OH MY GOD. So it turns out I haven't updated this since 2011. YIKES. I am so sorry to everyone who reviewed and supported me, I can only say that it's been kind of a crazy ride these past 7 years. I graduated school, dealt with some serious family illness and then grieved, worked at a job that left me exhausted and feeling like I was going nowhere, decided to return to school, and found that school also left me exhausted, but at least there was a light at the end of the tunnel. I am now completing my last semester of law school, and will be taking the bar in the summer. But I'm honestly in a better place mentally and emotionally, and I decided that I really wanted to write again. This was the result of that, and although maybe it's not what people were hoping for, I'm really proud of it because this was the first time I really, truly, felt the urge to write since 2012.

I hope you all enjoy it, and thank you for not giving up on me. I'm hoping to keep writing, and uploading chapters more frequently now, although things will likely get pretty busy in the next few weeks (lots of various events going on).

To my beta, libaka, you have my unending gratefulness for your encouragement of me over these past 7 years. You've supported me every step of the way, and I couldn't do this without you. You are my best friend, and this chapter is dedicated to you.

disclaimer: I don't own the Sisters Grimm, I only play in Buckley's sandbox.

Chapter 37: Royalty

She's so cold. The room never changes, it's always dark and cold and wet and lonely. She tries and tries to cover the walls with bright colors, but somehow they never seem to stick around for very long. She frantically, desperately coats the walls in red handprints, begging for the color to make the dark go away.

There's a noise behind her, and she turns and a scream rips itself from her throat. The dark found her, and it's going to drag her away and it will hurt and take away the color. She turns to flee and trips over a giant paw. She looks up and sees Kitty, snarling down at her. Her little brother sits astride the beast, and laughs and laughs as Kitty leans down and snaps his teeth at her. She jerks back, and feels the dark wrap around her legs and arms. Praying for someone to hear her, she screams one more time.

She hears someone call out for her.

"Red!"

Flinching back, Red reels and slides off the bed, landing heavily on the wooden floor. She blinks, and gasping for air, she sits up, looking around for Kitty. How could she ever have liked him?

"Red?" Jumping, Red looks up. Sabrina slips off the bed and crouches in front of her. "You okay? What happened?"

Red jerks and starts to stand. "Nothing! I'm fine, I must've just fallen off the bed or something, you know?" She laughs awkwardly, hoping that the older girl will buy it.

Sabrina takes her hand and pulls her back down next to her. "You were whimpering. In your sleep. Did you have a bad dream?"

Slumping, Red nods, hoping that Sabrina can't see the tears welling up. She'd been doing so WELL at putting the past behind her. She hadn't had a nightmare in what felt like weeks, and now she was back where she started, feeling weepy and afraid over a stupid dream.

Sabrina sighs and reaches out, gently tucking a piece of hair behind Red's ear. "Want to talk about it?"

Red shakes her head. She knows it wasn't real, she can tell the truth from a fantasy now. She just doesn't want the dreams anymore. She blinks up at Sabrina as the girl stands, and pulls a blanket from the bed. Red flushes when she sees Daphne peeking curiously over the side of the bed. She must have been making a lot of noise to wake her up.

Daphne smiles warily. "I think you kicked me." Red cringes.

"Sorry…I didn't mean to…" Daphne shrugs off the apology and helps Sabrina untuck the extra blankets from the bed. The two girls wrap one each around their shoulders, and then together wrap the remaining one around Red's thin shoulders.

Sabrina tugs Red to her feet as Daphne goes and pulls three pairs of socks from their dresser. Without speaking, each girl pulls the socks on, and then Sabrina leads the way out of the bedroom. In the hallway, Sabrina waves the girls towards the stairs.

Daphne tugs on Red's hand, and the two slip downstairs to the kitchen. Sabrina has painstakingly taught each of them which creaky stair to avoid, and they manage to get into the dining room without knocking anything over. Red slumps at the table as Daphne wanders over to the fridge, making sure to leave the door to the kitchen open so she can keep an eye on Red.

Red twists and stares as a sleepy eyed Puck wanders into the stack of books by the dining room doorway, and catches the stack before it tips. Sabrina helps him tip it upright, and the two walk into the dining room. Puck flops into the chair next to Red, then pats her head as if to ascertain if she's actually there. He nods once, then puts his head on the table and seems to go back to sleep. Red peeks into the kitchen, and sees Sabrina and Daphne carrying over several glasses of milk and a plate of cookies.

Red glances up as Sabrina puts a glass in front of her, and says quietly, "Why'd you get him?"

Sabrina grins wryly and responds, "We kids have got to stick together."

Puck snorts from beside Red and mumbles, "In other words, if you guys are up we all have to be up." He blearily opens his eyes, sees Red's look of chagrin and Sabrina and Daphne glaring, and quickly says, "But of course my royal presence is necessary to make sure my loyal subjects are alright."

The girls roll their eyes as one, and laugh. Puck jumps as Sabrina puts a glass of milk in front of him. Warily, he looks up to see her stick her tongue out at him. Responding in kind, he then chugs the glass and reaches for a cookie.

The four eat the milk and cookies quietly, periodically talking. Red feels the icy coldness of the dream slowly fade, and relaxes as she listens to the others bicker over cookie-eating technique. Her gaze slowly makes its way over the animated faces of her unusual family, and she smiles to herself as she watches Sabrina get up to get more milk for them.

