AN~ Well, it's still technically Friday. And I'm better than last week, when it was almost Sunday. Maybe next week it'll be Friday proper! (Side notes: I just watched Soul Surfer, and can't believe I didn't see it sooner, and Brave, which was absolutely fantabulous.)
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The Winner of Last QotD: jr ride, who says she'd be a stickbug.
New QotD: Your favorite piece of furniture, your worst enemy, and a strange dog are all trapped together on an island in the middle of the ocean, with no idea how you got there and no other forms of life. What happens next?
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Anonymous the second: Puckabrina has never been a major part of this story. That's not going to change just 'cause they're together. You may notice that most of one chapter was focused on Daphne, and Sabrina wasn't even there. Glad you liked it, though. QotD: You answered the QotD for a previous chapter, I'm pretty sure. This one was about bugs. Bunny doesn't quite fit here, though... Also Henry doesn't really DO those after book seven, really. Haven't you noticed? The Angry!Henry is all the fandom, not the character.
Anonymous the first: You're welcome and thank you! You guys are going to have to start signing these things 'til they give you names back...
lovespuck: Really? 'Cause I searched you, and I'm not getting any results. If you have an account, it's all explained in the 'Publish' area. I doubt they'll be doing much resting. (a large portion of your review wasn't, so moving on to the QotD) That'd be neat.
"I found Peaseblossom," Daphne said, looking around a tree. Her voice was strange, rather strangled and confused-sounding.
They'd been wandering on their twisting journey through the woods all day, and Sabrina was extremely grateful for the horses they'd snagged. At least, that's what she kept telling herself, every time they bounced, as he thighs ached and her butt turned into one giant bruise. It was dark, now, and most of the others (some of whom had been complaining and suggesting that they weren't needed for this journey, at which Sabrina had suggested they go home and be useless again) had wanted to set up camp. But Puck and Mustardseed had refused, saying that they weren't stopping until they found their sister.
Sabrina didn't blame them in the least, but she was about ready to fall asleep, even sitting on her extremely displeased walking Pegasus (she hadn't wanted to try a unicorn and be denied), which she'd named Bumpy. But the tone Daphne used woke her up immediately.
"So why don't you sound happy?" Sabrina asked warily.
"She's... in the middle of something," Daphne said, "With someone else."
"Like what?" Puck asked.
"Like... kissing. Kind of. A lot of kissing," Daphne said, biting her lip and not looking at anyone.
Now Puck looked utterly lost as he asked, "Who would she be kissing?"
Sabrina, grateful for an excuse to get off Bumpy's back, slid awkwardly to the ground and, walking with her legs bent out just a bit too much, followed Daphne to the tree, peering around it. On the other side of the particularly thick oak was Peaseblossom, with her eyes closed, pressed against the trunk of another tree, an expression on her face that embarrassed Sabrina as much as she was sure it must have embarrassed Daphne, being kissed extremely passionately on places other than her lips by a boy with his back to them. Sabrina's eyes bugged out and she whipped back around the tree, sure her face was the color of Red's shoes.
"What?" Puck asked, seeing the look on her face.
"They're definitely kissing, all right," Sabrina said tightly, her mouth twisted up and her eyes still huge. "And it's..." Sabrina found herself unable to describe what she'd seen.
She didn't have to, though, because several others had peered around the tree by this time, though Puck stayed by her (she was touched that he'd stuck closer to her than his sister), and now Annie was screeching, "Aaah! My virgin eyes!"
Mustardseed, who had also looked, came up to Puck and said quietly, "Cricket."
"Who?" Daphne asked.
"Her ex-husband," Puck explained, and how his eyes bugged out, too.
"So... what?" Eve asked. "Has she been playing us this whole time? On their side and just pretending to work for us?"
Puck shook his head. "Pease wouldn't do that."
"It sure looks like she would right now," Marcus said darkly. "I mean, what else could it be?"
"They could still be in love, and be meeting here in secret so they can be together," Jane suggested. "Like Romeo and Juliet."
"Only one way to find out," Sabrina said, and turned, ready to confront Peaseblossom. She'd know whether or not she was lying in a minute.
