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“Rangers, a new threat has arisen.”Trini rolls her eyes because Zordon never gets straight to the point. They go through this every single time. The exact same things for five years now. Zordon tells them there's a threat, Tommi and Billy will get excited, Zack will make jokes, Jason will enter boss mode, Alpha will give details on everything except what the actual creature is until Kim gets annoyed and finally asks, before there's a long drawn out silence of five seconds and Zordon answers.She loves routine, but this particular one becomes tiring. So she waits, plays with her fingernails as they go through the motions until she hears Kim's voice. “So what is it?”“Five, four, three, two,” she whispers through a count, Kim's lips shooting her way in amusement.“It's a phoenix.”And then the next silence. The one where they process, but Trini can't be bothered this time because a phoenix is different. “Wait, wait, wait. A phoenix? Like the 'burns itself alive and rises from the ashes' kind?”Kim raises her brow at her and Billy's eyes light up, but Zordon answers in his monotone way, “yes.”“No,” she states, “no way. We deal with the extraterrestrial, not the supernatural.” “Actually,” Alpha begins, Billy already nodding along with him, “the majority of mythological creatures written in text do derive from ancient alien landings, but the human race in that time hadn't quite comprehended the concept of life on other planets, therefore mistaking them for gods.” Kim shrugs, “it's kind of cool.”Trini scoffs, “it's a bird that sets itself on fire, of course you think it's cool.”“Come on, baby,” Kim coos, wraps her arms around Trini's neck as the others roll their eyes, “a little road trip to a magical place? What could go wrong?”“Famous last words.”-Famous last words in-fucking-deed.The second they're teleported to the small town, they instantly see the massive bird flying in the sky, a trial of fire behind it with embers landing on the street and the rooftops, people screaming and running for cover. “That's a big bird,” Zack remarks unnecessarily.“Big bird,” Kim snorts, and Trini doesn't need to see her face to see the amusement.Just as Kim doesn't need to see Trini's to know she's glaring at her behind her visor.“Alright guys,” Jason says, voice full of authority, “remember, we don't want to hurt it, so only Kim's zord won't be far behind us. Until then, Zack and Billy, you two get all these people to a safe area. Kim and Trini, you guys scout the buildings, we need to make sure they're all empty. Tommi and I will go and help the fire brigade. There's nothing we can do about the phoenix until we can get in the sky so for now we have to focus on protecting the people.” Zack and Billy run off before Jason has finished speaking, and Trini salutes him, “you got it, boss.”Jason groans. He fucking hates that nickname. The two search house after house after house, and thankfully, they mostly appear to be vacant.Unfortunately, for every fire that is managed to be tamed, another one starts up, and Kim lets out a sigh of relief as her pterodactyl sounds in the distance. “Oh, thank god.” It isn't until it's perfectly in sight, that Trini notices the phoenix acting a little.... strange. “Uh, babe,” she frowns, watches as the pterodactyl has to swerve and dip to avoid the phoenix chasing it, “I think it's... attracted to Ptero.” Kim pulls back her visor to take a better look before a shit-eating grin makes its way to her mouth, “huh. Sorry, Simba.” “Stop calling her that! She's not a fucking lion, and Tigress is the more superior feline. End of.” She's a little overprotective of her zord, okay? “I'm going to lure it away from the town, hopefully I can keep it going long enough on the outskirts that it will... burn out?” Apparently Kim is going to ignore Trini's outrage. “Yeah, it's just finding somewhere to nest and then it'll like, fizzle out before it begins to rise again. Won't transition again for another five hundred years. Ish. So that's somebody else's problem.” “So cool,” Kim says as Trini rolls her eyes fondly, and then Kim leans down to kiss her, “be safe.” Trini hums against her lips, “you too. The last thing I need is for my wife to be killed because a giant bird is horny.” Kim laughs loud as she takes a run to leap off of a car, her zord coming down to swoop her up into the cockpit. “Show off,” Trini mumbles to herself as she continues down the street alone. The streets are eerily silent as she watches the phoenix follow Kim away, the last embers falling and fire trucks following behind to put them out before they can burn anything else. She's just about to turn around to head back and double check all of the houses now all is clear and she can't hear or see anything, until a whimper catches her ear.She frowns when nothing happens again, and is about to put it down to her imagination, but when she takes another step the whimpering sound invades her hearing again, but she can't see anything as she turns around, no people, no hidden side streets, no vehicles, nothing. It isn't until something shiny hits her vision from below that she see a small, circular grate in the road, and she bends down to inspect it, can't see anything in the darkness so she turns on her head beams and the sight shocks her.There's a little girl in there, holding onto a teddy that has a pendant around it's neck. Trini realises that must've been what caught her eye. The girl is sobbing into the stuffed toy, her head down and hands covering her ears, so Trini lowers her voice as not to startle her. “Hi.” The sniffling girl looks up at Trini and whimpers. Trini tilts her head in confusion until she realises she's still in her amour and quickly makes it vanish, the girl's eyes big in wonder before Trini smiles softly at her. “It's okay, see? My name is Trini, what's yours?” “Penelope Park,” is whispered. It's a start.“And how old are you, Penelope?”“I'm this years old,” with that, she shows Trini five fingers.“What are you doing down there?” “Hiding,” the small voice replies.Trini doesn't need the answer because she already knows, but she wants to keep this girl alert, comforted, wants her to trust her before she takes any action of getting her out. “Hiding from what, sweetie?”“The fire monster.”“Well the fire monster has gone now,” Trini soothes, “so why don't we get you out of there, huh?”“What if it comes back?”“It won't, but if it does, I promise I won't let anything happen to you, okay?” Penelope squeezes her teddy tighter and takes in a deep breath, “okay. It's really gross down here and smells bad anyway.” Trini chuckles and lifts the grate, “yeah I bet it does.” She waits patiently until Penelope grips desperately onto her arms and gently lifts her out, frowns as she looks her over and sees how thin and dirty she is, the dirt having nothing to do with being down a sewage pipe. “Where are your family?”“I don't have one,” she whispers, clings onto Trini as Trini lifts her in her arms, “I live over there.” She points to one of the buildings that seems to have suffered the worst in the fires, the sign broken in half and Trini wonders if that was damage from the fire or not.If this little girl's state is anything to go by, she'd have to guess it was already like that. “An orphanage?” She knows those places don't exist any more, but it's easier to say than 'Foster Care System', and a run down place like that is much more fitting to the former. Besides, what kind of 'foster home' puts a damn business sign up?She nods, “I tried to look for the others, but I couldn't see anyone, and then there was so much black and I couldn't see anything so I ran, but things kept falling from above and I-”Trini knows the tell-tale signs of a panic attack all to well, quickly soothes her by rubbing her back and holding her tighter, “it's okay, you're okay, I've got you, and you don't need to talk about this now, alright? Just breathe.” Another set of sobs begin as Trini starts to walk them back in slow, steady steps, her shirt is becoming more wet by the second but she doesn't give a shit, because this little girls needs her and she'll be damned if she lets something as small as the smell of smoke, sewage water, and tears bother her.It seems like the entire town is watching on as Jason and Tommi give statements to newscasters while Zack and Billy are helping the paramedics with any injuries. Penelope has cried herself to sleep in her arms and Zack is the first to notice her, moves to the side out of view so there isn't an audience for their interaction now that she's uncovered from armour. “Trini, where have you been? Are you okay? Who's this?”She chuckles a little at Zack's worried questioning, “I found her hiding. Kim not back yet?”“No, but you know her, she's probably wearing the phoenix down to make sure it isn't going to come back.” He nods at Penelope, “is she okay?”Trini sighs, “physically? Yes. She's from the foster home-” she stops herself short as Zack's visor lifts up and she's met with an angry expression, “what?”Zack's teeth grit before he points over to a woman surrounded by children in a similar state to Penelope, a woman who is currently talking to a camera. “She said that all of the kids were out and safe. Said she counted three times to make sure.”“What?” That fucking... Trini's jaw clenches before she takes in a calming breath as she gently nudges Penelope awake. “Hey, sweetie.” Penelope smiles gently at her but doesn't lessen her grip. “I need you to do me a favour, okay? This is Zack, he's my best friend, and he's going to get you checked out to make sure you're okay, alright?” Penelope shakes her head against Trini's shoulder and Trini sighs. “I promise you're safe with him. You remember seeing my armour, right? Bright yellow?” Penelope nods. “Well look at his, it's nearly the same, but in black.” She lowers her voice to a whisper. “We're superheroes.” Penelope blinks, “like Spider-Man?”“We're more like Iron-”Trini cuts Zack off with a glare. If Penelope's favourite hero is Spider-Man, then Spider-Man they are. “Exactly. We're the Power Rangers, but you also have to promise not to tell anyone our names or that you know us because we need to keep our identities secret like Peter Parker.”“I promise,” Penelope says seriously, nodding like it's the most important information in the world.“Good girl. Now you go with Zack, I just want to make sure you're okay, and I'll be back in a second.”Something catches Penelope's sight as she's transferred from Trini's arms to Zack's, and she whimpers as she clings onto him just as tightly and they turn to see the woman from the home. “Don't make me go back there.” “You're not going anywhere near that woman ever again,” Trini hisses in determination before she looks back at Zack, “fill Billy in would you? We'll deal with Jase later.” “You're not thinking of-”“Yep.” She doesn't wait for Zack to tell her that she's insane, she knows she's insane. Instead, she shifts back into her armour and brings up her comms, “you nearly done, gorgeous?”Kim huffs, “this little shit won't leave my poor baby alone and she's stress flying and not listening to me.” Trini laughs before she turns serious, “listen, we need to talk about something when you get back.” “What? I've been gone less than an hour, how are you mad at me?” She laughs again, “not that kind of talk. Just, just keep Ptero around, we're going to need her.” “Sure thing, babe. Is everything alright? Ugh, you dick!” Trini snorts and Kim quickly rectifies, “not you, you're perfect. Wait, wait, yes! Finally. There's a cave in the mountains, I'm going to get it in there, it seems to be losing juice now anyway, shouldn't be more than ten.”“Be safe.” Kim blows her a kiss down the mic and it causes Trini to cringe. It's why Kim does it. “Always.”Trini sighs to herself as she cuts off from her comms, sees the woman has moved onto a different interview, but she's obviously spouting the same shit. “Rebuilding the home will be hard, but I know we can get through this together as a community. The only thing that matters is that all of the children got out safe.”The kids gasp in excitement when they see Trini, saying things like 'look it's another Ranger', and 'yellow is the best colour', and 'I want to be like them when I grow up', and it would usually make Trini feel good about herself, but right now she has bigger fish to fry as she stalks up to the self-absorbed woman with a snarl. “All of the children, huh? All. Of. Them?” The interviewer pushes his mic to Trini at the prospect of being the first to get this juicy story but she doesn't care. “Because there's a little girl over there receiving medical treatment because you left her in there!”With her voice raised, multiple cameras swing in Penelope's direction while a medic has a stethoscope to her chest to check her breathing. The woman stutters, “I- I- I-”“You... you what? Can't count? How could you? What kind of vile person must you be? I mean, look at them. Look at how thin they all are, how dirty they are. I assure you, that has nothing to do with the fire. That little girl could've died because of you, how can you explain that?”One of the boys shout out, “Penelope's a freak.” The others chime in, and it's obvious, so obvious to Trini that this woman has caused this behaviour. Trini can do nothing but scoff in disbelief, because at this age, it isn't really the children who are at fault. They've been taught that this is okay, have heard the person who is suppose to look after them say these things and it makes her feel sick to her stomach, but not as much as the woman's next words do. “There's something evil about that one. She hasn't been right since the day her mother left her on my doorstep. If I knew there was something wrong with her, I never would've taken her in.” It takes everything Trini has not to punch the woman with her full Ranger strength. “She's a child. Someone you are evidently unfit to take care of. Rest assured, I'll make sure you never work with children again.” She hadn't noticed she'd managed to gain the attention of... well... everyone. Live recordings are a bitch, and she can feel Jason scolding her from where he's standing on a small podium, urging the town to believe what they saw was in fact not a mythological creature. The attention of the people is shifted once more as Kim flies above them, the pterodactyl preening and showing off just like her owner.Kim lands right next to Trini and jumps out after patting her zord on the head with a 'nice job, girl'. Loud cheers follow when everyone realises that the Pink Ranger being back means the monster has gone, act like the last minute didn't happen, but Trini won't forget, will make sure that woman pays. “What did I miss?” Trini fills her in. “That building was collapsing around her, Kim.”Shock and anger is clear, even behind the visor. “How the hell did she survive?”