"You know," Edith said as she ran her fingers through Lillian's bright curls, "Sybil never let me do this for her. All of us wanted to comb her hair… it was so soft when she was a baby. I think even Carson was tempted. But she was far too active, never wanting to sit still. Always squirming and wiggling like an escaped fish. Didn't learn to sit still until she was older and by the it wasn't as fun. I always wanted to play with her baby hair, smooth a black silk. But she hated anyway fiddling with her hair… gave Mama absolute fits when she tried to have the nanny put it in little styles." She smiled and trickled her fingers down her baby sister's scalp, the little girl letting out a happy little murmur. She was a quiet thing, startling so, but very lovely. Edith had spent so little time around her and she already knew she loved her and would use all the power she held in this life to protect her. "Like a kitten really. Yes you are." Seeing the little girl finally fall into her afternoon nap Edith leaned down and kissed her cheek before she looked up. "Thank you Michael for being so understanding. I know this isn't what you imagined-"

He held up his hand. "Think nothing of it. She is a delight and you are as well."

They were in Michael's house, a two story structure that he had purchased a year or so before the war, roughly the size of Crawley House. One would have thought it far too large for a single person to live in though when she'd brought that up he'd merely given her a dry look and pointed out that every member of her family could have their own WING. She'd wisely changed the subject. There were several rooms that saw little use but he used those for storage. The rest, mostly on the top floor, had been converted into offsite offices for the paper, where he could work on articles or layouts even when away from the presses. And, of course, there was her own room that he provided her, which she these last two years spent far more time in than she did at the Lothrops. It was highly improper and in any other time would have been the talk of London, but with the War people simply didn't have the energy anymore to care about such things, or even notice them to be honest.

'Which is well and good, considering I never use even it anymore,' she thought with the smallest of smirks. 'After all, it is far more enjoyable to wake up in a pair of strong arms than by myself…' She looked over to the owner of those arms that she loved to be held in and smiled weakly and bashfully. "I'm sorry, I'm sure that this isn't what you were hoping for on our day off…"

Michael though waved her off, leaning in the archway that led towards the dining room, arms folded over his chest and an odd look… partially bemusement but there was something else mixed in there… flashing across this face. "It's more than fine. Your mother had things to do and you should spend time with your sister." He chuckled lightly as he watched Lillian quietly sleep. " She's a sweet little thing, isn't she?"

"So very much so," Edith stated. "And I am rather fond of her hair."

"I can tell."

"Not like that," she said with a playful huff. She gestured at her own short hair, the ends slightly curled. "I always felt I was the odd one out in my family, thanks to my hair. Mary, Sybil, mama… they all had those ebony locks. People said it made them look striking and determined. I know that there are those that think blonde hair is attractive but for me it never seemed to work out as such. It comes from Papa, you know, but I can't exactly bond with him over it." She chuckled at the thought of braiding Papa's hair and putting little bows in it. "But with Lillian? We have something special that only we share. Something that Sybil and Mary will never have with her." Michael nodded, motioning for her to follow, and the two of them went into the dining room, Michael's cook bringing in a platter with a pot of tea and biscuits for them to nibble on while they waited for Lillian to awaken. "You know, having her sleep on your couch is rather inappropriate. I dare say some of my old nannies and governesses would suffer heart flutters at the sight of it."

"Do tell," Michael said, pouring for her.

"There was one time when I was very little… I must have been, oh I don't know, 2 or 3 at the time, and I was just so tired that day. I don't know why, perhaps I was coming down with something. I can't remember. What I do remember is we were in our playroom, Mary and I, and I ended up going right to sleep right there on the floor. Oh our nanny had such a fit, woke me up screeching about how it wasn't proper for a little lady to nod off like that."

"Sounds dreadful," Michael stated. "Why are you smiling about it, though? I assume there is more to the tale?"