But when she turned, Peaseblossom and her possibly ex husband were standing right there.
"Oh," Daphne said, "Hi."
"How'd you know we were here?" Alice asked.
"You were kind of extremely loud," Peaseblossom said, giving Annie a look. The other girl blushed, giggling a little.
"Right," Sabrina said, "So, now that we're all here together, explanations. Now."
Peaseblossom nodded, and launched into her explanation willingly. The only time Sabrina saw her face flash red was when she said, "I'm fine", which Sabrina found odd. After, she turned to the boy- Cricket, Mustardseed had said, and he told his story, which rang just as true to Sabrina.
She nodded and said, "All right. He's in the clear. But Peaseblossom, you're not okay. And you know it."
Peaseblossom nodded and turned, showing them her mangled wing.
All the fairies hissed. Sabrina assumed getting one's wing injured was worse than she'd imagined, even seeing Puck after his had been ripped off (of course that was bad! her mind protested. They were completely gone!).
"Here, let me help," Bella said, coming forward. "Wendell, can you grab my bag? It's still on the horse."
"Pegasus," Daphne corrected.
"Whatever."
Bella led Peaseblossom off to the side, then made a face. "There's nowhere clean around here. How am I supposed to doctor someone in conditions like this?"
"We could set up the tents," Renee suggested, "Since it's dark and everything."
"Can it wait a bit longer?" Daphne asked, looking around with her brows furrowed. "I know this place. It's where Art-" Sabrina cut off a growl "-and I stayed when the giants attacked. I have somewhere we can be safe, if you don't mind a bit of a walk."
There were some groans, but everyone agreed eventually, and Daphne led the way on her unicorn (named Princess) though a tight, winding trail. They eventually came out in a mossy clearing that was familiar to her and Art, at least, if none of the others, and began setting up the tents in the almost-darkness of the web of leafless branches overhead.
By the time the tents (which had been hit with Uncle Jake's stretching powder) were set up, it was almost one in the morning, by Sabrina's estimation, but Bella was determined to work on Peaseblossom's wing right then.
"She's had that injury for weeks!" Bella protested. "If I don't fix it as soon as possible, who knows what'll happen!"
"Fine." Sabrina muttered. "But if you need a light on-"
"I do," Bella said.
Sabrina groaned and muttered, "I'm sleeping in the guy's tent."
"No you're not!" one of the lost boys protested. "We have to change in here!"
"Fine," Sabrina groused, "Then I'll just sleep outside."
She did, lying there under the stars while most of the girls tried to sleep inside, despite Bella's fixing noises- how loud did she have to be to work on a wing?- and her light, and Peaseblossom's moans. Sabrina was pretty sure that she'd gotten a better night's sleep than any other females on the trip, but that didn't stop her from being exhausted when she woke up the next morning, sunlight streaming on her face in dappled patches, one of which was pointed directly at her eye.
She groaned and rolled over, determined to go back to sleep, but she rolled directly into something hard, so she pulled back and blinked at it, her brow furrowed. It was a... foot? A foot in a large, muddy boot. Who did she know who wore boots?
She let her eyes wander up the leg and saw Puck at the top of them. That was odd. She didn't even know he owned boots. She told him so.
Puck snickered and said, "Good morning to you, too."
"Morning," Sabrina said, smiling at him, "Where are the boots from?"
Puck shrugged and said, "I figured practical shoes, since we'd be walking around a lot. And I found them in the basement."
Sabrina found that the brief conversation had woken her entirely too much for her to fall back asleep, so she rose, still bleary, and asked, "What's for breakfast?"
"Nothing, yet," Puck told her, "It's, like, six. We're the only two people up."
"Mmm..." Sabrina said, leaning in to him with a little smile, "That means we get to- make whatever we want!" She pulled back and went off to rummage through the packs of food.
Puck, who had been leaning back into Sabrina eagerly (they hadn't had much alone time in the past few days, and both were missing it, looked at her, shocked and disappointed, and said, "You tease!"
Sabrina turned back and winked at him, then said, "What do you want to eat?"
Puck muttered something that sounded incredibly like 'revenge', but headed over to see what his options were. "That," he said, pointing out a box of pancake mix.