“I honestly have no idea.” It's quiet for a while as the two watch Penelope and Zack playing around whilst Jason finishes off his big speech until Kim whispers down her ear, “we're keeping her, aren't we?” Trini's head snaps up in awe, in love, and it's all the confirmation Kim needs before she nods, “let's get her home.” They don't stick around long enough to witness a different group show up to the event and never question why the phoenix is all of a sudden forgotten about or why the woman in charge of the care home miraculously changes her ways so that the children are thriving.Trini puts it down to the fact that she scared her.Kim calls her the scariest kitten she knows.-“Absolutely not.”Trini stays back as Jason and Kim argue, strokes her fingers through a sleeping Penelope's hair after the excitement of a ride 'home' in a 'robot' exhausted her. “Quite frankly, Jase, it's not your fucking decision.”“Language,” Trini scolds quietly, “we have to be careful about how we talk now.” Kim gives her an apologetic look as Jason continues. “This effects the entire team.”“How?”“We can't afford to save the world and watch out for a five year old at the same time.”Kim scoffs, “you won't be. Last I checked, what Trini and I do with our personal lives does not concern the Rangers. Just because you don't know how to separate the two, doesn't mean the rest of us don't.” Zack chooses that moment to enter through the front door, Tommi and Billy trailing behind them, all three of them with bags full of necessities. “So Tommi raided the clothing section at Target, Billy got colouring books and some toys and stuff-”“I got a bit of everything because I didn't know what she liked. But Zack did mention she likes Spider-Man so I got her a wall light in case she's scared of the dark.” Trini gives him a grateful smile as he rambles.“And I sorted all of your food. We have lucky charms-”“Zack,” Kim scolds.“I got healthy stuff too, Kimmy,” he defends. Trini stops them before they begin to bicker. Sometimes she swears those two are the married couple. “Thanks guys, we really appreciate it.” Jason huffs, “and how do you plan on affording all of this? It isn't just this week you know. She's going to grow, and need to go to school, and you need to get her things for her room, because she's going to need her own room, and time. What about your jobs? And you're so young!”“Age doesn't make good parents, Jase.” Kim cocks her brow and shares and amused look with the rest of the group, “it's like he's forgetting that we both work from home.” “And that you're a dance instructor,” Tommi adds.“And that Trini is a personal trainer,” Zack gloats.“I mean,” Jason groans in frustration, “I get this recklessness from you, Kim, but you, Trini? Really?”A scoff from Kim's offended exterior is drown out by Trini's short sigh as she continues to stroke through Penelope's hair, “I couldn't just leave her there, Jase.” He softens instantly and Kim knows they'll hear no more about this, so she takes a seat next to Trini before Trini curls up into her side, which causes Penelope to stir. “Trini?”“Hey, sweetie, how are you feeling?”Penelope pouts, “hungry.”Kim laughs next to them, “how about I order a few pizzas and we can watch some movies?” Zack gasps in mock surprise. “Hush, you. It's been a long day.”“Do you like pizza?” Trini frowns at Penelope's shrug. “What did they feed you?”“Oatmeal mostly. Sometimes stew when it was cold. And we'd get a piece of fruit for a snack. If we said we were hungry out of feeding time, we'd get in trouble for being ungri- ungrey- ungrateful, that's it.”Even Jason's jaw clenches at this. Kim squeezes Trini's hand to calm her down. “How about we get one of everything and you can try them. If you don't like it then we can try something else, yeah?”“I won't get in trouble?”Kim smiles gently and places her hand on top of Trini's that lays on Penelope's head, “nope. What about movies?”“I wasn't allowed to watch movies. The other kids had TV time twice a week after dinner, but I was always made to clean up. I did get to read a lot though, I was always on my own.” Jason taps his foot, locks eyes with Trini as an understanding passes between them and he nods, “okay. Okay.” Penelope turns in Trini's lap, as if just noticing there are other people with them and Trini giggles a little. “You remember Zack, right? I left you with him for a minute earlier.” Penelope nods and waves at Zack who grins back and sits on the chair next to them. “This is Billy, he's really cool and likes Spider-Man, too.”“I like how funny and smart he is,” Billy adds, “what do you like about him?”“Everything,” she answers shyly, “one of the nice girls gave me a comic before she got adopted. It's one with Venom.”Billy agrees eagerly, “I have lots of comics at home if you want to borrow some of them.”Penelope's cheeks blush as she looks at Billy hopefully, “I don't want to hurt them.”She obviously means 'damage'. Thankfully Billy picks up on it, and Trini almost cries as he does the most un-Billy thing she's ever seen just to ease Penelope, “if you do and it's an accident, it's fine, they're just comic books, they can be replaced.” Kim and Trini both know full well that some of them are limited edition, and they keep it in the back of their minds to only let him give her the cheap ones, just in case. They introduce her to Tommi and Jason last before Kim leans down to Trini, “I love this.”Trini nuzzles further into Kim's shoulder, “me too.” -It takes two weeks for Penelope to be fully settled in. Two weeks of making sure she has everything she needs, two weeks of getting into a routine, two weeks of picking colours and furniture for her room.Luckily, after a short discussion with their parents about the situation (minus the fire bird, of course), they were more than happy to help chip in and Madison mentioned something about finally being a grandmother which...Might be a little too soon.Maybe.But it's after those two weeks, that the first incident happens. The three of them are sitting down at the table for breakfast-Not oatmeal-When Penelope accidentally knocks her bowl off of the table, and before Kim or Trini have time to react, Penelope mumbles a couple of words and the bowl freezes mid fall. Kim's wide eyes shoot to Trini.Trini's shocked eyes turn to Kim.Penelope starts crying. “I'm sorry! I'm sorry, please don't send me back. I didn't mean to do it. Don't send me away.”Kim acts first, “whoa, it's okay, Penny, you're okay.” She furiously wipes the flowing tears from Penelope's cheeks as Trini... tugs?... The bowl out of the air, bafflement written all over her face as she scoops up the milk and cereal with it before placing it back on the table. “Why do you think we're going to send you away?”The tears are still pouring, and Penelope is sucking in breaths that are going to hurt her if she doesn't calm down. “They a-always s-send me b-back. They say I-I'm cursed, that I h-have evil i-inside me.” “We're not going to send you away,” Kim says sternly, “we don't think you're evil.”“You- you don't?”“Of course not,” she reassures as Penelope begins to calm down to a few sniffles, “we're superheroes, remember? We have special gifts too.” Penelope shakes her head furiously, “it's a curse, not a gift.” She says it as though she's had the sentence drilled into her. Trini kneels beside Kim, “hey, no. People are scared of what they don't know, what they don't understand.” She shares a look with Kim. “You aren't going anywhere if you don't want to. We don't want you to go anywhere. But... how do you do this?”“I don't know,” Penelope shrugs, “I just can. I say some words and it happens.” “Is that how you escaped the fire?” Penelope nods. “Can you show us?” She whimpers. “We won't be scared, promise.” Penelope sniffs once more before she grabs her teddy and squeezes it, whispers in Latin, and suddenly Kim and Trini's hands are repelled from Penelope's body before a blue tinted barrier surrounds her. “Oh my god,” Kim says in wonderment, Trini only able to nod.Until she sees the teddy. More specifically, the pendent. The same one which caught her eye and lead her to Penelope in the first place. She hasn't seen it properly until now, the symbol engraved on it. “Penny, where did your teddy come from?”“It was with me.” When she arrived at the orphanage, they guess. Which means that the person who dropped her off, apparently her mother, left the pendent with her. It leaves Trini with one simple question. If her mother was the one to leave her there, why give her a way to track her roots when she's older? Trini bites her lip, “you know where we have to go, right?”“If you say Zordon I'm leaving you.” “Better packs your bags then, gorgeous,” Trini jokes.-“Why is this the first I'm hearing of the... situation?”Zordon sounds angry. Well... as angry as a pixelated face in a wall can be. Penelope is tucked safely away against Kim's legs. “Kimmy?”“Don't worry, he's not mad at you,” Kim smiles. “Look, we didn't ask for your approval, we just need to know where this pendent came from so we know what to look into.” “I think it might be from a coven,” Alpha chirps happily as he flicks through an old book, “the symbol is definitely Wiccan. It's all real by the way. Witches, vampires, werewolves, all true, all hidden in plain sight.”Zordon huffs, “Alpha.”“Relax, Zordon, it could be good to have a witch on our side.” Trini gawks, “oh hell no. You're not training her to be one of your mascots. She's only five.” “She knows your identities,” Zordon argues.“She has her own identity to protect too.”Kim grumbles, “told you this was a stupid idea.”Her remark goes ignored, Zordon's huge face staring down to Trini's steely eyes and Penelope gives Kim's shirt a tug. “Kimmy, can we go home now?”“Just give them a minute.”And a minute is all it takes until Zordon breaks with a sigh, “very well. You may use to ship for information and to practise her powers, but under no circumstance is she to use magic outside of here.” Trini smirks happily and grabs the book from Alpha, “knew you'd see things my way.”They hold onto Penelope as they teleport out of the ship and Kim raises her brow, “we're going to let her use magic in the house, right?”“Of course, I'm not going to force her to hide who she is in the privacy of our own home. You hear that, Penny? If you want to do a spell, you do a spell. But only-”“In the house or the ship,” Penelope replies seriously.“Because...”Penelope takes a second to think, “people are scared of what they don't know.”Trini nods, “and we don't want those people to try and hurt you, okay? And, if one day you want to find out exactly where this pendent came from, we'll help you.”Kim idly flicks through the book, “damn, there's actually a spell in here to turn someone into a frog.”“Leave Zack alone.”“How did-”Trini simply raises a brow and Kim pouts before she picks Penelope up to sit on her hip and stage whispers, “we'll do it when she's not around.” Penelope giggles. Well, at least Trini knows she isn't going to be the bad influence.-A month passes.Then two.Then three.Penelope settles into their little group better than Trini could've ever imagined, often referring to Zack as 'uncle Zack' with the amount of times he calls himself her 'favourite uncle'.They're currently in the process of signing documents to be Penelope's legal guardians via the beautiful Candace Cranston, social worker extraordinaire.She's well aware of what had happened, of course, once again minus the whole flaming bird thing, but with the care home burning down it was difficult for her to get a hold of the records needed and took it upon herself to be their social worker.As if she actually needed to check up on things.Once she does though, and they explain this to Penelope, a beaming smile greets before Penelope lunges forward and hugs them both, “does this mean I'm adopted?”Kim falters a little so Trini squeezes her thigh before she answers for them. “Not exactly. Adoption is a bit more complicated that that. Because we don't know where your family are, we have to go through the process of who has legal rights over you.” She honestly doesn't expect Penelope to understand what she's talking about, but she nods along like she does. “What I mean is, for now, if your mom or dad show up, they might be allowed to take you from us.”“No! I don't want to be with anyone else, they left me!”Shit. Kim rushes to soothe her, “I know, and we'd fight really, really hard for you, and we're already trying to find out, but it could take a long, long time, maybe even years, before we know for sure, and then if you still want that, we can officially adopt you.”Penelope calms down at that a little as she snuggles down into her bed with drooping eyes. “It's okay, I can wait.” Trini breathes out in relief before Kim kisses her cheek and they both lean over to kiss Penelope on her forehead. “Goodnight, mija.” Mija. It's something Trini has found herself calling Penelope over the last couple of weeks, and Kim smiles fondly every time. “What does that mean?”Kim smirks at Penelope's sleepy question, wondering how long it would take the inquisitive girl to ask. Trini gulps, “it means 'daughter' in Spanish, but sometimes people use it to greet-”A hand squeezes hers and she looks up to see Kim shaking her head, a silent way of telling her to shut the fuck up and not ruin the moment. “How do you say 'mommy'?”She swallows hard again, “mami.”