"Quite. I began sobbing because I was so scared and so tired and then all of a sudden Mary yelled at her to stop. So forceful it startled us both and brought the servants running, Carson at the head of the pack. And Mary turned to them and said, "I am Lady Mary Crawley, daughter of his Lordship the Earl of Grantham, and this woman is keeping my sister from sleeping! Carson, remove her!" And when he paused for only a moment she shot him such a glare that he did just that." Edith giggled lightly at the memory. "I found out later that Granny demanded she be sacked, said she was utterly foolish. "We spend so much time trying to get a child to sleep and when one does without any prompting you bellow like a jungle monkey for them to stay awake? Why, that makes no sense, no sense at all!" But of course I thought it was all Mary, that she had saved me from the horrid woman. For nearly a month she and I never feuded once, I was so grateful to her." Edith smiled wistfully at that, remembering so simpler days.

"What would you like to do once Lillian wakes up?" Michael asked.

"I was thinking we might take a small stroll. Mama left her plenty of warm clothes so she won't catch a chill and I know that when us girls woke up from our naps we always seemed to have even more energy to burn. Even if I can't very well see Lillian darting about splashing in puddles." She glanced back at the living room… her tender-hearted sister would have stopped at the puddles and apologized for disrupting them had she not seen such things as 'silly'. A quiet, serious little girl who loved to play but in her own way and did not suffer foolishness lightly. Mama had warned her that Lillian was very bright and she should not talk down to her or treat her as she might other children. Asking her foolish questions to which there was only one answer would result in the most dry of stares from her.

"When is your mother expected to return?"

"Around 4, long before dinner. We'll be able to go out, if you wish, or have your cook prepare something if we are to stay in."

"I rather think I'd like to stay in. There are times when a man wishes to show the world he has the most beautiful woman on his arm and other times where he wishes to keep her all to himself."

Edith shook her head. "Flatter me too much and I'll get a big head."

Michael leaned forward, a teasing smile on his lips. "Would you think it utterly ridiculous of me if I said you having a big head meant there was more of you to love?"

"…yes, it would."

"Then I'm glad I didn't say it."

The two chuckled together at that before sipping their tea in silence for several minutes.

"Where did your mother need to go again?" Michael asked. Her bringing Lillian to them had been a rather spur of the moment occurrence, one neither of them had expected when they'd woken up that morning.

"The doctor." Edith quickly rushed to continue. "There is nothing wrong… she's merely put off having herself examined since the war began. Dr. Clarkson has been our doctor for so long that I think the idea of someone else tending to her made Mama rather… shy."

"I can see that. Rather like having a new maid or valet begin dressing you."

"A good way to put it, yes. I quite agree."

"And how are things with your mother? Between you and her I mean?"

Edith put down her tea cup before she could take a drink from it, considering what he was asking. "Well, I suppose… it's funny but I do not see myself having an issue with Mama, at least not when it comes to how I arrived in London. There were other things, other problems that remain between us, but I honestly don't know if those will ever be brought up and settled. I'd hate to seem like some shrew that was holding grudges for things long past." 'And not so long past,' she silently thought but she squashed that thought away.

She continued. "It would be easy to say that things remain difficult. Or that things had been fixed and all was right. But the simple fact of the manner is that my relationship with Mama, or Papa for that matter, has never been a simple thing that could be clearly defined by a few short words. It is a tangled mess, like a ball of yarn a kitten as played with and rendered quite possibly unsalvagable, and at times it is hard for me to understand it myself, let alone describe it to others."

"Try, please," Michael said, reaching out and placing his hand over hers. "I think it would be good for you to express yourself." He smiled reassuringly. "If you have become so entangled in your own mind, like your figurative kitten, that you can't even describe how things are with your mother…" He shook his head, gathering himself again. "Perhaps we can work through your feelings, together."

Edith looked down at her tea cup, watching the liquid ever so slightly sway back and forth like little waves. It was oddly calming, to see the pitching back and forth of her drink in that tea cup. Soothing despite it being chaotic and it let her take a moment to gather her thoughts before she spoke. She wanted to make sure that she got things correct, that she said what she wanted to say and didn't become tongue twisted or begin rambling on, heading off the beaten path and getting lost like someone wandering through the woods who selected the odd offshoot path.

"For the longest time I envied my sisters. Hated them too, I am ashamed to admit. I looked at them and saw what they possessed... and what I lacked... and in my blind greed I wanted it."

