then she scrubbed her head for a full ten minutes to be sure she'd gotten all the green out.
After she was clean and dressed, she walked downstairs, pulling a brush through her hair. Elvis, lying in the middle of the hallway, by the front door, looked up at her and whined. That was when the realization hit Sabrina: this was the first time she'd been in the house without any other people, even Daphne. ...Well, there was Mirror, and Elvis, but they didn't really count, since Elvis couldn't talk, and Mirror was in his room. She could do whatever she wanted! She could jump up and down on the bed, she could eat all the ice cream, she could build a pillow fort- as long as she cleaned up by five, nobody would know the difference!
"Hey, Elvis," She grinned, "want some ice cream?"
Elvis's ears perked up, and the big dog bolted for the kitchen. Sabrina followed after, shoving him out of the way so that she could get to the freezer, laughing the whole time. This was going to be a good day.
It was. She and Elvis ate whatever they wanted- except sausages- built the biggest pillow/mattress/blanket/cushion fort ever imagined, and jumped on every piece of furniture in the house. The thought crossed Sabrina's mind once or twice that she ought to be doing something productive, but this was just too much fun! Lastly, they decided to go mattress surfing- the house had a huge, wide staircase, perfect for it, and it was something Sabrina had always wanted to do, but been unable to in New York City.
The two were sliding down the stairs for the third time when everyone else got home. Her laughter was cut off when she realized that she and Elvis were going to collide straight into the family, and she called, "Look out!" loudly as she tried to grab the banister to slow herself down.
The mattress bumped to a stop after bowling Daphne over and running into Henry's knees. Sabrina looked up, embarrassed but still smiling sheepishly.
"Hi." She said quietly into the silence and shocked faces of her family.
Daphne spoke first: "I want to try!" She exploded, her hand working its way to her mouth.
"No." Henry said firmly. "No mattress surfing."
"I take it you had fun while we were gone?" Veronica asked, eyebrows raised.
"Maybe just a little." Sabrina said, still grinning in embarrassment. "I was bored, and I've always wanted to do that."
Veronica shook her head with a smile. "Go put the mattress back. Then we'll head out to go shopping, all right?"
Sabrina stood up promptly, then turned to carry the mattress upstairs. Then stopped.
"Elvis." She said wearily. "We're done. Get off."
Elvis gave her a very disappointed look, then got off the mattress and started nosing it towards the staircase. Sabrina grabbed the front end, and, with the help of the Great Dane, got the mattress back to her bed, where it belonged.
"Where are you going?" Puck asked as Sabrina passed him on the way to the car.
"Christmas shopping." Sabrina said. It had been a good enough day that she decided to deign to speak to him, and even be nice about the jell-o thing. "Jell-o, Puck. I know about it. Not funny. Do that again and I won't be very nice to you."
"I didn't know you knew how to be nice." Puck muttered. "I figured you'd figure it out before hand..."
"Still not cool." Sabrina said, and walked off. She had better things to do.
"Ready?" Veronica asked, wrapping an arm around Sabrina. "You might want to put on a coat, it's chilly out."
"I'm not sure this is a good idea." Henry said. "We're trying to keep her safe 'til this blows over, and shopping isn't exactly doing that."
Veronica sighed and said, "Henry, she needs to go Christmas shopping, and you shouldn't punish her for something that's not her fault. Keeping her home from a day of school is one thing, but this needs to be done, and soon. I'll have my phone."
"Fine." Henry gave in. "But be careful, and be home by seven."
Veronica shook her head but smiled, taking the keys from Henry as Sabrina yanked on her coat. They walked out to the car together, Veronica with her arm wrapped around Sabrina's shoulder.
"It's so nice to be able to spend time with just you." Veronica said, once they were driving. "We haven't been able to much, recently."
"It has been kind of busy." Sabrina agreed.
"I wanted to tell you how proud I am of you." Veronica said. "You've been very mature about everything- almost, anyway. Taking care of Daphne like that, growing up for her, and staying mature while your father was being... difficult, and I was out of it. And still being strong now. It makes me glad to have you as a daughter, but... a bit sad, too."
Sabrina looked at her mom slantwise, blushing. She'd wanted to hear that forever. But... "Sad? How come?" She asked.
"You missed out on a lot of chances to be a kid." Veronica said. "Got it ripped away from you at barely ten, and you're still not acting your age. Don't you ever want a normal childhood?"
"Well, yeah." Sabrina said. "But if we let the Scarlet Hand win, I won't have a childhood at all, let alone a normal one. I'll be dead. And besides, I can't exactly blend in anymore anyway. And I have friends now. I guess... If I could have a normal life, I'd probably take it, but... I've learned to be happy where I am, mostly."