“Can I call you that?”It is so not a tear making its way down her cheek, “I'd like that.”“Hey,” Kim playfully scolds, “what about me?”Penelope yawns, sleep tugging at her, “you can be mommy.” She's already asleep by the time Kim can answer her, so instead Kim steps behind Trini and wraps her arms around her waist as they both watch Penelope for a short time. “I love you. I love you for bringing her to us. She's... she's perfect, Trini.” Trini spins in Kim's arms, gives her a look, a look Kim knows very, very well, before she bites her lip and leads them to their room, eyes darkening at Kim's smug grin. “Carry on looking at me like that and you aren't getting any.”“Don't lie to yourself.”-It takes three years for Penelope to hurt them. Not physically, they've had more than their fair share of bruises from spell casting.No. It's worse. Way worse. Penelope comes home from school crying, and Trini is instantly off the couch. “Mija, what happened?”“I don't want to talk about it.” “Penny-”“Just leave me alone!”Trini glances towards the ceiling, flinches when Penelope's door slams shut. “Damn it.” She follows her up the stairs, hears the muffled sobs through the door and knocks quietly. “Penny, open the door.”“No.”Kim meets her in the hall, having just had a shower, and is drying her now shoulder-length hair with a towel, “what's going on?” “I don't know.”“Go. Away.”Kim tilts her head at the venom coming from inside the room before she tries the handle. It opens slightly, only to be slammed shut again with a barrier spell. “Did she just?”Trini groans, “just tell us what happened, mija. Was it something at school?”“Why do you care?”“Because we're your parents.”Seconds later the door opens and Penelope stands there with a scowl on her face, “you're not though, are you? Not really.” She scoffs to herself. “You know what's worse than being the adopted freak? Or being the freak with powers, the easy target for the other kids to bully? Being the freak that nobody wants.” With that, she slams the door again, oblivious to the hurt looks in both Trini and Kim's expressions. Trini's eyebrows scrunch together in pain. What could they have possibly done to make Penelope think they didn't want her? “Kim,” she whimpers. “Give her a little time, baby,” Kim says in the low, comforting tone she reserves purely for when Trini's feeling vulnerable, before she leads them down the stairs and into the kitchen to put the kettle on.“Did we, did we do something wrong?”“No,” Kim tells her firmly, “something obviously happened at school. We'll talk to her when she's ready.” She kneels down, takes Trini's hand between her own, tries to cover up her own heartache but knows she isn't doing such a great job when Trini leans her forehead against hers. “You're an amazing mom, Trini, don't ever doubt that.” Heavy metal starts blasting through the house and Kim chuckles, “I knew I should've never let her listen to your music.” It brings a much needed smile from Trini, “girl has good taste.”“Debatable.” The kettle flicks off once it's boiled and Kim fills two mugs, leaves an empty one sitting at the side, watches as Trini breathes in the hot chocolate. “She's eight, baby, she's going to act out at times, we just have to keep our cool.” “Do you think now is a good time to give her, her birthday present?”Kim chuckles, “her birthday isn't for three months.” “I think she needs it. I think we need it.”Two hours later, the music stops and Kim silently thanks the two Wiccan gods, waits patiently as she hears Penelope's door unlock, flicks the kettle back on with a small kiss to Trini's neck as she stirs the sauce simmering in the pot, listens to shuffling footsteps making their way into the kitchen. “Stomach won out, huh?”Penelope's eyes are red raw, her cheeks flush and tears stain in droplets from her eyes. “I'm sorry,” she mumbles. Kim perks her head up, “what was that?”“I said I'm sorry,” she mumbles again.“Nu-uh, not good enough.”“Kimberly,” Trini warns, but Kim shoots her a glance that says 'leave it' before Trini holds her hands up in surrender. It isn't often Kim... puts her foot down, for lack of a better term, usually leaving Trini to play bad cop, but when she does, Trini knows better than to fight against it. “Try again.”“I'm sorry, okay,” Penelope shouts, “I'm sorry I hurt you guys. I didn't mean it. I don't even know why I said it because I don't think that. I just... I'm sorry.” Kim nods, voice turns gentle, “sit down.”Trini turns the stove off as Kim steps up behind her, rests a hand on her lower back and fills the mug she left out for Penelope, gives Penelope a second to compose herself before they both turn around and sit at the table. “What happened, mija?”“Some kids at school,” she shrugs with the mug against her lips, “they've been saying stuff for a while, like how you guys are just putting up with me until you get bored, or that if you wanted me you'd have adopted me by now because who would want the weirdo foster kid?”Kim sighs, leans over to push a loose lock of hair back behind Penelope's ear, feels Trini fuming at her side because if there's one thing in this world she despises, it's bullying. She's had enough of her own to last a lifetime. “Why didn't you tell us?”“Because by the time I got home, it didn't seem to matter any more. I don't know, it just really got to me today.” “Have they... hurt you physically?” Trini doesn't really need to ask the question to know the answer. Bullies never stop at words. Penelope looks up through her eyelashes, not needing to confirm with anything more than that. Trini's fist clench so hard against the table that she feels it splintering. “Right, I'm going to that school tomorrow and-”“Don't,” Penelope begs, “please, mami.”Trini closes her eyes as Kim watches on, waits to see how she'll react, if she needs to step in before Trini bolts out of the door, doesn't have to. “What do you want us to do?”Neither had noticed Penelope playing with something silver in her hand, circular and shiny, until she flips it between her fingers, and their stomachs drop simultaneously. Penelope sees their reaction, “it's not what you guys think, I swear. It's just... I'm the only supernatural person I know, and like, you guys are amazing, but I want to know who else is out there. It sucks not being able to use my powers to defend myself and I,” she twirls the pendent, “I just want to be around other kids like me.” Her eyes fill with tears again, “you two are my parents, and you get me, but I need more.” It's a discussion Trini and Kim have had a few times, getting Penelope involved with peers who practise magic, and they share a quick, knowing glance. Trini pulls out an envelope and slides it across the table to a bewildered Penelope. “We were saving this for your birthday, but... open it.” Penelope is gentle, so gentle in retrieving the items inside, Kim and Trini buzzing with anticipation as she first pulls out the brochure, reads to herself, “Salvatore Boarding School for the Young and Gifted? What?”“It's a magic school,” Kim clarifies, “for vampires, werewolves, and witches, just like you.” “I don't-”“There's more,” Trini chokes, her anticipation for the following documents already making her emotional. Penelope is silent as she reads through. “We finally did it. We finally got the parental responsibility removed from your parents. You would've thought it would be easy since they left you on a doorstep to spend five years in an abusive household but no-” Kim nudges her with her elbow, tilts her head in Penelope's direction to see tears again. “We can officially adopt you, Penny. If that's what you still want.” Penelope blinks through her watery eyes, a soft smile on her lips as she stares at the letter. “Really?” She's in shock, evidentially, as she begins to ramble. “But the school. We'll have to move. And your Ranger duties. Your jobs! Uncle Zack, Billy, and Jason, aunt Tommi, abuela and aubuelito, Carlos and Sammy, and Pearl, grandma and grandpa, Mrs. Cranston-”Kim cuts her off with a laugh, “now that you've listed everyone we know, they can visit, or we can visit them. You know what your abuela and grandma are like with holidays. Let us worry about work. As for being Rangers, it's great, but your mami and I have spoken about this before and-”“And we decided a while ago that, that life was coming to an end for us. Quitting? It isn't just about you. We've done our duty for eight years, mija, it's time for someone else to take over. It's your time to shine.” “Are you sure?” They both nod. “And,” she looks at the letter again, “and this? You guys want me?”“Oh, Penny, of course we do,” Kim says, “we told you we'd fight for you, it just took us longer than we'd hoped.” Kim turns playful, wiggles her brow, “so what do you say? Want to be our daughter?”-“You can't leave!”Trini rolls her eyes at Jason's outburst, thankful she left Kim to deal with him. Not so thankful, however, that she's left with the blubbering mess that is her best friend. Zack squeezes her in a hold, cries pitifully into her hair as Trini taps his back in a 'there, there'. “I'm so happy for you, Crazy Girl. I'm going to miss you. I'll teleport every weekend to see my favourite girls-”“Hey!”“This isn't about you right now, Tommi. I'm sorry, you know you're my one true love but Trini is my platonic soulmate.” Tommi glares at him and Trini chuckles. “I'll call Penny all the time. Do they have Skype in boarding school? Do they have the internet in boarding school? Doesn't matter, I'll find a way.”“Not far away? It's the other side of the country!”She rolls her eyes at another of Jason's outbursts. “And if any boys hurt her I'll kick their ass. I don't give a shit if they're minors if they hurt my niece.”“What about girls?”Zack stops for a second, thinks. “I'll get Tommi to kick their ass.” Tommi snorts, “I think you'd have to get in line behind Trini and Kim first, babe.” “And I'll keep Ptero and Tigress safe and clean because they're going to miss you too, and I'll sneak them out so they can come visit with me.”“About that,” Alpha cuts in, “zords will reject any newcomers because their bond is too strong to their current Ranger. They'll have to be reprogrammed, like they had to be when you took over.”“Let me be emotional about this, Kimberly!”And fuck, Trini feels Jason's statement hit her deep in her gut. Tigress and Ptero forgetting them is just as painful as the thought of any of the other Rangers forgetting them. “No.” Alpha looks almost apologetic, “sorry.”“You can't do that,” Kim pipes up, voice breaking.“It's the way. Like I said, they won't accept any new Ran-”Kim growls, “then build new ones!”Trini strokes her fingers down Kim's arm, “gorgeous.” She pleads with Alpha, “they'll lets us ride them without suits, right? Will they let us without the coins?”“I mean, they belong to you so I don't see why not. It's never been tried before.” “So we can take them with us.”A booming voice shouts over them, “unacceptable. Zords are not pets, they are machines, destined to fight against threats to this planet. A fight the two of you are leaving.” “Fuck you, Zordon,” Kim seethes, “you think you're so fucking mighty standing, sitting, pixel...ating-”“Losing it, babe.”“Whatever. You're up there so you can look down on us, but guess what? We defeated Rita when you couldn't, we saved the world and you blew it up. But you're right about one thing, they aren't pets. They're family. They are sentient and they have feelings. They've fought beside us for eight years and I'll be damned if I let you erase them.”Trini smirks, impressed, “nice, you could give Jason a run for his money.”“Thanks, baby.” It works. It always works. Because Zordon has never been able to truly deny Kim of what she wants. Especially when she's stubborn about it. “Where would you plan on keeping them?”Kim crosses her arms and Trini wants to kiss the smug grin from her lips.-“There's a few things you need to know. Your coins forever altered your DNA. You won't have your amour, or your weapons, or teleporting. It will be like before you morphed for the first time,” Alpha explains. “I believe I have told you this already, but with jobs at a supernatural school, it's important that I remind you.”“So super speed, super strength, super healing? I can live with that,” Trini shrugs.Alpha beams, “now all you have to do is stand on the morphing grid and drop your coins into the centre.”Kim squints her eyes, “that's it? No declaration of freedom or anything?”“Nope.” “Cool.” Trini and Kim slowly take their places, almost identically to the first time they did this, watching each other the entire walk until they're face-to-face on opposite sides of the grid. “You ready?”Trini nods, “it's time. I love you.”“Love you too.” They drop their coins into the centre and it's almost anticlimactic, how nothing happens, until a sudden burst of light blinds them and their coins fly out of the ship. “What the hell?”“They're finding their new hosts,” Alpha say. “Well, I'm going to miss you both. See you.”He spins around and they shake their heads. Typical Alpha. The others wait for them at the entrance and Billy sniffs. “Can I hug you?”“Course you can, B,” Trini answers for them, and then they're squished between two strong arms.“How do you feel?” Tommi joins in on the hug.“Good, I think,” Kim answers this time.“You'd better keep in touch,” Jason adds as he joins in.