"And what was that?" Michael pressed, refusing to let things go easy for her.

"My parent's attention," Edith said simply. "I will not sit here and claim that I was unloved, as that would be a lie of the foulest sort. I know that Mama and Papa loved me. This isn't some novel by Dickens where I was shoved away in some forgotten part of the Abbey, fed through a flap in the door and seen as a ghost by new servants who had never heard tell of me."

"Good, though I do admit I like the idea of me being the brave new arrival who discovers you and takes you away from that life and introduces you to song and laughter."

"I'm sure you do," Edith said with a coy smile before getting back to the topic at hand. "But for my parents I do not thing there is a single aspect where I was their favorite or their focus. One hears of children who split the focus and pride of their mothers and fathers... this one is taller, this one prettier. The smart one, the funny one, the charming one, the strong one. The one you ask to perform in front of others and the other you request help you keep things running. But with me I was forever second place, the lesser of another. Mary was the eldest; the charmer who drew all the world to her. The cutting wit, our Granny born again. All wanted to be around her. She was going to marry Patrick and be the true ruler of Downton, as she would have been had she been born a boy.

"Sybil, darling sweet Sybil... was that and yet more. Oh, everyone loved her, and in a much different way than Mary. With Mary she was the one that men flocked to and women wanted to befriend. With Sybil all wanted to aid her and protect her because they knew she would aid and protect them in return." Edith chuckled. "Mary was fierce and determined, that was true, but Sybil could do the same without any of the ice and venom. No, if Mary was the Queen of Ice then Sybil was the Queen of Flames. Everything about her burns hot... her dreams, her hopes, her desires. She loves more than all others and fights with more vigor than any I have ever seen.

"And then there was me. The one that could so easily get lost in the dance. The overlooked. I'm not flashy like Mary and Sybil. Not in the slightest. Even when I tried it was a pale imitation, like an actor pretending to be a king. They might put on the crown and the gems but you... just know they aren't a king. If they are the Queens of Fire and Ice then I am the Queen of Mud. Just… there."

Michael fiercely shook his head. "You undersell yourself. Queen of Mud… you are the Queen of Earth."

"A lofty title…" Edith stated.

"Not the planet. The ground. The soil. Fire and Ice can't be controlled. They do as they wish and are just as much a harm as a help. But Earth? Earth is where all are nurtured and fed and cared for. That is you."

Edith blushed at that. 'The Queen of Earth,' she thought to herself, rather liking the title… though perhaps that was because of the way Michael said it. "The grand events in my life were never truly their focus either. With Mary it was the first time… the first steps, the first ride, the first season…" She shook her head with mild mirth. "Have I ever told you about what Mary's original wedding plans were?"

"A touch," Michael stated. "I remember you warning me that it would be an all day affair and that I should ready myself to spend much of my time standing around waiting for her to go from one place to another."

Edith sipped her tea. "If anything I was underplaying it. The day would start with us finding the servants moving about, trying to make Downton even grander than it normally is. We would be allowed a quick breakfast and then you would have been taken to the church to wait for several hours while it was my duty to help Mary dress and tell her how pretty she was and praise her for every little action. Then would come the parade-"

"The parade?" Michael asked, amused.

"Yes. That is the only way I can properly describe it. A parade of one where Mary would have ridden in a carriage through all of Downton where every man, woman, and child would have thrown flower petals at her so that it snowed in the summer. When she finally arrived we would go through the whole ceremony then returned to Downton where we would have to yet again wait for her to arrive before having our 10 course meal-"

"Surely you are joking," Michael said, brow rising higher and higher as Edith spoke.

She merely shook her head. "And that is being conservative. Then there would be dancing and toasts and… maybe we would get to bed before the sun rose again."

"You mean set."

"No, I don't."

"Crickey."