"Go start a fire, then?" Sabrina asked, pulling out the selected box and rummaging around for oil and a box of dehydrated egg-like flakey things. "I have to find the pan and stuff."
"Sure," Puck said, turning. As he headed off, he smacked Sabrina's butt- hard.
She dropped the pancake mix, and with a small shriek, turned to glare at him. He just grinned at her and said, "Payback."
"See if I make you pancakes again," Sabrina told him, still glaring and rubbing her behind.
"You love me," Puck told her nonchalantly, an easy grin on his face as he turned to the already-made pile of firewood in the pit left by Daphne and Art, to light it.
"You sure about that?" Sabrina asked, turning back to the pack, still hunting for the egg stuff.
"No," Puck said simply, "But I know that I love you."
Sabrina stopped moving, her eyes widening. "Y-you love me?" She asked. He'd never said that before.
"Yeah," he said, looking at her scantwise. "Was that the wrong thing to say?"
"No. No!" Sabrina hurried to assure him, "It was just... unexpected, is all. It's... wow. You love me. Wow." She grinned, rummaging again. Maybe she'd make him pancakes more than once after all.
She and Puck worked on breakfast silently for a minute, Sabrina, having found everything she needed, heading over to a stream running through the glen to get water for both the powdered egg and the mix itself, Puck stacking wood and working up a belch. After he'd exploded the wood into flames, he stood a rickety metal grate over it and turned to Sabrina, his eyebrows together.
Sabrina, coming towards the fire bearing a heavy skillet and a bowl of batter, looked at him curiously, her leftover smile faltering. "What?" she asked.
"You didn't say it back," he pointed out. "Don't you... Do you, too?" He didn't seem to be able to get all the words out.
"Puck, I-" Sabrina started to say, pulling a little closer to him, her expression intensifying, but at that moment, the boy's tent flap opened, and Mr. Clay walked out, giving them an odd look.
His expression blanked out for a second, almost as if he'd decided he didn't want to know, and then he asked, "What's for breakfast?"
"Pancakes," Sabrina told him, keeping her face just as blank. She wasn't sure if she was upset they'd been interrupted or relieved she didn't have to deal with the suddenly tense air between her and Puck.
Puck gave her a look that suggested this isn't over yet, and she placed the buttered skillet down on the grate, pouring pancake batter into it, letting herself be absorbed by the cooking, and smothering a yawn. She hadn't gotten nearly enough sleep to function right, and she hoped that finding Peter and Wendy would be easier than finding Peaseblossom had been. Hopefully they'd be nearby, staying put, and found by three in the afternoon. Then they could have camp set up by dinner, and she could go to bed early.
As she was planning her optimum second day out (because the first had been less than the best), the others started to stumble out of the tents, looking just as tired as she felt, taking her pancakes as fast as she could eat them. Halfway through feeding her crew, she ran out of mix, and was about to relay the news to everyone else when Peaseblossom appeared at her shoulder with another bowlful.
"Thanks," she said gratefully, taking the bowl and pouring more batter.
"No problem," Peaseblossom said with a smile, sitting down next to her. "We didn't get to catch up last night, really. I mean, you know my bare bones, but I don't know what's going on here, really, or what your life has been like at all."
Sabrina shrugged and said, "It's been busy. We're here on a mission to kick the Scarlet Hand's butt however we want, ordered by Charming, and I ended up in charge with Mustardseed somehow, and I have no idea what we're doing other than looking for Peter Pan and Wendy. Once we get that done..." She trailed off and shrugged, "Well, it's up in the air. How's your wing?"
Peaseblossom shrugged. "It hurts. But Bella fixed it up a bit so now it'll heal right, as long as I don't move it too much."
"Soo..." Sabrina asked, "What's this mean, exactly?"
"I won't be able to transform or fly, pretty much," Peaseblossom explained. "I'm kind of useless at the moment, sorry."
Sabrina shrugged, pouring more batter into the pan and said, "I'm just glad to have you back. Even if you brought a tagalong."
They both looked scantways at Cricket, and Peaseblossom smiled. "I just...can't resist, you know? He's... well, he's not that great a guy, if I'm honest. He's kind of weak-willed, and a bit of a coward. But he's so sweet, and I love him in spite of everything, you know? And now that he's left for me, there's nothing to keep us apart."
