AN~ Well, I didn't get a HUNDRED chapters by the three year anniversary, but I got 99. Is that close enough? My baby's three years old!

The Winner of Last Question of the Day: QN with 'If the king sits on gold, who sits on silver? The Lone Ranger!' because it was one I hadn't heard before and it struck me as very funny for some reason.

New Question of the Day: What would be the dumbest superpower/hero ever? (Think Moist from Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog)

Mai: Thanks for the review! I'm glad you're glad it's not just romance.

Jenna: Thanks for the awesometastic long review! You're right about the school, I let myself run away a bit with it because it was a baby of mine (never a good idea), and if I ever do a full-out rewrite of this (unlikely, considering the length), I'll shorten that up a bit. Sorry this response is so short compared to your review, but I appreciated it a lot!

Ninjabunny: I'm trying to finish it by May. Not sure it's going to work, but we can hope.

siverwombat: Tim didn't do it! Lie detection: back at the beginning of the story, Sabrina got the ability to tell when someone was lying. Haven't used it much recently. Welcome back to the reviewer's circle!

Mai (of chapter 85): It most certainly IS an AVPM reference!

warisha: But there are OTHER stories you can read for drama! And they probably do it better. I HOPE I can make a difference. And yeah, for lawyer you've got to do all that bar stuff and whatnot. I just have to not stink. My parents are both doctors. A lot of people were like, 'you're going to be a doctor, too, right?' and I was like 'no' and they gave me a really incredulous look. Which is about the same scenario as when people asked me if I was excited about my two youngest siblings being born. I KNOW THAT JOKE! I saw it on a website! It made me excited.

Not soLittle Girl: Yeah, your story was pretty awesome.

QN: Yeah, there's only so much even I can put up with before Puck and Sabrina need to get together. You've actually already met Bella's mystery guy. You just don't know it. I won't talk about Art 'cause that's in the chapter, but as for your joke: Psh. *snicker*

"Art?" Daphne asked worriedly, kneeling down by the collapsed boy.

The others rushed over, eyes wide. Everyone had noticed when Art fell because he made such a huge thud.

"How on earth are we going to get him to Nurse Spratt now?" Puck muttered.

"Art, wake up!" Daphne's voice was a bit panicked now, and she shook his shoulder roughly.

"He might not wake up for ages, Daphne." Bella said, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder. "We don't know what's wrong with him. The best thing to to do would be to get him to Nurse Spratt as fast as we can."

"Which again begs the question, how are we going to lift him?" Puck asked. "I mean, normally I'd just change into something big and go, but I don't think I'd fit through the door."

Sabrina sighed, and Art lifted off the floor. "Someone's going to have to guide him, though. I can only really make him weightless."

Jonas stepped forward. "I'll do it." He offered.

Sabrina nodded, and then the procession began to head out the door. Sabrina turned. "Where are you all going?" She asked.

"To Nurse Spratt's." Puck said in a 'duh' voice.

Sabrina shook her head, looking at Bella for confirmation. "It's a bad idea to have that many people there, isn't it?"

Bella nodded. "We should all stay here, guys. Just Sabrina and Jonas. We can visit later."

"But-" Daphne protested.

"No buts." Bella said firmly. "What if this is contagious, Daphne? Let Nurse Spratt figure it out, then go see him."

"Fine." Daphne made a face. "But I don't have to like it."

"There'd be something wrong with you if you did." Bella said.

Sabrina and Jonas disappeared, and Puck relaxed a bit, looking around the room at the shocked faces.

"Is your study group usually this... exciting?" The new boy, Marcus or whatever Sabrina had called him, asked.

"Not always." Bella said. Was she... blushing? Puck knew a blush when he saw one, and Bella was definitely blushing when she looked at that kid. So that was who she broke up with Wendell for. She could do better.

Daphne was still staring at the door, and Puck recognized that look, too: she was planning on running after them.

"Marshmallow." He said warningly. "Don't even think about it."

"What?" Daphne asked, her jaw set forward. "I'm not thinking about anything."

"Sure..." Puck said. "Go talk to Tim or Red."