Edith laughed. "Quite. Do you see now why her simple marriage to Matthew in a nearly empty church was so startling?" Michael nodded his head, joining Edith in remembering that rushed event, how commonplace it had been and how the touches of luxury had only come from the Lothrops and their kindness. "Now, allow me to predict exactly how my wedding would have gone. And I say my wedding because I have a sinking feeling that Papa would have only gone with what I am about to describe had I married an earl or someone of higher standing." She grimaced and quickly moved to reassure him. "Michael, do not think-"

He held up his hand and smiled. "Peace, Edith, peace. I know of my standing in this world and know that my title and my new found wealth ensure that I will never be considered one of your ilk, at least in the way the world was before this dreadful war." He drained his cup and poured himself out a bit more. "That is the way it is with people of your class. The poorest lord whose son was a pimpled thing that could barely stop the drool from dribbling down his chin will be seen as better marriage material than myself no matter what I do."

"And that doesn't bother you?" Edith asked.

"What should I care how people living in an outdated world feel? You, my dear, are all that matter. You live in the modern world and it is your opinion that matters."

She shook her head, bringing her hand up to hide her smile even as she blushed. "Again, you must stop flattering me like that." Once she had a firmer grasp on her emotions she continued on. "For my marriage to someone from… well, the outdated world… I would have received a quiet ride to the church, a dinner where all the right people brought in so that my parents could feel it was more of a party than anything else, and then retiring by 10."

"And Sybil?"

"Assuming it was someone other than Tom?"

"Of course."

"Oh, everything Mary got."

Michael gave her a flat look.

"I'm not exaggerating. I promise you that. She would have gotten everything Mary got."

"How can you think that?" Michael asked, a note of shock and horror tinting his words.

"Because that is how the family is. Mary is the first. There is a specialness to it. I am the second, the expected. And Sybil is the last chance. The last chance for Papa to walk us down the aisle, the last chance for a grand affair at Downton. Not just with marriage but all things. Mary's first season was seen as this magical thing while Sybil's first was the final one we would have. Mine was just… a season. As simple as that, really." She paused. "I'm not bitter." Edith frowned. "No, that's not true. I was very bitter. I sometimes wonder how that affected my relationship with them both, to have those scars that they didn't cause but were the cause of. Would things have been better between the three of us if we had been treated as equals?" She sighed, resting her chin on her hand, elbow on the table in a very unladylike state. "I find myself doubting as I feel that Mary would have still found a way to draw attention from me and to her.

"But everything that happened, this grand falling out, it has taught me that there were pains Mary and Sybil went through that I didn't see because I was far too busy focusing on myself and my own slings and arrows. I longed for the attention they had but now I see just how stifling that could be. To have to live under the microscope far more than I ever did. Every action judged, to the point that Mary had to weigh every step she took before she even planted her foot and Sybil felt that her life was being planned out without even a chance to give her input. Is it any wonder Mary was so utterly tense? That she snapped and snarled at me? I see now the jealousy she had that she wouldn't even admit to having. That there is a freedom to be able to ask for an extra biscuit without fearing that people would judge you!" She took such a treat and nibbled on it to prove her point. "And Sybil… much of her rebellion makes far more sense now that I have seen just what Mama and Papa did to her. She was seeking out ways to empower herself but her own natural desire to help others blended with that… and thus she wants to give ALL women the vote. To have ALL women be able to have jobs. So on and so forth."

Michael frowned, taking a biscuit himself and nibbling on it. She had seen him doing that often enough, mainly when one of his reporters came in with a hot tip or story that could make headlines… but also opened them up to risks. Where he had to mull over the information, to decide how he wished to respond. It was part of the reason she loved him; Michael knew when to be rash and daring and to seize the moment… but he also knew when to be careful, when to actually pause and breathe and take in the world. She was far too used to men in her social circles who would believe that the wealth of their fathers allowed them to do whatever they wanted and they could get away of it. They would have heard what she said and instantly rushed forward with their opinions wouldn't actually hearing what she said… considering what she said.

"So much of the issues you have with your mother were there before you left… and from the sounds of it they aren't the reason why you keep your distance from her now. Even though it would be easy to blame all that. So the question remains why you still keep your mother at arm's length."