“Group hug!” Zack bombards them, unable to help himself and the group laugh.Until Billy begins to feel awkward, that is, “can you all please stop touching me now?”Slowly, they untangle themselves before Trini takes Kim's hand in her own and nods towards the zord area. “This is it.” They all kind of stand around, waiting, none of them really knowing how to properly say goodbye. Jason, as always, saves the day by stretching out, “we still have training.” Kim and Trini watch them leave one-by-one, each giving them their own little smile of support, before they walk to the zords, all six of them chirping excitedly as they enter. They greet the rest first, tell them they're going to miss them and Rex whines at Kim while Studmuffin-Yes, Zack did that-Nuzzles Trini with one of his tusks. Drago and Tricy, named after Doctor Who of course, wait patiently for their turn.As soon as they get to their own, Tigress and Ptero glance over at the ones they'll be leaving behind with a longing look. “You guys can stay if you want-” Tigress swipes her gigantic paw at Trini, “alright, alright. I was just giving you the option before we leave.” Kim rubs Ptero's head, “you're new home is going to be great. There's loads of open air to fly in, and we're going to be there too. Trini can transfer her physio job-”“Fucking werewolves.”“And I'm going to be there for endurance training.”“Gym. You can just call it gym.” “And we can't always keep an eye on Penny, so if you see her hurt, you have my full permission to shoot your rockets-”“Kimberly.”“At any monsters that may be lurking.” Trini hums. “Even the human kind,” she finishes in a whisper.Trini leans her head on Kim's shoulder as their zords jump around, “Billy is going to set your coordinates tomorrow after he's given you a check over to make sure everything is working properly. Do not let Alpha near you, I don't trust Zordon not to have tampered with him in some way.”-Their families are waiting at the house with Penelope, June and Madison fussing over her as Michael and Ted watch the basketball with the boys. “Are you sure you have everything?”“Yes, mami,” Trini groans.“You're sure?”“Mom, we've got this,” Kim laughs. “And you're sure you don't want us to book you a flight instead of driving.”“Yes,” they answer in unison.Trini halts, “oh damn it. Actually, can you give this to Candace? We know how upset she was that she couldn't say goodbye to us today and we feel the same. It's just a thank you card or whatever.” “Of course. How long until the next holiday again?”Madison pretend to check her calender, as if the two of them hadn't planned for the rest of the year, but Kim cuts her off before she answers. “Oh my god, we're going.”Trini pats the 'sold' sign standing outside their house as Kim double checks the car and they bask for a moment, take in all the memories they've shared here. “Mom, mami, can we go already?” Kim chuckles, “stop being impatient. The school isn't going anywhere.” Trini snorts into Kim's neck, “she's going to be just like you, I know it.” “Excuse you? I am amazing.” “Yeah,” Trini pulls back, feels light at the gleam in Kim's eyes, “yeah, you really fucking are.” “Mami, language.”Kim laughs loud, “are you sure she's going to be like me?” She shakes her head, leans down to kiss Trini once, twice, three times before she hears Penelope call them gross and she smirks when she leans back, matches Trini's loving gaze and nuzzles their noses together. “Are you ready for our next adventure?” “With you two by my side? I'm ready for anything.” Penelope huffs, “guys!”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Months have passed between Penelope having first seen the leaflet, and their move, and at the tender age of nine, Penelope Park... rephrase, Penelope Hart, takes her first steps into the Salvatore Boarding School for the Young and Gifted. Four months into the school year, Christmas. It's... old, is the first thing she thinks, like the castles she'd seen in movies. And it's busy, busy with students that look a little older than her rushing around the decorated halls. To her left she sees a group of teenage boys messing around and scrunches her nose at them, to her right there's a group of teenage girls playing with baubles that are floating in the air. “I think that's them,” she whispers a bit too loud, excited, “the witches.” Kim squeezes her shoulder while Trini glares at everyone in sight, scoping out the place and wondering if there's anyone she needs to keep a close eye on around her daughter. “Hi,” a voice interrupts them, and Penelope looks up to find a tall man with shaggy, blonde hair, “you must be Penelope.” Penelope nods, her attention still straying towards the witches, which causes the man to chuckle. “I'm Alaric, or Doctor Saltzman, why don't the three of you follow me to my office and then my girls' can give Penelope a tour while we go over the details.” Trini holds her hand up and Penelope can already feel the embarrassment, “wait up. Where's our tour?”“Mami,” Penelope groans. But Alaric only laughs, “we can meet up with the girls' once we've done the paperwork. I assure you, Penelope is more than safe here.” Kim cocks her brow, “you should be careful about the kind of promises you make. Trust me, you don't want to make this one angry,” she nudges Trini's shoulder with her own, “I'd rather go three rounds with an alpha and their pack.” She stops a second, smirks, “actually, that might be too easy.” “Should I be mad at that?” Trini frowns in confusion, and Penelope just wants to get on with things. Instead of letting the adults continue to talk, she strides forward in a direction. Thankfully, it turns out to be the right one as Alaric laughs again and makes a move to walk in front of her. “So impatient,” Kim mumbles behind them.“I wonder where she gets that from,” Trini replies in pure sarcasm.Kim nods, “Zack. I agree.” Trini scoffs, “idiot.” “Guys, can you stop being embarrassing, please?”“You know that saying that to your mom is only going to make her worse, Penny,” Trini stage-whispers, smiles at Kim's outraged gasp.They continue to playfully bicker behind Penelope, but she ignores them in favour of glancing around in awe at the dark walls that grace the halls, lights every few steps making it seem brighter than it is. It all feels so... gothic, but comforting, like she's finally home.Not that her parents aren't home for her, but she feels right, like she finally, truly belongs. “Here we are,” Alaric says, steals her from her thoughts as she looks up to two large, wooden doors before he opens them to his office. “Make yourselves comfortable and I'll send for the girls'.” “Well this seems happy,” Trini remarks dryly. Alaric hums, “the Salvatore House was donated to us by vampires, what did you expect?” He has a smile on his face as he sits.Kim snorts, “she willingly listens to heavy metal, ignore her.” Trini rolls her eyes.He takes out a file and Penelope bites her lip when she sees her name on it. “That's wrong,” she says. “Excuse me?”“My last name,” she explains, “it's Hart now.” Alaric frowns between the three in front of him and the file, stutters, “oh, on the application-”“That was sent through before the adoption papers were approved,” Kim answers before he questions, holds Trini's hand with one of her own and uses the other to squeeze Penelope's arm. Trini is too busy trying not to be a crying mess to talk. “But, if you want to go by 'Park' here, that's okay too, sweetie.” Penelope shakes her head, “I'm not Park any more.” Alaric fiddles with the file before he sighs, “surnames hold a lot of status in our world, and if you're who I think you are- do you have your pendant?” A frown of her own graces Penelope's forehead before she digs into her pocket and pulls it out, hands it over to him. “It was left with me. I know it's from my coven but-”“We couldn't find the symbol,” Trini finishes. “We searched everywhere, the internet, Wiccan books, even old folk tales, but there's nothing.” He looks it over silently, and Penelope begins to feel anxious. “Maybe we should wait until we're in private to discuss-”“She's a kid, she's not stupid,” Trini growls. Penelope's grateful smile at her mami quickly disappears as Alaric begins to speak again. “Hundreds of years ago, your coven began dabbling in dark magic, and it consumed them. Soon, dark magic was the only thing they used and they became powerful, very powerful, but it also made them think they could rule the world and they were reckless. They hurt a lot of people along they way, and the entire supernatural community was at risk of being exposed. So the other witches banded together to take them down, get them erased from any sort of textbook, because they didn't want their own covens to become corrupt. Your coven, Penelope, has been in hiding for a long time. That is, until recently. I believe your mother, your birth mother, died trying to put an end to it because she didn't want her little girl to grow up like she had.” The last sentence shocks Penelope, “she's dead?”“I'm sorry,” he replies sincerely, his gaze flicking between the three of them. Trini is glaring at him, Kim is watching, waiting to see how Penelope will react, and Penelope is sat there silently, processing. As much processing as a nine year old can do.“What she did, it was for good. Your coven started to come out of hiding, we even have some of them here at the school,” he attempts to comfort. But all she can focus on is the bad, “so I do have evil inside of me?”“No,” Trini nearly yells, causing the room to jump, before she takes a calmer breath, “no, mija. Some people can do bad things, but it doesn't make them bad people.” Penelope sees her share a look with Kim, who smiles gently at her and she doesn't understand why. “It's choosing to keep doing those bad things that makes you bad.” She glances back to Alaric, “how did they let it happen?”“An untrained witch lead the coven. Yours, Penelope, decides their leader by birthright, and he thought he could handle it. Dark magic isn't... evil magic, but it can have an effect. With proper training, you can harness it for good things. However,” he eases, “dark magic won't be practised here at your age.” A knock on the door, and a second later they're joined by another two girls around her age, a blonde and a brunette. Penelope already has the sense that the blonde one is more outspoken, with her little smirk and aura of confidence, while the brunette looks on shyly. “Hi, daddy.” Alaric sends them the same kind of smile Kim and Trini give Penelope. “Penelope, these are my daughters.” He points to the blonde first, “Lizzie,” then the brunette, “Josie. Guys, this is Penelope, she's going to be a student here, so I'd like for you two to show her to her room first and then give her a tour, okay?” Trini tilts her head, “twins?”“Fraternal,” Alaric smirks, “obviously. And these are Penelope's moms. Mrs. Hart and Mrs-”“Uh, no,” Kim halts him. “Trini and Kim is fine.” Alaric squints, “but-”Penelope watches as Josie chuckles lightly to herself when Trini shakes her head to cut him off. “Trust me, dude, it's either that or K-Hart, because Kim doesn't want me to go by Gomez-”“You shouldn't have to,” Kim crosses her arms, “their confusion is their problem, not ours.” “And there's no way in hell I'm letting my wife go around as K-Hart. How old are you again, Kimberly?” Josie whispers next to Penelope, “your moms are cool.” Penelope grins back in her own whisper, “I know.” “I'm Josie,” she extends her hand. “Penelope. My parents call me 'Penny' though so you can if you want.” She sees Lizzie roll her eyes next to them and wonders what her deal is, but Josie's hand hasn't let go of hers and she feels like for once in her life, she can finally have a real friend.-Penelope spends the majority of her first six months at the school with the other witches from her coven. It's hard sometimes, being away from Trini and Kim during the week, but at least she can spend the weekends and breaks with them, because even though they're both at the school during the day, she still doesn't really get to see much of them since they're so busy with teaching. But they're constantly making up for it. They question her about school and what she's been learning and ask how the other kids are treating her. Zack makes time to visit them for at least a couple of hours each Saturday morning, and the other Rangers try for once a month. And she's learned so much about her coven. Feels a little more secure in her abilities, doesn't dread being called because of the coven's past, because the others are nice and sweet and supportive, and they've almost taken to... following her lead. Her mom calls her a natural leader. Her mami agrees. Then there's Josie. And Josie has asked Penelope if she wants to have a sleepover at school this Saturday.She's terrified of asking Trini and Kim. Currently, Penelope is sat at the dining table, pokes at her chicken with her fork until it's near shredded, snaps up her eyes when Trini clears her throat. “Everything okay, mija?” “I, uh,” now or never, “Josie asked me if I wanted to spend tomorrow night at the school for a sleepover.” Trini raises her brow as Kim sports a cocky smirk. “Oh?”“Is... is that okay?”“Do you want to?” She nods, shrugs, “I've never had a sleepover before. No, I don't know what to do. What happens at those things? What if I mess it up or do something stupid or-”Kim laughs, “I'm sure you'll be fine. All you'll do is watch a couple of movies and like, talk about cute boys or whatever, maybe do some spells.”Penelope scrunches her nose, “boys are gross.” “True,” Trini snickers, “girls are cute though.” A blush coats her cheeks without her realising and she misses the look that passes between Kim and Trini. “So can I?”