"Fine." Daphne pouted, crossing her arms and stalking over to Red.

Puck watched her, eyes narrowed. He was pretty sure that she was not done with that.

"Keep an eye on her." Peaseblossom muttered to him. "She's going to sneak off after Art as soon as you look away."

"I know that." He said testily. "I've been living with her for the past two and a half years."

"Well excuse me for trying to be helpful." Peaseblossom snapped.

"You're being a busybody big sister, same as you always are." Puck rolled his eyes. "I'm old enough to take care of myself, you know."

"I'm sorry, it's habit!" Peaseblossom explained. "It's not like you weren't young and stupid for millenia or anything."

"It's an annoying habit." Puck glared at her.

"Fine, I'll try to stop." Peaseblossom said, raising her hands in surrender.

"Good." Puck said. "Now what do you want?"

"I just came to talk." Peaseblossom said. "Don't get your boxers in a bunch."

"I'm not wearing boxers."

"Briefs, then." Peaseblossom shuddered. "Not that I wanted to know..."

"Right." Puck said. "Talk about what?"

"Just... talk." Peaseblossom said. "Like family's supposed to. Do I have to have an ulterior motive?"

"You always have before." Puck pointed out.

Peaseblossom sighed and said, "Let's just sit, okay?"

"Fine." Puck said, making a face and walking over to the table Daphne, Red, and Tim were seated around.

Peaseblossom followed, smiling a little at Daphne as she pulled out a chair. Daphne gave Peaseblossom a small, fake smile in return.

"He'll be fine."Red said, putting a hand on Daphne's knee. "You'll see."

"But what if he's not?" Daphne asked. "What if he dies or something and I'm stuck here?"

"You wouldn't be able to help anyway." Tim pointed out. "You'll do a lot more good if you stay here and do your homework."

"How do you know?" Daphne shot back. "It's not like you talk to him ever anyway!" She shoved her chair back and stalked off towards the books.

"Daphne!" Tim called, wheeling his way after her.

Red watched them go for a minute, then stood.

"Leave them." Peaseblossom said, putting a hand on her arm. "They need to sort it out."

"I know." Red said. "I was going to go talk to Blue."

"Oh." Peaseblossom said, blushing a bit and removing her hand from the younger girl's arm. "Right."

"Told you you need to stop being a busybody." Puck grinned at his older sister as Red walked off.

"Oh, shut it." Peaseblossom said, leaning back in her chair. "You may only be two years smaller anymore, but I can still beat you at whatever kind of fighting you start."

"You wish." Puck sneered.

"Let's see." Peaseblossom offered. "Right here, right now. You pick."

"Nah." Puck leaned back on his chair, too, putting the front two feet in the air and balancing. "I don't need to prove myself."

"Keep telling yourself that, bucko." Peaseblossom grinned.

"You sound like Sabrina." Puck muttered. "Have you been trading notes with her or something?"

"No, but now that you bring her up..." Peaseblossom started.

"And now we get to it." Puck muttered.

"I'm not that much of a busybody, OK?" Peaseblossom snapped. "But she and I were talking, and you seriously hurt her."

"Yeah, and we worked it out earlier, so you can stop now, all right?" Puck asked. "Seriously, woman."

"All right, so if you've worked it out, does she know you lied to her?" Peaseblossom crossed her arms.

"Heck no!" Puck snapped. "I worked hard on that, I'm not going to tell her I can pull on over her after all!"

"Why not?" Peaseblossom asked. "It would make things so much easier!"

"Look, just 'cause you broke up with your husband doesn't mean I need to get together with anyone." Puck snapped.

"I know it's just-" Peaseblossom stopped and took a deep breath. "I want you to be happy, Puck. And I'm afraid you're going to ruin your chances at it."

"I know." Puck muttered. "I know, I know, and I bet I am, it's just... I'm scared, Pease."

"Scared of what?" Peaseblossom asked.

"Messing it up." Puck said. "I know I will. So I'm just going to let her do her own thing."

"How do you know?" Peaseblossom asked."