"Because of Mary. Because of Sybil. Because they aren't ready yet to forgive her. Mary because of what happened with Matthew and Sybil because of Tom and what may come." She shook her head. "I haven't been the best sister to them and they to me. We all admit it. We love each other but we all had our problems… and more so focused too much on our own problems. But now the War has given us a chance to be better sisters to each other… and I won't give that up." She looked towards the living room. "Especially since it isn't just the three of us anymore." She smiled and turned back to him. "I am willing to be there when mother needs me, for Lillian's sake, but that is all. Until Mary and Sybil have forgiven them that is all I can give." Michael nodded silent once more. "Well?"

"I was just thinking… that means of the three… four of you… you now have the least offensive of partners."

Edith blinked.

And when the laughter came it felt oh so good.

~MC~MC~MC~

'This is all my worst nightmares rolled into one.'

Matthew watched as Lavinia and Mary discussed a luncheon they had gone to a few days ago and some chaotic scene that had occurred a few tables away from theirs. Something about an old woman and a wig, Matthew honestly wasn't paying attention to what they were saying and he had a feeling that had he simply stood up and walked away they might not have even noticed. The story had been for his benefit but now that they were telling it they were lost in bringing up points and events. It was mildly concerning to see Mary talking so rapidly and breathlessly when he was used to her being poised and confident. Instead she was behaving like a young woman who had snuck too many treats out from under the cook's nose.

"And then she just began flinging her arms about, not paying attention-"

"-her waiter is trying to get her to notice that everything is now backwards-"

"-I think it was actually another waiter."

"Was it?"

"Yes i-"

"No wait, you are right, it was."

It was giving Matthew a migraine trying to follow them and that was before he had to deal with all his greatest terrors being rolled into a single ball. The mistakes he had made in the past that had led to the suffering of others. A reminder of who he once had been, someone he frankly wasn't pleased with, and of course the thing that all men dreaded: a former love and their current wife swapping tales and stories.

'Except this isn't like that at all,' he mentally thought. 'I haven't hurt Lavinia in this life. She has only just met me and I will never shackle her to a man that can not love her in the way she deserves.' He watched as her and Mary began to giggle like children sharing a secret. 'She's happy. The solemnness that I had seen in her in those final months, first when she was dealing with my morose self and then when it was clear that I was still drawn to Mary, isn't there. She is lighter than I remember save for when I first met her and even then things are different for her.' A waiter came and brought them menus and the two ladies grew quiet as they thought about what they wished to order while Matthew pretended to examine his menu while in reality examining Lavinia. 'Mary and she are good together. Mary was kind to her in my first life; I remember her telling me that.' Lavinia had admitted that she'd feared that Mary would make her a target but instead had been nothing but polite... perhaps a bit too forced at times but polite nonetheless.

"What about this?" Mary asked, showing Lavinia her menu and pointing at something.

"That seems rather large just for you."

"Yes but if I get it then you can help me finish it. Entirely improper, of course."

"Yes, quite," Lavinia said with a slight quirking of her lips before the two of them began to quietly laugh. "Oh, I think we've left your husband out of the joke."

Not Matthew. "Mary's Husband". That was who he was. Someone she had only met. Someone whom she never danced with, or kissed, or discussed dreams of children and growing old together with. "Mary's husband".

"It's quite alright," he said with a pleasant smile. "I am, after all, interrupting your meal."

"You are joining us, not interrupting," Lavinia stated.

"I think I prefer how he put it," Mary said with a smirk.

Yes, Lavinia was a reminder of who he had once been but that was, quite literally, another life. And he had learned from it and would continue to learn from it. 'Seeing her will force me never to grow lax,' he thought as Mary began to explain another adventure the two of them had had. 'It will hold me to the mark.' He sipped his water and began to actually look at his menu. 'She isn't my Lavinia. She is another woman with the same name and similar features but quite different from the woman I knew.' He decided on a pasta dish and turned his attention to the two women, letting their happiness flow over him.