“Sure, it's not really any different from the weekdays, I guess,” Trini shrugs, although Penelope can tell she's putting on a brave face since this is the first time Penelope has asked to not spend time with them. Sure, she's stayed over at her grandparents' houses before- under strict rules not to use or mention magic of course, but it's not really the same thing as her asking if she can stay with a friend. “Josie's a nice girl, I trust her not to let you get into trouble,” she jokes. Penelope grins and begins to eat properly, doesn't understand when Kim bites her lip in Trini's direction. “So, the principal's daughter, huh?”“Kimberly,” Trini hisses.Kim grunts and rubs at her leg before Penelope realises that Trini had kicked her in the shin and holds back a laugh. “Ow! What?”“You know what.”Penelope rolls her eyes as she looks between them and finishes off her plate before she stands to head for her room, “you two are so weird sometimes.” The next weekend, nerves are squirming through her body as she knocks on Josie's bedroom door, but they quickly evaporate when Josie opens the door with a wide grin, “Penny, hi, come in.” “Hey, Josie.”“So I asked my dad if we could have pizza, and he listed some movies for us to watch, and,” she exaggerate, gestures to the mountain of sheets and pillows, “pillow fort.” Penelope smiles at the effort, glances around the room, “where's Lizzie?”Despite her and Josie being close, Lizzie has always been off with Penelope and she doesn't know why. Josie shrugs, “she's away this weekend.” She doesn't offer anything more and Penelope doesn't push. “What do you want to do first?”“I don't know,” she says, her nerves back, “I've never had a sleepover before. My uncles and cousin were 'too old' for that.” Apparently, the four year age gap between herself, Pearl, Carlos, and Samuel, made her a 'kid'. But Josie reaches out to squeeze her hand, “then we'll make this one extra special.” It takes three hours for her phone to ring and honestly? Penelope was expecting it after the first ten minutes. Still, she smiles at the name on the screen as Josie pauses their second movie. “Hey, mami.”“Hi, mija. Just checking in to make sure everything is okay.”“Sorry, Penny, I tried to stop her,” Kim shouts in the background.Penelope chuckles, “I'm fine. We're watching cartoons and we had pizza for dinner.”“Good,” Trini sighs down the phone, “that's good. Are you having fun?” She knows her mami, and she's obviously trying to prolong the conversation, but she lets her have it because she kind of misses being at home too. “Yes, mami,” she drags out, pretends to be embarrassed while Josie acts like she's not listening in. “Okay. Say hi to Josie for me.” “Hi, Mrs. Hart,” Josie speaks next to her, having heard Trini through the phone. “Why are you the only one in school to call me that? You are allowed to call me Trini, you know.”Josie blushes next to her but doesn't give a reply. “Right, well,” Trini clears her throat, “I'll leave you to it. Love you, mija.”Penelope lowers her voice, “love you, mami.”“Hey!”Of course she's on loud speaker. She groans quietly, her voice still low even though Josie can blatantly hear her, “love you, mom.”“What was that? I didn't hear you.”“I'm hanging up now okay bye,” she rushes out, the last thing she hears being Kim's laughter. She grunts as she throws the phone, “god, they're so embarrassing.” Josie nudges her shoulder, “it's nice. I hardly see my mom, she's always away on business.” Penelope doesn't quite know what to say to that, so she tries to give Josie a sympathetic glance. “Do you ever think about your birth mom?”Penelope winces, “not really. I mean, I know what she did, and I know why she gave me up now, but I don't really think of her as my parent, you know? And I haven't got a clue who my dad is, but I don't... I don't care. Is that bad?”“Sometimes,” Josie start cautiously, “sometimes I wonder how different my life would be if my real mom, the one who died before we were born, didn't die. If I would've been as close to her as Lizzie is to our mom now. But other times, I... I forget about it all until I see the picture of her in dad's office. And, if you not thinking about yours makes you bad, then me not remembering mine makes me bad.”“I don't think you're bad,” Penelope whispers.“You don't?”She shakes her head, “no. You're actually pretty great, JoJo.” She blushes at Josie's smile. “Sorry. Josie.”Josie pushes some hair behind her ear and shifts her gaze away with a mumble and soft quirk of her lips, “you can call me JoJo. It sounds nice.” It's at that moment that Penelope decides she's going to make it her mission in life to be the cause of that smile. -As the years pass and change, so does she.Her style of clothing doesn't feel right any more. She's going to be a teenager tomorrow for crying out loud! She needs to look like one. “Mom, I need your help,” she whines. Kim grins in glee, “finally. Do you know how long I've been waiting for you to come to me for relationship advice?”Penelope pales, “what? No! No, no. I don't- what?” It was mortifying enough when Kim sat her down and gave her 'the talk', she does not need her to... relationship? What? “I need new clothes,” she says, eyes still wide. Kim pouts, “oh... okay, I can do that. What are we thinking?” “I... have no idea.” She stands tall, puffs out her chest, “but I'm going to be thirteen tomorrow, and I need to look more adult.” She can tell that it takes everything in Kim's power not to laugh, but she manages to compose herself because her daughter needs her. Kim taps her chin to think and looks Penelope over before she snaps her fingers. “Come on, I know what we can do.” Trini frowns at them as Kim rushes to the door. “Where are you two going?”“Shopping spree,” Kim gloats. “Gross,” Trini grumbles, “have fun.” The door is barely closed as Trini shouts after them, “bring me a doughnut back, gorgeous.” Not thirty minutes later, Kim pulls up outside of some of the nicer clothing stores Mystic Falls has to offer and turns to her as she shuts off the car. “Okay, so I'm thinking dark and light. Some skirts if you're okay with that. Flat boots. A leather jacket, definitely a leather jacket, they never go out of style and why haven't we got you one of those yet?”Penelope's brows raise, “mom, are you okay?”“It's been so long since I've been shopping like this,” she says like it's the best thing that happened to her, “thank fuck you take after me for it.” Penelope smirks and Kim gulps. “Don't tell your mami.” Kim walks the shop like she owns it, pulls random things off of racks and piles them in her arms as the girl behind the counter watches on in fascination. And Penelope? Well, she's just trying her hardest not to seem too overwhelmed. “Do you have this in- wait, never mind, I see it,” Kim says, more to herself than anything. “Changing rooms?” The woman points dumbly to the back. “Great, stay on stand-by for us?” Penelope giggles as they receive a shocked nod as Kim leads them to the changing room. “Mom,” she laughs. “What? You usually go to your mami for things, let me have this.” It's... not entirely true. Trini is the one she goes to for self-defence training, homework, or just when she needs a good rant because as much as Trini makes it seem as though she's the one people should be scared of, Penelope also knows that Kim is far, far worse once she gets going. There may be a few rocket holes in the ground from Ptero to drive that point forward.Kim is who she goes to for advice. Like when the girls in her coven expect her to lead and she feels the pressure piling up, or when she's invited to something social. But, whilst it's not entirely true, it is accurate, because she needed Trini more growing up.She's still going to need her obviously, but girly shopping spree has Kim written all over it.“So who are we trying to impress at your party?” Penelope freezes as she holds up a tank top and throws it to the 'no' pile. “Nobody.” “No? Not even a certain Saltzman twin?”Kim smirks at her in the mirror and Penelope scoffs as she plays it off, “I'm really not interested in Lizzie, mom.” “Cute,” Kim remarks in a monotone before she drapes an article of clothing over Penelope's shoulders, a cape, and it looks good. “But we both know she's not the one I was referring to.” “I like this,” she diverts, lets the cape hang for a moment as Kim stares her down, “it's not like that with Josie.” It is definitely like that with Josie, but nobody needs to know that until after she makes her move at her party. Especially her parents.“She's my best friend,” she whispers. “Your mami is my best friend,” Kim challenges. “That's different.” Kim tilts her head, “is it?” She hasn't got the brain power to deal with this, so she closes her eyes with a deep breath through her nose, “can we not?” “Fine,” Kim chuckles, “but I reserve full rights to say 'I told you so' in the future.” She looks over the pile that Penelope has deemed worthy and nods, impressed. “Nice. Next.” They spend two hours shopping, arms full of bags by the time they've finished and it's some of the most fun Penelope has had. She's halfway through exchanging a bag with Kim so that she can carry doughnuts when someone knocks into her. “I'm so sorr- Pen!” Josie's eyes widen as she quickly hides something behind her back and her cheeks turn red. “Hey.” Kim hums to herself as she opens the car door to shove their bags inside and Penelope glares at her before she softens as she looks back at Josie. “Hey, JoJo.” She makes a show of trying to look behind Josie's back to see what she's hiding. “What you got there?” “N-nothing. It's nothing. Just a bit of retail therapy.” “Right,” she plays along. “You're still coming to my party tomorrow, right?”Josie nods rapidly, “of course. You know I wouldn't miss it for anything.” Kim closes the door and leans against the car, and Josie finally seems to realise they're not alone. “Hi, Mrs. Hart.” Kim shakes her head with a fond smile at Josie's habit of calling both her and Trini that instead of their names. “Hello, Josie. Do you need a ride home?” “My dad's actually waiting for me so...” she points behind her, “but thank you.” She glances back at Penelope, “I'll see you tomorrow, Pen.” Penelope copies the farewell before she watches Josie leave until she's out of sight, Kim already in the car and waiting for her. “Don't,” she warns when she sees her face.
“Okay. But, Penny, just best friends don't look at each other like that,” Kim tells her softly before she starts the car.They spend the car ride home in a comfortable silence as Penelope contemplates her words. -The party is thriving. There are witches and vampires and a few werewolves Penelope can actually stand to be around.Trini is keeping a careful watch at the soft drinks table as Kim sorts the music.It's no surprise that the two of them are so popular among the students, just like it's no surprise that they were all more than happy to have a party at their house rather than the school.And Penelope wants to enjoy herself. She really, really does. But there's one thing missing. One person.Josie.She was supposed to be here hours ago to help with preparations, and Penelope checks her phone once again for a text, a call, anything.There's nothing. Penelope is sick of asking if people know where she is, always met with the same negative answer, and there's only so many times Trini can tell her that she'll be here before it becomes false reassurance for the sake of it. Trini shoots her a sympathetic smile as she reaches the drinks table with a sigh. “I'm sure she has a good reason, mija.” “Yeah,” she laughs with no humour, “probably Lizzie. It's always Lizzie.”More and more frequently, may she add. “Every time we make plans, something comes up with Lizzie. Every time we're together, Lizzie calls because she needs her. I'm getting sick of it.” “She is her sister, Penny.” Penelope sniffs, “I know, and I get that, but it's my birthday, mami. She should be here. She's the only one I care about being here.” Trini playfully squints. “You know what I mean.” Trini breathes out, “look around you, mija. All of these people are here for you. I know they're not who you want, but at least try and make the most of it? They're all still your friends after all, and they all care about you.” Penelope nods a little. “But if you really want, we can finish it up early.” Kim chooses that moment to come over, stands behind Trini and wraps her arms around her waist as she nuzzles into her neck, “is the party over?”“How do you do that?” Seriously, Penelope has never known anything like it, how Kim just knows what's happening without being a part of the conversation.“I know my girls,” she kisses Trini's cheek, “I know how the two of you work. What do you want, Penny? It's your day, nobody else's.” She plays with the pendant around her neck, thumbs over it and murmurs a spell that silences the house, though the occupants have no idea, carry on as if nothing has happened. “I just needed a moment.” Trini and Kim nod, wait, and Penelope spins to watch her friends for a minute, laughing and dancing and having fun. “They made the effort, I should let them enjoy it. It'd be selfish to send them away because I'm not feeling it.” “There's a difference between being selfish and self-care, mija. Remember that.”Penelope spins back around and nods at Trini's sentence. “I know, but I should have fun, too.” They smile at her before Kim moves away from Trini, to Penelope's side, leans down and kisses her forehead, “I'm proud of you.” “Thanks, mom.” She reverses the spell and makes a promise to herself to enjoy the night.Eventually, with her small group of witches, she manages to push Josie to the back of her mind, and it's not until much later, once the party is over and the three of them are falling asleep on the couch as they watch a movie, that there's a knock on the door. “I have a feeling that's for you,” Kim yawns, stretches, stands, and offers her hand to Trini who takes it sleepily, “let's leave them to it.” The knock comes again, and they hug Penelope before they let her answer it. “Happy birthday, sweetie. Don't take any of her bullshit excuses, okay? Self-care, not selfish.”