"Think about it." Puck said. "When has anything ever worked out right with me? I mean, look what I did to Mustardseed! And you! And mom, and I've hurt her before-"

"But you might not do it this time." Peaseblossom pointed out. "What's gotten into you, Puck? You're usually so confident."

"Yeah, well, ever think that maybe it's fake?" Puck sneered, still balancing his chair on two legs. "That maybe what mom and dad said all the FRIGGIN' time about me being useless might have had an effect?"

"Oh." Peaseblossom said quietly, "I didn't-"

She was interrupted by a large whump and several hrieks.

"Man, it's hectic here today." She muttered, turning. "First the bookshelves, then Art, now-"

She stopped, staring.

Puck's chair fell over backwards.

Climbing up, his face red, he said, "A tree. In the library."

Peaseblossom nodded, mouth gaping.

It was indeed a tree. Quite a large tree, too, with spreading branches that were necessarily low and twising but nonetheless full of greenery. It was rather thicker in one direction than the other, and was sandwiched between two bookshelves. In fact, it appeared to have quite recently been a bookshelf. Daphne stood in front of it, staring.

"What did you do, Marshmallow?" Puck asked, walking over to the crowd that was forming around the bookshelf/tree.

"I didn't mean to!" Daphne protested. "I was just worried about Art, and wishing I could do something, and I got kind of mad at Tim and... well, maybe death in general, and I... I lost control."

"When you lose control, you go all out." Peter marveled at her, running a hand up the tree bark.

The wide side of the tree was still shelves, but the fronts were covered in bark, and the inside was living wood, even though it didn't have any covering or sap running through it. Puck blinked. It was pretty awesome. Too bad it was a bookshelf and not a prison for small annoying people, though.

"Will it survive in here, though?" Tiger Lily asked. "There's no soil or fresh air."

Alice opened a window and looked at Daphne. "Well?" She said. "You brought it to life. Make it stay alive."

Daphne put a hand on the tree/shelf and closed her eyes. A root stretched out from it with a creak, across the floor, between one of the lost boys' legs, up the wall, and out the window down toward the ground.

Annie shivered. "That's great, but now we can't close the window."

"Maybe we should just go home." Jane suggested. "We're none of us going to get much done anyway. I'll stop by Snow's office and tell her about the window on the way out."

"Sounds good." Renee agreed, heading back to the table where his bag was. "See ya tomorrow, everyone."

Most of the rest of the kids headed out, too, and Puck held his hand out to Daphne. "Whadda ya say, Marshmallow? Want a ride home?"

Daphne shook her head and morphed into a small black bird, hopping over to the open window. Puck shrugged and turned to the other kids who he probably ought to take home- Red, the two humans, and Bella. "Well?" He asked.

Red stuck her hand into Puck's with a small smile, and Bella did her frog thing, hopping to his leg and climbing it with her stickyness to his pocket. The other two stood there awkwardly.

"C'mon." Puck said, holding his hand out to them. "I'm stronger than I look."

"Can we all fit out that window?" The girl, Annie, asked doubtfully. "It looks kind of small."

"O ye of little faith." Puck said. "Just grab my hand, will you? I'm not poisonous."

The two looked at each other, shrugged, and the boy- why did it have to be the boy?- grabbed his hand. The girl grabbed the boy's, and they were off.

It was a bit of a tight squeeze out the window, with the root, but they fit, and Puck got them home safe, making a point to squeeze the boy's hand extra tight. He hoped he was cutting off his circulation. The girl shivered a lot, which threw him off a bit- so did having so much weight on one side, for that matter. He'd liked it much better when it was Sabrina and Daphne. They weighed almost exactly the same- and a few spatters of rain fell now and again, but it was nice enough being in the air that he could ignore it.

When they got home, they were met by Sabrina, who stood on the porch with her serious face on, her arm around Daphne.

"What's wrong?" Red asked.

"They don't know." Sabrina said tightly. "That's the problem. But they're keeping Art here. And we're not allowed inside."

"What?" Marcus asked, starting forward.

"Oh, you two are." Sabrina told Marcus and Annie. "They don't think it's a disease humans can catch. That's why they're keeping him here. But us five-" She gestured to herself, Daphne, Puck, Bella, who was emerging from Puck's pocket, and Red, "- have to stay in the chicken house until they figure out what's wrong and how to fix it."