When the waitress came and began to take their orders Matthew turned his thoughts inward once more. 'She is very much not like the Lavinia I knew. Mary's friendship has changed her and will continue to change her, I assume.' He frowned a little at that line of thought. 'But am I being kind in such ponderings? Is it fair to think about my Lavinia and then compare her to this one? To judge her against the one from my previous life? Their lives had been altered... the same as all of us.' He looked at Mary and smiled. 'I only need to look to her to see the truth in that. This Mary and the one from my previous life are so very different that, were the given new faces one would never recognize them as being the same. It makes it easier at times to forget.' The Mary before her was not weighed down quite so heavily by the scandals and sins of the past, real or imagined. There had been no rape to give her a false sense of inferiority. And there hadn't been dithering concerning their marriage so the guilt that she wasted so much of their time that they could have had being happy wasn't there either; even if he did feel it was his fault as much as hers for he hadn't fought for her like he should have. Lavinia and Carlise didn't lie between them for, despite how much either of them had wanted to pretend those relationships hadn't mattered after that most happy of New Years when they'd finally stopped being alone, the specters of those two had forever haunted them. The fight about the money would never occur nor Matthew's worry that even after all they had done Mary still cared more for Downton than she did for him.

None of that had happened. Would happen.

The same was true with Lavinia. She would know happiness... he wanted so desperately for her to have that. He would have wished for her, had she lived and he had gathered the courage to admit that Mary was the only woman, and he wished it so now.

So he would do all he could to stop judging her against a past that didn't exist and a future that would never come. He would treat this woman as a stranger that he would get to know. Perhaps they would become the closest of friends and perhaps she would merely remain someone he saw when Mary wished to have a party and needed another place at the table. All he could do is wait and see.

Their lunch came and the three of them ate with proper cheer; nothing showy or scandalous but without the awkwardness that could have descended upon the table. They talked of little things, of Mary's baking and Lavinia's volunteer work and Matthew's duties for the military.

"Here," Matthew said, passing Mary a saltshaker once her dessert, a pudding, arrived.

Mary actually snorted at that. "Good God!" she whispered in a gruff voice and the two of them began to laugh.

"Now you simply can't say something like that and not explain the story behind it," Lavinia said, nodding in polite thanks as the waiter brought them their final drinks; wine for Mary and Lavinia and a coffee for Matthew; no spirits for him when he needed to return to the office after this.

Matthew shared a looked with Mary before he began. "It happened a year or so into my time at Downton. Mary's mother was holding a party and I do think she was attempting to set up Edith or Sybil with Sir Anthony Strallan-"

"Something that makes me quite glad you and I had grown closer so that she didn't toss him my way." To Lavinia she clarified, "Sir Anthony is older than my father and a rather bland man."

'And a cad,' Matthew mentally thought, remembering the wedding that never was. He didn't know what had happened to the man but after what he had done to Edith he wouldn't rush to wish him well. "During this same time our cook, Mrs. Patmore, was suffering an... illness?"

"Not sure that is quite the right word," Mary stated. "Ailment?"

"Perhaps... it doesn't matter. She was losing her eyesight. Oh, she's fine now, Robert paid for her surgery to repair her vision. But that was after this dinner and Mrs. Patmore had already caused a stir by refusing to make Sir Anthony's favorite dessert, insisting on a pudding she knew quite well."

"Even if she didn't know where the ingredients were."

Lavinia's eyes went wide as she clued in on what they were getting that. "Oh... oh the poor dear." She shook her head, smiling despite her pity for Mrs. Patmore. "What did she do?"

"Replaced the sugar with salt." Mary said. "Thus... Oh Good God!" Matthew and she began to laugh again, Lavinia joining in. "I dare say it left an impression on all of us."

"I would imagine so!" Lavinia let out a bemused sigh. "I honestly find it hard to picture... not the salted pudding, that is easy enough to envision, but rather dining in Downton. Even if things were fair between you and your parents I wouldn't want to have a meal there."

"You wouldn't?" Matthew asked, surprised.

"Of course not!" Lavinia said with the slightest of smiles. She sipped her wine before continuing. "Everyone looking at me, judging every action I took, seeing me as an outsider and waiting for me to make a mistake... I can't imagine how you did it, Matthew. You are far braver than me. I dare say I'd spend the entire meal fighting butterflies."