“Kimberly,” Trini attempts to warn, but in all honesty she agrees. “Happy birthday, mija.”It's past her birthday now, but she appreciates it nonetheless, twiddles with the ring on her finger, the one that holds a healing stone, and the charm next to her pendant, an icicle shaped diamond with swirls of pink and yellow, a constant reminder of where she truly came from, who she can always rely on. “Thank you for my presents.” Another, more impatient knock causes Kim to chuckle, “you're welcome. Now go before she leaves.” Penelope waits until they're at the top of the stairs until she takes a deep breath and opens the door to a nervous Josie. “Party ended ages ago.” “I'm sorry, Pen. I'm so sorry. Something came up with-”“Lizzie?” Josie nods. “Shocker,” she rolls her eyes, “never heard of a text?”Josie winces, “Pen-”“I never complain.” Josie's brow furrows. “When you run off to Lizzie. I never moan, or whine, or hold it against you. But it was my birthday, JoJo, and I needed you here. You should've been here.” “It's complicated,” Josie mumbles.“Because of her episodes?” Josie winces again. “Not everything can be blamed on her bipolar, JoJo,” Penelope sighs. “You're selfless, and... it's not a bad thing, but sometimes it's also not a good thing either, because when you try to help everyone, you end up hurting others. Or worse, yourself.” Josie works her jaw, “she's my twin.” Penelope nods, “and you're hers, but where is she when you need her?” “Are we... are we not okay?”She shakes her head, “not right now, I don't think. I'm... I'm pissed at you.” It takes a second of quiet, Penelope watching Josie as Josie focuses on the door over Penelope's shoulder, before Josie lifts the gift bag in her hand, the same one she was failing at hiding behind her back yesterday. “Happy birthday, Pen,” she swallows, waits for Penelope to take it before she turns to head back towards her dad's car. “Goodnight, JoJo,” she says into the wind. She gently closes the door and leans against it before she drops the gift bag on the table and heads upstairs, knocks on the door and waits for her invite before she pops her head in. “Can I stay with you guys tonight?”Kim wordlessly lifts the duvet as Trini rolls away to make space in the middle as she settles down between them. “Aren't you going to open it?”“Not tonight.”-Not for a while. Five months, to be exact.Why five months?Because five months is how long she goes without talking to Josie.And five months marks the day that Hope Mikaelson's room goes up in flames. What does that have to do with Penelope?Everything, it seems, as Josie paces Penelope's room, grumbling and murmuring to herself in a way that Penelope can't catch a single word, until she has enough and stops Josie mid strut, hands on Josie's shoulders as tears drench her cheeks. “JoJo, what happened?” “It was me, Pen.”“What was you?” “The fire!”Penelope steps back in shock at Josie's outburst. Calms her voice to try and soothe her, “what do you mean? How was that your fault?” Josie sits on Penelope's bed with her head between her hands. “I started it.”“What? Why? JoJo, what's going on?”“I- I didn't mean to. It was only suppose to be the note. Just the note. But it got worse. And I couldn't stop it. And then- then-”Penelope swoops in and pulls Josie against her body, lets her sob into her shirt. “Hey, hey, calm down, take a breath. What are you talking about?” Josie pulls back, furiously wipes at her face and she sniffs and shakes. “I slipped a note under Hope's door and then I regretted it, so I tried to destroy it, but it went wrong, and now I've ruined everything in her room.” “Well what did the note say?” Josie stares at her. Just stares. And it slowly dawns on Penelope. “Oh.” “Yeah.” “You... you... Hope.” “Yeah,” Josie repeats.Penelope swallows. “Oh,” she also repeats. So Josie has a crush on Hope. Fantastic. “How do I fix this?”“Did anyone see you? No-one got hurt?” Josie shakes her head. “So then don't say anything. This place is full of lights, and magic, anything could've caused it. Nobody has to know it was you, okay? We can just pretend it never happened.” Josie looks unconvinced. “You have to, JoJo. I don't think even your dad can let this one go. You have to. Even Lizzie can't find out.”“She's part of the reason I did it.” Penelope is actually kind of impressed by that. “She takes... everything. Everyone I've ever had a crush on.” Everyone? As in multiple crushes? And why has Penelope never heard of them? “Well,” she chokes, forces herself not to get into that line of questioning, “she'll never be able to take me.” Josie smiles a little, “no?”“Nope,” she confirms, “I'm all yours, Josie Saltzman.” “I thought you hated me.”Penelope sighs, “I was mad at you, but I don't hate you.” She waits a beat, “why did you come to me if you thought that?”“Because you're the only one I trust.” She melts a little and pulls Josie to lay down with her. “Come here,” she says, pulls Josie closer, “I'll always do what's best for you, alright?” Josie lifts her head, “did you ever open the present I got you?” She shakes her head. “Open it.”The process is a slow one as she gently undoes the perfectly wrapped paper. She almost forgot how light it was, having kept it under her bad, and gasps when she sees it. A double leather bracelet, with a clear, circular crystal locking it together, and her coven's symbol etched in the middle. “It's beautiful.” “There's more.” Josie rests her hand against the wall, siphons a little magic and puts it into the bracelet, the symbol glowing a bright red. “Try a spell.” She goes for something simple, a locking spell to separate them from the outside world, and instead of just her door clicking as it locks, she hears multiple doors along the hall click too. “What-”“It gives your spells a boost.” There's still a lot of red in the symbol. “I can recharge it when it drains out.” “This... is amazing,” she says softly, “thank you.” Josie blushes, “you're welcome.” The air feels thick, heavy, but with Penelope's recent discovery, she holds her emotions at bay and attempts to be supportive. “So, Hope Mikaelson, huh?”Josie groans as she flops back onto the bed, flings an arm over her eye, “I don't know.”Penelope chuckles, “what do you mean you don't know?” “I thought I liked her, because like, who wouldn't?”“Uh, me.” One eye opens to regard her curiously, “seriously?” She nods. “Anyway, as soon as I slipped that note under her door, I thought it was a mistake. That's the other reason I tried to get rid of it.” Penelope lays back down, her arms under her head as she looks Josie over, “how long?”A shrug, “couple of months or so.”“And what about the others? You never told me you had a crush on anyone.” She tries not to sound hurt, but she can tell she doesn't succeed when Josie gives her soft eyes. “Hope is only the second crush I've had since I was like, nine.”“Who was the other?”Josie lays next to her, rests her head on Penelope's shoulder and she slightly gasps at the contact. Doesn't answer her question. “Can I stay here tonight?”Penelope sighs, “of course, you never have to ask.” “I like your new look, by the way,” Josie remarks as she plays with the hem of Penelope's black, comfortable sweater, “it suits you. And I also know it was you that left the spell book outside my room for my birthday last month. Thank you.” Penelope doesn't respond, she doesn't need to. “Does this mean I have my best friend back?”If that's all Josie wants her to be, Penelope can live with it. “Yeah, JoJo, you have your best friend back.”-After the fire incident, Penelope decides that leaving notes is going to be their thing. Her mami had been all over her after the event, making sure that no childhood traumas resurfaced, but Penelope genuinely doesn't remember a whole lot of what had sent her small town up in flames at such a young age. She remembers the fire, and the foster home, looking for the other kids, hiding under the street, and meeting Trini, but that's about it.Kim and Trini had shared a look, and sometimes she hates the way they communicate silently, how they can have a full conversation with zero words. She also kind of wants that for herself someday. Which is what brings about the notes. It's slowly coming up to Josie's fourteenth birthday, and although it takes almost a year, the fire in Hope Mikaelson's room all but switches to another piece of juicy gossip that circulates the school. Penelope has been focusing on practising her telekinesis by writing Josie random notes, sometimes funny, sometimes cute, and floating them over to her, because even though Josie is back in her life, the fact that Lizzie takes up most of Josie's time hasn't changed. She's been doing this for eight months so far, and with a little boost from her bracelet, she's finally able to send a note from her house to the school. And for some reason, Lizzie still doesn't like Penelope, which means Penelope doesn't trust her not to get into Josie's phone, so she came up with a way to still be close to Josie even while Lizzie was around. “Why haven't you asked that girl on a date yet?” “Mom, come on, I told you-”Kim scoffs, “if you think for one second that Josie isn't interested in you, you're more oblivious then your mami.”“Rude,” Trini says from the stove. “You know I'm right, baby.”Trini rolls her eyes and Penelope chuckles. “So how did you two get together anyway?”“Your mother pulled me off of a cliff and then tried to steal my doughnut,” Trini grumbles.Kim gasps, “you tried to steal my doughnut, thank you very much.”“See how she didn't deny pulling me off of a cliff?” Trini cocks her brow and Kim sticks her tongue out. “I have to admit, mija, even I can see how badly Josie has it for you.” Penelope crosses her arms in challenge, “then why hasn't she done something about it? When she liked Hope she slipped a note under her door.”“Maybe she's worried that you don't like her. She wasn't friends with Hope, but you're her best friend, perhaps she's scared of ruining that. I was.” Trini winks at Kim as Kim blows her a kiss. “And look how we turned out.” “Insufferably gross?”Trini groans as she lowers the heat, “teenagers should come with a warning.” She sits opposite Penelope. “Mija, if for some reason even I can't comprehend, she doesn't feel the same, Josie isn't the kind of person that would let it effect your friendship.”
“She'd be stupid not to anyway, Penny.”Penelope's head snaps around at the new voice, and a beaming smile greets her. “Uncle Zack!”“Sorry I'm late. This whole not being able to teleport thing is still kicking my ass to this day.” Trini's warning goes unheard as he wraps Penelope up in a hug.Zack and Tommi had quit the Rangers years ago, Billy following shortly after while Jason still leads them, and she hadn't seen them much since because of them sorting their lives out outside of the team, plus them having to drive all the way here now.“I see Studmuffin got an upgrade,” Trini says gently, keeping up with the news in Angel Grove. Unlike the two, Zack, Tommi and Billy chose to allow their zords to be reprogrammed, not having the space or time to take care of them the way they deserve. “Yeah,” Zack sighs. “He's not mine any more, nothing about him, but he seems happy with his new Black Ranger.” Penelope shoots him a sad smile, she couldn't imagine not having Ptero and Tigress in her life. “Where's aunt Tommi?” “She's getting your present from the car,” he smirks, “sorry it wasn't here for your birthday, she wasn't here yet.” “She?” Both Trini and Kim squeak in alarm. “What do you mean 'she', Zack?” Honestly, they don't need to ask. Especially when Tommi walks in holding a carrier, a carrier that has crying and scuffling coming from inside. Tommi's smirk matches Zack's, “happy belated birthday, kid.” They make sure the room is secure before they open the carrier door. A tiny, tiny black kitten with bright blue eyes emerges, meowing at Penelope and she instantly swoons.Along with Kim, who rushes to pick the kitten up and coo at her, “oh she's so cute! Aren't you? Yes you are.” Penelope grins as the kitten fusses up against her hand, purring her little head off, and she glances at Trini's firm scowl with a pout. “Can we keep her, mami?”“Yeah, Trini,” Kim pouts herself, “can we keep her?” “Alaric won't allow her in the school,” she stands her ground, “what? You expect us to look after her when you aren't here?” Kim bites her lip, knowing it won't take much to get through to Trini, “baby, how can you say no to this precious face?”Penelope is one hundred percent sure Kim is referring to herself. The kitten climbs onto Kim's shoulder so she can rub her head against Penelope's. “Please, mami?” Trini groans again at matching pouts before she turns to look at a smug Zack and Tommi, “if she needs to go to the vets, you're paying.”A rounds of 'yes's fill the air and Trini rolls her eyes as she pets the top of the kitten's head. “Can I smell enchilada's?” Zack's stomach growls as he asks.-Penelope secures her leather jacket and does a once over on her hair, twists her new nose ring that Trini took her to get and looks herself over in the mirror.She doesn't notice Trini standing in the doorway. “You're turning into such a beautiful young woman, mija.”A blush coats her cheeks as she jumps, “thanks, mami.” The kitten, Nightshade, she decided on, rubs herself around Penelope's ankles, nibbles softly at the leather boots on her feet as she mewls for attention. “I'm really proud of you. We both are. You've come such a long way. In life and in magic.” Penelope's lips lilt up, “yeah, well, I have pretty amazing parents.”“Don't let your mom hear you say that,” Trini plays, “she'll hold it against you for the rest of her life.” Penelope giggles to herself with one more look in the mirror. “You ready for the party?” She nods. “And you have Josie's gift?” Another nod. “And you're going to tell her?” She sighs. She's been preparing herself for this conversation ever since Zack and Tommi came up with Nightshade. Nods firmly. “I am.” “Then what are you waiting for?” Trini cocks her brow as she folds her arms, leans against the doorway, because Penelope should've left the house at least half an hour ago and she's been stalling. “I don't know.” “Well figure it out, you know how impatient your mom is. She's buzzing in the car.” “Is she still going to get Ptero ready?”