Sabrina very carefully looked not at Puck and said, "I guess."
Peaseblossom looked at her and laughed. "Yeah, you probably wouldn't know. You're still young enough that you haven't learned what it is to love someone's faults along with the rest of them."
Sabrina stared at the pan hard, her face flaming. Did she love Puck like that? For his good points and his bad ones? Did she even love him? How did she know what love was? It occurred to her that Peaseblossom was the best person to ask about love, at least the best person she had available, until she got back to her mom. So she said, "You must be lucky. I mean, how many people fall in love with someone from an arranged marriage?"
Peaseblossom smiled knowingly and said, "You'd be surprised. Most parents who arrange a marriage try to pick someone their child will get along with, at least, and the... closeness, over time it can grow into something more, if they weren't in love already." Seeing the look on Sabrina's face she hurriedly added, "I'm not saying that it's the best option, but a lot of the time, parents have their kids' best interests at heart, and it can work out."
"How'd it happen?" Sabrina asked, handing her a pancake. "I mean, you're really different, and I know neither of your parents were planning on finding someone suited for you."
"We got on horribly at first," Peaseblossom said, taking the pancake. "But we learned to deal with each other after a year or so, and we were both teenagers, and our bodies wanted... physical closeness, so one night I gave in. And after that... it's a bond that's hard to break, once you've been that close. So the emotional ties grew out of it."
Sabrina was flushing for a different reason, now, remembering how she'd seen Peaseblossom the night before, and thinking of the phrase 'physical closeness'. After she'd composed herself, she asked, "And... how'd you know? When it was love, I mean."
Peaseblossom smiled dreamily and said, "I don't think there was an actual moment when I just knew. It was a long transition. I think if I had to put a marker on it, it'd be the day he was almost taken down by a dragon. It scared me to death, and I realized that I didn't think I could live without him."
Sabrina blinked, thinking 'whoa', but then frowned. "But you did live without him," she pointed out.
Peaseblossom shrugged. "Well, we have to change, sometimes. And I decided that my happiness wasn't worth everyone else's."
"You seemed pretty happy, though," Sabrina said, frowning a little, "Most of the time."
Peaseblossom shrugged again and said, "I guess I learned to cope."
"Was it hard?" Sabrina asked, pouring the last of the batter into the pan and looking around to make sure she didn't need even more. She didn't. Good. The last pancake was hers.
"Incredibly, sometimes," Peaseblossom said, swallowing a mouthful. "But sometimes it was easy. And then I felt guilty. But I felt guilty when it was hard, too. It's so much easier now he's here."
Sabrina smiled and flipped the pancake. "I'm happy for you," she said sincerely.
Peaseblossom grinned. "Thanks. So... what's it been like for you guys? Really, I mean, not just the overview."
Sabrina, glancing at her pancake to gauge its doneness, said, "Your brother and I were stuck in a corner of the town for two whole weeks, Pease. Do you know what that was like for me?"
Peaseblossom laughed. "Poor baby."
"It's not funny!" Sabrina protested. "It was wet and I was wet, and our clothes smelled funny- well, his smelled funnier than usual, and it was cold, and all we had to eat were potato chips, and it was just the two of us, and- stop laughing!"
"Your pancake is burning," was all Peaseblossom replied with.
"Eep!" Sabrina shrieked, pulling her smoking breakfast off the fire and tossing it between her hands to keep from burning herself. Once it had cooled down enough that she could eat it without burning herself, she shoved it in her mouth, not bothering with syrup or butter or jam or even a plate. It was good. Even if it was burnt.
After everyone finished eating, the tents were packed up, the fire put out, the bags resealed, and everyone bundled onto their horse-type creatures. Unfortunately, they were now two short (and their extra pack Pegasus carried Mr. Clay), so Peaseblossom's husband turned himself into a palomino stallion, and Peaseblossom climbed onto him. Sabrina and Bumpy eyed each other warily, neither pleased about the arrangement they were being forced into, but eventually she ended up on his back, and they were off again, Daphne leading the way with her magic string.