Annie, shivering, walked past the two girls towards the door, giving them a sympathetic smile as she went. Marcus followed.

"Come on, let's go inside." Red suggested.

The others nodded, heading over to the corner of the yard where the Chicken House liked to rest, dodging the fat raindrops that fell a wide space apart. Once inside, Red and Sabrina headed over to the kitchen wall to make themselves some food, and the other three sat down on the living room half of the long main room.

A few minutes later, Briar walked in. "Oh, let me do that, girls." She said, seeing Sabrina and Red searching the cabinets.

The girls stepped back in obvious relief, letting Briar take over in the kitchen and joining the others on the comfortable chairs on the other end of the room.

"So how was Art when you saw him last?" Bella asked.

"He was starting to wake up, but he didn't look good." Sabrina said. "He was coughing fire again."

"I don't get it!" Bella complained. "What could do that to a fairy? I've never heard of anything like it!"

"Me neither." Puck said. "And you'd think I would have."

"Nurse Spratt got Uncle Jake and Morgan Le Faye to help her check it out." Sabrina said. "They're trying to figure out what it is."

"Do they have any ideas?" Red asked.

Sabrina shook her head. "I just hope they're right and humans can't catch it."

"How could they?" Puck pointed out. "They're not cut out to breathe fire!"

"You'd be surprised." Briar said. "It could have different manifestations for people with different body types. That's why they don't want any Everafters going near him."

Daphne shook her head. "No human's going to catch it. I think most of us are, though. Like you," she nodded at Bella, "are definitely going to get it. "But Red, you might be OK."

"You saw it?" Sabrina asked, glancing at her sister.

Daphne nodded, her expression bleak.

"Well, enough about that." Briar said, trying to sound cheerful. "Come set the table, dinner will be ready soon."

They all got up to help, even Puck, and spent the next several minutes trying and failing to avoid bumping into each other while putting things on the too-small table.

"How are we all going to fit on this table?" Bella asked, looking doubtfully at the six place settings.

"We're going to bump elbows a lot." Daphne said, and this time she wasn't predicting the future.

They did. Even if they hadn't, dinner would have been stressed, because Briar tried very hard to keep the conversation happy, but Daphne, who normally would have been the biggest help, was almost silent, and very surly, The others, too, were worried and uncomfortable.

"If I could just see him, I'd know whether he'd get better or not!" Daphne exploded three-quarters of the way through the meal.

"Well, you can't." Sabrina said, taking a bowl from Bella. "We don't want you getting sick."

"I can't stand it!" Daphne snapped. "I wish I could just-"

"Stop it." Sabrina said, using a tone Puck had never heard her use before. "Stop it, Daphne! There's nothing either of us can do, and going in there is just going to get you sick, and-" She stopped, swallowing. "Art looked worse after we got him home." She whispered. "It was... oh, Daphne, it was awful. I don't think I could stand it if that happened to you."

Daphne stared at Sabrina, wide-eyed, and nodded. "Okay." She whispered, nodding. "I won't."

"Thank you." Sabrina croaked.

"Well, I think it's time for bed." Briar said, standing and beginning to grab plates. "Red, show Daphne where the things she can borrow are?"

"Okay." Red nodded. She stood, pushing her chair in. "Come on, Daphne, let's go."

"What about us?" Bella asked.

"Jake said he'd try to bring some stuff out to you later." Briar said. "If he can't, you can borrow our things. They'll be a bit big for you, but you should be able to manage." She looked at Sabrina. "Was he really that bad?"

Sabrina nodded. "He... I never thought I'd see him look small."

Puck shuddered.

The door slammed open and Uncle Jake walked in, soaking wet, with a bag half under his coat, his eyes looking haunted. He threw the bag at the kids, saying, "Pajamas and toothbrushes."

"What's wrong?" Briar asked, walking towards her husband.

"Don't." Jake said, holding a hand up.

Briar stopped. "What's wrong?"

Jake took a deep breath and said, "Hamstead and Bess both have it."