“Yep,” Trini smirks, “just waiting on you, Penny.” Penelope nods, straightens her clothes, nods again, takes a deep breath, spins on her heel. Trini stops her in the doorway, “please don't drink too much tonight.” She fakes a gasp, “mami, I would never-”Trini gives her a look, “I was fourteen once, you know. Just be careful. Keep your drink with you at all times, and don't let anybody get a drink for you. If you feel uneasy in even the slightest, you call us straight away. And for the love of god, do not go anywhere alone or anywhere with somebody that isn't your coven or Josie, got it?” “Promise,” Penelope says sincerely, “besides, you taught me how to fight.”“Until you can beat me, it isn't good enough.” Well that's never going to happen. Even Kim has to cheat in order to beat Trini. “Have fun, mija.” Kim grunts as Penelope gets in the car, “ugh, finally. I thought I was going to have to go in there and drag you out.” Penelope glares at her. “Did you get the alcohol speech?” “Yep.” “Fill up your cup early and take your time. I've been to enough parties to know that more booze gets added to the punch as the night goes on. And trust me, you cannot taste it.”Penelope frowns, “how are you two okay with this?”Kim shrugs, “because you're not stupid, and us telling you not to drink won't stop you from drinking, so we'd rather make sure you know how to be safe. No shots though, you are too young for that,” Kim demands, “and keep an eye on your friends, make sure they aren't being goaded into it or feeling pressured into it.” They pull up outside the school and Kim gives her a serious glance, “be safe.”It's something Trini and Kim always said to each other while they were on missions and had to part, and Penelope feels good about being included in the sentiment. “I will.” The halls are already crowded with students of all age ranges. She first looks over to her coven to see them crowded in a corner playing with red cups in an attempt to manipulate them enough to drink from them while they're in mid air, before she makes her way to the punch bowl, sips and sniffs it first before she casts a spell to show any... abnormalities that have been added, ones that aren't vodka, and hums happily when the pink liquid remains pink. It's not that she thinks any of the kids here will tamper with the drink like that, but her parents have drilled enough into her that she has to double check for everyone's safety, mumbles another spell to protect the bowl from any unwanted additions, just to be sure. “Boo,” is shouted next to her ear, and she nearly spills her drink as she startles, Josie giggling down her ear. “Hey, Pen.”“JoJo, jesus! Give a girl a little warning next time.” Josie bites her lip. “Happy birthday.”She flushes, “thanks, Pen.” They stand in a little bubble as Penelope checks over her outfit, “you look nice.” Josie flushes more. “I have your present, but it's for later, when it's just the two of us.” She glances to the side to see Lizzie flirting with one of the wolves and shakes her head before she looks back and sees Josie's empty hands, offers her a drink. “I'm going to check on the girls, but I'll come find you later?”“Okay,” Josie whispers, almost in disappointment, but accepts as she floats off to mingle. Penelope spends her time at the party between her coven and Josie, constantly going back and forth, and takes her time with her drinks until she feels a gentle buzz and decides to forgo any more, wanting a clear head for her talk with Josie.Josie, it seems, had other ideas, because towards the end of the night, when the crowd begins to clear, Penelope seeks her out, only to find her laughing at a so-not-funny joke one of the vamps are telling her, beams when she sees Penelope making her way over. “Pen! Pen, listen to this story, it's so funny.”It wasn't funny, but Penelope gives her a soft smile anyway because it's really cute, the excitement Josie shows. “Are you okay, JoJo? Drink a little too much?”“No, no,” Josie shakes her head, “I only had a couple, but I,” she lowers her voice as she looks around conspicuously, “I tried something.” Penelope's brows shoot up to her hairline. It's no secret that weed is popular amongst the students here, especially with all the different types of herbs the witches use for their spells, and Penelope is definitely no stranger to it, but it shocks her that Josie has given it a go, and suddenly a wave of protection crashes into her. “Where did you get it from, JoJo?”“It's fine,” Josie giggles, “Lizzie gave it me.” She's relieved at that, because although she has her differences with Lizzie, she knows she'd never purposely do anything to put her twin in danger. Josie stumbles forward, runs her hands down Penelope's front and... oh, okay, this is new. “Want to get out of here?” Penelope knows she can't talk to Josie about things when she's like this. It wouldn't be fair of her, but she nods anyway, “let's get you to the kitchen and find something to eat before your dad finds out and kills you.” Josie simply continues to giggle as she follows Penelope through the halls.“I'm really glad you came tonight, Pen.”“Where else would I be?” It's suppose to come out as sarcastic, but instead comes out gently, and she quickly finds some chips in the cupboard, hands them to Josie as she mixes a tonic for her to drink.She is not joking around when she says Alaric will kill both Josie and Lizzie if he finds out about this. Josie munches away happily, hums to herself as she chews and watches Penelope work. “You alright over there?”“You're really pretty.” A glass smashes on the ground as it slips from Penelope's grasp and she turns her wide eyes on Josie, who doesn't seem to realise what she'd said out loud, focuses on lifting the bag so she can get the crumbs from the bottom, and Penelope finishes the tonic in record time, hands it over. “Here, drink this, you should be good in about ten minutes.” And it's true, ten minutes later, Josie's pupils return to normal and she moans a little as she slips from the counter, “that was a stupid idea.” Penelope chuckles, “you're allowed to let loose on your birthday. I think you get a free pass or two.” “Did you...”She shakes her head, “I wanted a clear head tonight. There's something I want to show you if, you know, you're feeling up to it.”“Yeah,” Josie agrees easily, “that tonic was really good. What was in it?”“JoJo,” Penelope scolds lightly, “I can't give away my secrets.” Her secrets are what keeps her as one of the most powerful witches in the school, after all. The books her parents bought her do have their benefits. Even if she was reluctant to practise dark magic out of school after what had happened to her coven in the past, Trini and Kim assured her that she should embrace that part of herself, rather than deny it since it could make the temptation worse in the future.Because if anyone knows how to embrace their dark side, it's a Ranger. Killing, evil villain or not, comes with a price, and she still sometimes hears Kim comforting Trini after a particularly bad thunderstorm, even if they haven't told her the full details of why. Penelope leads them to the underground chambers, to the one big enough to hold Tigress and Ptero, and gives Tigress a head rub as she passes. “Hey, girl.” Ptero hovers as they approach, squawks when she sees Penelope, and Josie stills at the loud noise, only ever having heard it up in the sky where it isn't quite so intense. “Pen...” she says warily.“What? You're not afraid of heights, are you?”“No, but I am afraid of falling three-hundred feet from the air.” “Don't worry,” she soothes, “Ptero won't let anything happen to us.” Ptero hovers close enough to the ground to allow Penelope to climb onto one of her gigantic wings, before Penelope reaches down to lift Josie. “You'll be safe, promise. Her wing is more than big enough to hold us. And she's a good flyer, even when she's being stubborn.”Ptero squawks again in offence, and Penelope laughs.It's hilarious to her when people don't know they're sentient and somehow end up insulting them, because they always get their revenge. “Let me show you the world,” Penelope smirks.“Did you just reference Aladdin?” Josie smiles and Penelope wiggles her eyebrows, knows it's one of Josie's favourite Disney Classics. She's more of a Mulan type of girl. Josie eventually takes her hand, wobbles on unsteady legs until Penelope pulls her down to sit. Penelope waits until Josie seems more relaxed before she taps Ptero's wing, “okay, easy does it, girl.” The underground roof opens up and Ptero slowly, so slowly, levitates up, tries not to rock them as she goes, and Josie clings on to Penelope like a lifeline as they rise, and rise, and rise, until they're well above the trees and can see the entire of Mystic Falls. Only then does Josie let go, marvels at the sight before her. Penelope can't help but take this as an opportunity to tease her. “So, is it as pretty as me?”“Wha-” Josie's gaze flicks to her, wide and surprised, before her cheeks turn red, “I said that out loud?”“You said that out loud,” she confirms. “I- uh- I... uh...”She takes pity on her, “it's okay, JoJo, I think you're pretty, too.” Josie's blush changes from awkward embarrassment, to a sweet embarrassment, “really?” Penelope bites her lip and reaches into Ptero's cockpit to pull out a frame. It has a note in the centre of it, and Josie's eyes water as she reads the simple three word question. 'Be my girlfriend?' “Will you?” An answer doesn't come, no. No, what she gets, is Josie leaning forward with a small amount of hesitation until lips are on her own and it already feels like the best feeling in the world. It's short lived, just soft and timid enough to be the perfect first kiss, and Penelope can't wipe the grin off of her face as Josie pulls back, eyes still closed, and lets out a shaky breath. “Is that a yes?” Josie chuckles, “yes, that's a yes. God, how did you not put it together that you were the other crush I had?” She blinks, “what? Why the hell didn't you say anything?!” “I thought you knew!” They both laugh into the night. “Oh my god,” Penelope scoffs. “Just to be clear, you don't still have a thing for Hope, right?” Josie rolls her eyes and kisses her again. Then again, again, more confident each time until she moves her head to the other side and pushes forward and- “ow.” Josie pulls back in alarm. “Sorry. My nose ring is still a little sore.” “Sorry,” Josie winces. “It's okay, worth it.” Just as she's about to lean in once more to kiss Josie, they suddenly drop in a fast descent, and Josie clings onto her as she screams while they fall until they come to a halt back inside, meters away from the ground with Ptero letting out a sound that can only be described as a laugh. Penelope's about to ask her what she's playing at, but Josie is still clinging on to her and she's soft and warm. She strokes her wing, silently calls her a clever zord.Unfortunately for Ptero, Tigress does not hold the same sentiment, because as soon as Penelope has Josie safely down on the ground, she swipes out with her paw and growls, and then Ptero's rockets are out. Penelope knows it's only play fighting, though, so she's not overly concerned. “Are they going to be okay?”“Yeah,” she snorts, “they always end up like this. I swear, they're so much like my moms it's scary.” She smiles at the fondly. “Walk you to your room?” Once she's dropped Josie off with one more kiss, she heads to her own and calls home to let them know she's safe. “Did it work? Tell me it worked. Did it?”Penelope rolls her eyes at Kim's enthusiasm. “Yes, she's uh, she's my girlfriend.”“Ha! See, baby. Too cheesy, my ass.” “Alright, gorgeous, calm down. I'm glad it worked out, Penny, your mom does have some good ideas sometimes.”Kim scoffs, “sometimes? Always, you mean.”She listens to them bicker with a grin, falls asleep to their voices and thinks about how she can imagine herself and Josie like them down the line.Penelope tells herself she's never going to let anything bad happen between them.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Kim smiles from her place at the counter, sips her coffee as she watches Trini work over the frying pan and wonders what she possibly did in life that earned her this content happiness. Somehow, by some miraculous twist of fate, she had managed to find the girl of her dreams, and raise a child that fits so perfectly with them it's almost cruel to all other parents, because although every parent claims to be the proudest parent in the known world, Kim is pretty sure she's the only one who is actually right about it. And she's so drawn in by both of her girls, by how Penelope is so much like Trini in the way that she's soft and kind behind this hard exterior she shows others, but also how she's just like Kim in the way that she goes after what she wants, often recklessly so. Like the time a few months ago she gave her entire potions class a truth tonic because somebody had stolen Josie's favourite pen? Yeah. A lot of things came out that probably should've been left unsaid. Especially after the pen was found under her bed.Oops.Obviously, Kim found the entire situation hilarious.More obviously, Trini did not. Penelope was suspended for three days and Alaric gave all three of them a stern talking to about her practising dark magic. Not that, that was going to stop her, nor would it stop Kim and Trini from letting her.Trini hums along with the music as she cooks, wiggles her ass in a way that has Kim's eyes glued to it, before she has the audacity, the fucking audacity to look behind her and wink, waits until Kim growls and begins to stalk forward before she shouts through the house. “Penny, breakfast is ready!” “Mean,” Kim pouts, nuzzles her nose into Trini's neck.