Red watches Puck's eyes follow Sabrina, and she grins into her hand as he gets up, grabs the empty plate, and walks into the kitchen.

Daphne and Red trade secretive grins as they observe Puck refilling the plate as he watches Sabrina carefully pour the milk into the glasses and place them on a tray. As Sabrina returns the milk to the fridge, Puck scoops up the tray and leaves the kitchen.

Puck gently places the cookie plate and the glasses tray on the dining room table and bows with a flourish. "Does the milk please the princess?" He playfully questions, smiling at Red. Sabrina plunks herself back in her chair, snorting at Puck's antics.

Red blinks, tilting her head to one side. Is this a joke? She's no princess, from what she recalls of her life before Canis became the Wolf, she was a peasant child of a baker and his wife, with a witch for a grandmother.

As Red continues to stare at Puck blankly, Daphne chimes in: "Oh no, the royal princess never speaks to jesters! She is far too regal for that!"

Puck staggers playfully to his seat, dropping all semblance of polite speech and responding, "Oh BURN!"

The Grimm sisters and Puck fall into quiet laughter, careful not to wake the adults upstairs. Red joins with a soft giggle, realizing that Puck was teasing her to cheer her up. She may have been slow on the uptake, but she appreciates the effort.

After the laughter dies down and a few more cookies are eaten, Daphne suddenly snickers. She shrugs when Red, Puck, and Sabrina look at her, and explains, "I was just thinking about what it would be like to be royal. I mean, Puck's kind of a prince, but what kind of royal would the rest of us be?"

Puck swallows the rest of his cookie thoughtfully. "Being a prince sucked. I was always supposed to be perfect and to know everything about everyone who came into the kingdom. I was terrible at it, Mustardseed is a better King of the Fairies. But I'm the best and ONLY Trickster King!" He grins at the girls, and tosses another cookie morsel into his mouth as they laugh.

Daphne rests her chin on her hand. "I wouldn't want to be a princess, or a queen." She declares firmly. "All the stories only talk about them getting married or saved. I'd be a noble knight, and save the day myself!"

Puck and Red laugh in response. Sabrina smiles, and whispers softly to Daphne, "Or a court magician?" Daphne smiles back, remembering the future Daphne, who wielded magic bravely in battle.

Red asks, "What would I be? I don't know anything about royalty." Her childhood and existence prior to joining the Grimms' had never prepared her for this kind of daydreaming.

Sabrina considers Red, and comments wryly, "I think you'd probably hate being royal, too many people. But certainly of noble birth. How about Court Historian?"

Red beams at Sabrina. "That sounds wonderful! I could write down so many stories!" Puck ruffles her hair in response, telling her happily how she could record all of his adventures as Trickster King. The Grimm sisters roll their eyes, but smile as the two Everafters argue over whether Red would have to follow Puck around to write down his adventures, or if she could wait until he came back to his castle and told her about the adventures. The argument continues into whether Canis is a knight or the beast in the castle, whether Granny is a royal advisor or the castle cook, and whether Charming is royal at all or if he spends his time in the stocks.

After several minutes of this, Sabrina quietly starts clearing the empty glasses and cookie plates, and herds the group back up the stairs to bed. It is rather late after all.

After Puck had been dropped off at his room, and the girls bundled into the king-size bed that just barely fit Sabrina and Red sleeping normally, and Daphne sprawled, Red lays curled under the blankets, thinking about their conversation. She realizes with horror that Sabrina hadn't been assigned her role in the imaginary court they'd created. Red rolls over, looking at Sabrina thoughtfully. Who would Sabrina be?

Maybe a knight? She was certainly brave enough, and loyal to those she cared about. Red frowned, somehow that didn't seem right. Maybe a court magician? No, definitely not right. Sabrina wasn't a helpless princess in a castle, waiting for a hero either.

Red grumbles, then freezes when Sabrina stirs, and sleepily pulls the blanket up to Red's chin, pats her head absently, and promptly falls back asleep. Red holds her breath until she's sure Sabrina is actually asleep, and then continues thinking.

She bolts upright with excitement. That's it! The reluctant hero. The underdog. The one who bonds the good guys together to fight evil and overcome it. Red smiles, glancing quickly at Sabrina, who slept on. Sabrina never wanted to be anything more than normal, but she refused to let her family fight alone. She beat impossible odds over and over again to save the day, and was a fantastic leader when she put her mind to it.

Red finally settles down, feeling herself relax without fear of her earlier nightmare. She stares up at the ceiling, thinking happily about her decision for Sabrina. Puck was a King, Daphne a noble knight, and Red a noble Court Historian. Sabrina wasn't noble, she didn't have to be. Maybe Daphne would argue that Sabrina would be a princess or a queen, just so she could see Sabrina and Puck blush at the obvious implications. But, Red thinks firmly, Daphne would be wrong. Sabrina was the hero, maybe she would be elevated to royal status through her deeds or by discovery of some secret, mysterious heritage, but she would always be the hero, and didn't need a crown or a royal birthright. She could do it all on her own.

Again, I hope you all enjoyed this! Thank you for reading it, and your patience all these years. Tons of hugs to all of you.

All my best,

Tam