Veronica shook her head. "Girl, if everyone learned the lessons you've learned by the time they were your age, the world would be a much better place."
"There probably wouldn't be a Scarlet Hand." Sabrina agreed.
Veronica laughed a bit, pulling over. "Well, we're here." She said. "Where do you want to shop first?"
"Ghepetto's." Sabrina said. "I can probably pick up something for Daphne, Puck, and Red there."
From there the shop was on. Presents, presents, presents! They'd finished their gift-getting by around six thirty and were, if not utterly shopped out, ready for a break. Not only had they been walking around for ages carrying bags and stuff, they were also explaining what was up with Sabrina to the people they met, and trying to avoid Scarlet Hand members, though Sabrina could tell her mom was itching for a fight (they got the same look on their faces).
"Well, how about we break for dinner?" Veronica suggested, dropping their bags into the minivan. "You pick the restaurant."
"Is anyplace open but the Blue Plate Special and Sacred Grounds?" Sabrina asked, raising her eyebrows. "And the Golden Egg, I guess. I mean, ones that aren't run by the Scarlet Hand. I thought the rest closed out when the humans got run out of town..."
"They probably did." Veronica agreed. "But that's still three for you to choose from."
Sabrina thought for a minute. "The Blue Plate Special." She said. "I'm in the mood for blueberry cobbler. Plus it's close." She nodded to the diner, which was within view.
The two walked over and sat down. Blue Farrah was the only regular waitress now, with a few other everafters part-timing it for extra cash. It was fairly crowded, because the Blue Plate Special had the interesting distinction of being the only neutral restaurant in town: Briar and Momma had both made their loyalties clear.
"Hey, girls." Blue said with a smile, popping her bubble gum and handing out menus. "What can I getcha today?"
"Hi." Veronica smiled back. "Tea, please."
"Hot cocoa." Sabrina said, opening her menu.
Blue took notes, then asked Veronica, "What kind of tea?"
"Earl Grey." Veronica said promptly.
"All right." Blue said. "I'll be out in a few minutes to take your orders, 'kay?"
Sabrina and Veronica both nodded, looking at their menus. Blue returned shortly, doling out hot drinks. Sabrina looked at her cocoa: a big mug, full to the brim, with a huge dollop of whipped cream atop it.
"Thanks." Veronica said, already pouring a creamer into her tea.
"No problem." Blue smiled. "May I take your order?"
"Turkey club on rye." Veronica said, folding her menu up and handing it to Farrah.
"Fish n' chips basket?" Sabrina asked, handing Blue her menu, too. "And the blueberry cobbler for dessert."
"All right, sweetheart." Blue grinned. "Any dessert for you, Veronica?"
Sabrina's mom shook her head. "I'm good."
As Farrah walked away, Sabrina thought of something. "Mom," She asked, "Do you know why the Blue Fairy is what she is? So powerful, I mean. There's nobody else like her: she can grant wishes like a genie or something, but she doesn't have limits on them like a genie does, and she's got wings like a fairy, but she's not Faerie or Fay..."
Veronica shrugged. "I heard a rumor she was the product of genetic splicing by a mad scientist, but nobody really knows. I mean, she tries so hard to keep undercover, nobody can ask her normally, and it's not documented. Why don't you ask her?"
"I think I will." Sabrina decided.
Blue returned a minute later, and Sabrina, determined to find this out (who knew why), asked while Farrah was handing out the food, "Excuse me, Farrah? This might be kind of rude, but... what are you, exactly? I mean, you're called the blue fairy, but you're not a fairy, really. Are you?"
Blue blinked at Sabrina a few times, then said, "Well, that is a bit rude, but I'll forgive you, since nobody's ever asked before. I'm half-fairy, actually. Half fairy and half genie."
"Half genie?" Veronica asked. "I didn't know genies could reproduce. I thought they got all... smoky..."
"Most of them do." Farrah said. "But before genies were captured they were free to do whatever. That's where I came from."
"So who's your mom?" Sabrina asked. "If your dad's a genie?"
"I don't know." Farrah shrugged. "She died in the Faerie/Fay wars. I never knew her. I never even found out which side of the war she was on."
Sabrina hissed. "I'm sorry." She said.
Farrah shrugged. "Well, I'm OK." She smiled. "I have to get back to work. Enjoy your meal!"
They did, and then Veronica and Sabrina went out to find Sabrina some winter clothes that actually fit, instead of the ones from last fall. Then they headed home.
Over the next week, Sabrina almost caught up with her schoolwork, wrapped her Christmas presents, and tried to get herself back into the groove of everyday life. It didn't work, because she got out of school before she could get used to it again. And then it was the twenty-third and Christmas break, and she was off again.