Mary began to reassure Lavinia that she would do quite well but Matthew heard none of that. Instead something was occurring to him, a thought that shook everything he had believed about his past life. He had been thinking that he been unfair to compare this Lavinia to the one he had known. But now he wondered if he had even truly known her in that first life.

"…that handsome man you've been writing to," Mary was saying, causing Matthew to break from his thoughts.

"You make it sound so scandalous!" Lavinia hissed in an embarrassed tone. "We're childhood friends, you know that. I write so he knows there is someone in England that worries about him as he goes racing across Europe delivering soldiers and supplies."

"But you want to be more than friends…?" Mary pressed. Lavinia, after a moment, nodded slightly, biting her lower lip as a smile teased her features.

'No,' Matthew thought with a mental grimace. 'Having to sit and listen to a woman you were engaged to talk with your wife about a man she clearly loves? That is my worst nightmares rolled into one!'

~MC~MC~MC~

Author's Notes: So fun fact… this chapter wasn't supposed to exist. We were supposed to get a Robert chapter and then a Sybil chapter, then Edith, then a Sybil and Allen chapter, and then Matthew thinking back on the dinner months later. But… fans demanded a followup and I rearranged things. Thank goodness I bank so many chapters ahead of time!

And now it is time for our plot bunny, inspired by two movies I watched while I was on vacation and stuck in Shelter In Place. Now, when this takes place is up to you and what characters… I am going to give a basic idea.

It's Christmas Day at Downton and the family has just gotten done with The Game when Cora reveals that she has something special for them to do. She states that her brother found something rather interesting in a shop in New York and sent it over: it is a VERY fancy board game. People are able to select different characters with different abilities and move around the board, completing a quest to save a jungle paradise. Handcrafted pieces representing the players, a folding game board… even Robert and Violet think it looks utterly beautiful and that they must display it but why not have some fun and they should try it out. The family gathers around, a few cards slip and are grabbed by servants to put back, just as Mary reads the name of the game:

Jumanji.

Cue the family and staff getting sucked into the world of the game ala Welcome to the Jungle and The Next Level, now embodying their avatars. And the only way out of the game and back to Downton is to save Jumanji.

Now, before we get to my idea for the characters, let's go over my idea for the mission they must go on, as I think it would be fun to have them go on an original mission. And for that, let's turn to Nigel…

"Hello, Dr. Bravestone! I can't tell you how much I appreciate you returning once more in our hour of need. For you see, one of the most important artifacts in Jumanji is the Tiger Gems. Made up of a Spessartite garnet and Flawless Onyx, the Tiger Gems, when linked together, symbolizes the unity amongst the many cities and peoples of our fair land. Or so it did. I regret to inform you that the famed scoundrel and Gem Queen La Mamba has stolen the gems and pinned the theft of each half on a different settlement, causing tensions to flare up as former friends blame each other for the theft of the Gems. You must collect the gems and end this hate, if you wish to alter your fate!"

Thus the mission would cross different cities, take on rich businessmen, warlords, game hunters, and all sorts of threats until ending at La Mamba's floating fortress.

But onto the characters and in the spirit of the movies I'll be introducing a few extra characters to help allow for more people to play:

-As Dr. Bravestone: Mary. Because of course it would be Mary doing the Smolder.

-As Ruby Roundhouse: Matthew. Because of course it would be.

-As Dr. Oberon: Sybil.

-As Mouse: Robert

-As Seaplane: Carson

-As Ming Fleetfoot: Violet (having the time of her life!)

-As Cyclone: Edith. Because of course it would be Edith.

-Introducing Mac Quickdraw, American cowboy gunslinger. The sharpshooter of the group, his special skills would be tracking, observation (highlighting special items), and perfect aim. Weakness would be Vegetables. Playing him would be Cora. As for the actor I see Josh Holloway in the role.

-Introducing Dr. Eliza Occult, expert in mystism and magics. A teacher at a famed university who has studied the magics of Jumanji and can perform spells. Special skills are protection shields, fireball summoning, and can one time resurrect a dead player. Weakness is paper cuts. Played by Anna. Actor would be Emma Watson.

Now, you could change who was in what character or add your own characters to it but these are just suggestions.