“What? We have to leave straight after breakfast anyway.”Kim shrugs, “I could make it work.” A clash of heavy footsteps run down the stairs before they slide into the kitchen and Penelope groans at their position against the counter. “Really? Do we really have to go through this every Monday morning? You have the house to yourselves for the entire week!”“Let's see if you'll be saying the same thing when you and Josie finally-”“Nope,” Trini cuts off Kim's sly remark as Penelope blushes deeply. “I do not need to hear that.” Kim chuckles low and slides a mug to Penelope who drinks eagerly before practically devouring her toast as she begins to rush out of the door. “Hey! Where do you think you're rushing off to?”Penelope mumbles around her mouthful before she swallows and rolls her eyes at Trini's quirked brow, repeats herself. “I'm meeting up with Josie before school.”“Oh, so she's more important than spending the morning with us, is she?”“Well, yeah,” she replies cheekily and Kim almost chokes on her coffee at the glare Trini sends in return.“Sit your ass down and eat breakfast like a civilised human being,” Trini demands, leaving no room for argument as Penelope does what she's told.Pouts. Looks at Kim. Whines. “Mom-”“Listen to your mami.” Penelope crosses her arms, sighs in defeat at the toast staring back at her and uncrosses them, takes an aggressive bite, “I hate it when you gang up on me.”Kim laughs, “oh my god. I do not remember being this dramatic at fifteen.” Trini blinks as Kim glances over at her in accusation. “Well she didn't get it from me!”“I'm still here, you know.”-Lizzie Saltzman is the literal bane of Penelope's existence. She's just... there. Always. So she finds little ways to spend time with Josie, Lizzie present or not, because even though Josie has become better at turning Lizzie down since they began dating, Lizzie is still her number one priority.And look. Penelope gets that, but does it really have to be so.... always?Penelope can also see how much it pisses Lizzie off. How she's able to pull Josie's attention away from her twin by rubbing little patterns into her wrist with her thumb during class, how one lip bite behind Lizzie's head will cause Josie to blank out whatever it is Lizzie is moaning about, how diverting them away from the dining hall for five minutes of private kisses will daze Josie enough to last all lunch period. Lizzie hates it, and Penelope feels a smug sense of satisfaction at every sneer sent her way. “I don't know why you enjoy winding her up so much,” Josie lazily remarks, her head on Penelope's shoulder as they watch a movie in her room, sighs, “it'd be really great if my sister and my girlfriend could get along.” “Tell me you don't secretly love the look on her face when she sees the focus isn't entirely on her,” she says knowingly, but softly, because she knows Josie has the biggest heart of everyone in the school. She pauses the movie and moves her laptop out of the way, rolls to settle on top of Josie and lets her hair block them off from the rest of the world, looks down with all the love she can muster and Josie's eyebrows knit together. “Tell me you don't love it when you feel like you're the only one in the room.” Josie sighs again, a little less annoyed, a little more wistful, “you're the only one who makes me feel like that.”“Then you're not looking hard enough.” It's no lie that Josie has the attention of quite a few students. Both for the fact that's she's Josie, and for the fact that she managed to catch the Hart of Penelope. “Not that it matters,” she declares, and Josie's eyes darken at the way Penelope's voice drops a couple of octaves, “because I'm the only one that gets to have you.”“Is that so?”Penelope hums, nods along with the sound, gloats as Josie's eyes flit between her own and her lips, relishes in the darkness she feels flow through her, can't help but think of a time she used to be terrified of it, a time when being called evil would send her spiralling.Now? She couldn't give a flying fuck what people think about her. “Yep. For as long as you'll let me.” Josie's arms come up to lock behind Penelope's neck, pulls her closer until their noses touch. “That might be a while.” Her nose scrunches up with her grin, closes the few centimetres between them to rest her lips against Josie's, “I think I can live with that.”-Things have begun to... progress between them. It's slowly coming up to Josie's fifteenth birthday and they, well, they've done everything but what they're so obviously aiming towards. And, they've been together for almost a year, they've talked, they've had 'almosts', they're ready.But.There's always a but.Privacy is a bitch. Sure, they could be typical teenagers and sneak off into an empty room, but Penelope would much rather have their first time be somewhere comfortable, somewhere they can take their time, somewhere it won't feel like just a dirty quicky.There's time for all of that stuff after.Of course, Kim clocks on to her frustrations straight away which is fucking mortifying! But also kind of life saving, because there's no way in hell Trini would be okay with this. Case in point, whenever she brings Josie home. “Door open, Penny,” Trini warns.“Yes,” she rolls her eyes, “as you make clear every single time Josie comes over.” Trini hums, “if it's so clear, how does your door always happen to find itself closed, huh?” Penelope makes an arch with her hands, fingers wiggling, whispers, “magic.” Kim snorts from her place on the couch before Trini glares at her, hits her in the ribs with her elbow, and she gulps, stares at Penelope with her own warning. “Penny.” “You're so weak, mom,” Penelope jokes, while Josie begins to flush at the attention on them. Instead of the backlash Penelope expects from Kim, she simply receives a small hum as Kim arches a brow between Josie and her. “I'm guessing you haven't figured out for yourself why yet. Don't worry, you'll understand one day.” “Kimberly,” Trini hisses. Penelope's eyes are wide and Josie's face is beet red, but Trini is too busy glaring at Kim to notice, so Kim gestures for them to get the hell upstairs while Trini's focus is on her and Penelope wastes no time in dragging Josie to her room. Trini is still glaring, so Kim wraps an arm around her shoulders and pulls her down, kisses the top of her head. “It's going to happen sooner or later, baby.” “Later would be preferable,” Trini grumbles back, “way, way later. She's only fifteen!”Kim scoffs, “don't you remember what we were like at that age?”“No, actually. Because we didn't know each other at that age and you know full well that you were my first and only.” “I know, baby,” Kim whispers, sometimes regrets that Trini wasn't hers. “But they're both smart, they love each other, and if they're both ready, then they should be able to feel comfortable in coming to us about it. Both of them. We've raised a good kid. Even if she is temperamental and sarcastic like you.”Trini half-heartedly swats Kim's stomach, “hey! When did she start growing up? Making... adult decisions?” “Is that what your issue is? That we're losing her? That she won't need us any more?” Trini shrugs and sniffs into Kim's collarbone. “She's always going to need us, Trini. But you need to let her make her own choices. The more you try to stop her, the more she's going to want to do it.” “I know that,” Trini sighs, “realistically, I know that. Still doesn't stop me from seeing the scared little girl I lifted out from a sewage pipe.” Kim smiles at the memory, the day Penelope came into their life. “Hey, why don't we go to Angel Grove next weekend? Just the two of us? It's been a while since we've been there and you know our moms will be ecstatic at a surprise visit.” Trini lifts her head with a small grin and smaller nod. “Cool, I'll phone my mom to get the room ready. I'm going to go and check on the girls, okay? See what they want for dinner.” As she stands, she gives Trini a little peck on the lips, waits until Trini sighs against her before she makes her way up the stairs. Shouts. Loudly. “I am coming in and I will not knock in my own house so you had both better be fully dressed and acting like you were working on homework!”She giggles when she hears Penelope groan. Unsurprisingly, the door is closed, and she shakes her head as she opens it. “Mom, come on!” “Hey, be thankful it's me.” Josie busies herself with an upside down book and Kim has to hold back her laugh. “Lay up on your mami, alright? This is difficult for her, you growing up.” Penelope at least has the decency to look a little ashamed of herself. “Sorry. I promise I'll keep the door open from now on.” “That's all I ask. We're going to Angel Grove next weekend-”“But it's Josie's birthday!”Kim holds her hand up at the outburst. “Trini and I are going to Angel Grove next weekend.” Penelope purses her lips in an 'oh'. “So you have the house to yourselves.” She looks pointedly between them, smirks as Josie acts disinterested. “I'm not going to tell you not to do anything because I'm not stupid. But be safe, make sure it's what you both want and please, for the love of god, don't wreck the house.” Josie flushes an even deeper shade of red if it's possible and Penelope's eyes bug out. “I'm here if you need to talk about anything, okay?” Penelope smiles at her with a nod. “Josie? That means you too.” “Okay, Mrs. Hart,” Josie mumbles, “thank you.” Kim nods, “great. Now what do you want for dinner?” They answer her and Kim can't help but make one more remark to scar her child for life. “You might want to get that lipstick off of your collar before you come downstairs, Penny.” -“Mom!” Penelope storms through the school in search of Kim after she wasn't in the gym room. “Mom! For fuck-”“Language.” Of course. Penelope turns sheepishly to a firm standing Trini. “Sorry.” She's not. “Have you seen mom?” “Why?”Penelope frowns, “I need her help.” There's a slight smirk on Trini's lips and it confuses the hell out of Penelope. “With?”“Oh my god, why are you being difficult?”Trini chuckles, “because it's funny seeing you get flustered over something as simple as a school dance.” Penelope freezes. Blinks twice. Her mouth gapes and Trini's chuckle turns into a laugh. “How- what- when-”“I'm a teacher, Penny, I know about the dance,” Trini rolls her eyes. “So what is it? Have you asked Josie yet?” “Yes,” Penelope groans, face in her hands as she mumbles through them, “that's the problem. That's why I need mom.” Trini frowns, full mama bear mode in force, “what happened? Did she say no? Did she-”“What? No, she said yes! And I don't know how to dance,” she blurts out. “Oh,” Trini sighs in relief, “is that it?”Penelope blinks again, “what do you mean 'is that it?'. Mami! It's a formal school dance. Dance. Something which I don't know how to do!”Another chuckle makes its way past Trini's lips, “alright, mija, calm down. I'll teach you.” Penelope gives her a doubtful look and Trini scolds her lightly. “Where do you think your mom learned it from? Cheerleading can only do so much, you know. Come on.” She pulls her phone from her pocket and starts a playlist, holds her hand out for Penelope to take. They begin a steady back and forth. Trini counts the steps out loud, tells Penelope when to step back with what foot, until Penelope begins to do it naturally and she stops counting. Asks the question she's been dying to ask for weeks. “So, uh, Josie's birthday-”“Oh god, mami, I do not want to talk about that,” Penelope winces, stumbles on a step.“I don't want details, jesus! I just... I just want to make sure there's no regrets.” Penelope spins under Trini's arm, feels pretty at ease with her movements. Natural. “Uh, no. No regrets,” she blushes. Trini's cheek heat up too, “good. That's good. Great in fact.” She gets an eye roll in return. “You really love her, don't you?” Penelope stumble again, trips, heads towards the floor as Trini catches her smoothly with a smug grin. “Do that move and she'll swoon forever.”A snort escapes Penelope before she can stop it as Trini lifts her back up. “Yeah. Yes. I do. I- she's it for me, mami.” “You picked a good one,” Trini approves, “I'm proud of you, mija.” Penelope ducks her head, “thank you.” “Hey,” a voice shouts from the sidelines, “can anyone get in on this dance?” Trini scrunches her nose at Penelope as Kim leans against the doorway watching them. “Sorry, gorgeous, experts only.” Kim's jaw hangs in offence as Penelope laughs, before she rushes forward to chase them as Trini and Penelope dart in opposite directions, Kim choosing to pursue Trini first.Her moms are absolute dorks, but she loves them more for it. -
“How are we supposed to tell them, Caroline? It could destroy them.”
Penelope frowns as she walks past Alaric's office, hears the concern in his voice, and decides to spy. The twins' mom. A woman she's only ever seen in short passing.
“We still have over six years to find a cure. Surely there must be something- I know but- yes, eventually- we don't know that! How do we prepare them for- I can't even think about who would win- because they're our daughters, damn it, we shouldn't be discussing who could die!”
Her stomach drops. Cure? Prepare? Die? Josie? And Lizzie, obviously, but Josie. Josie.What the ever living fuck is going on?Speaking of Josie, she's standing with Lizzie in the hall, talking animatedly about something, her mind replaying the words she heard over and over again until she finds herself slipping her arms around Josie's waist, ignores the snarl from Lizzie and kisses Josie's shoulder, thanks her mom once more for finding her some decent heels so she can do it comfortably. “Hey, babe. Any chance I can steal you away?” Josie turns to look at her and she already knows the answer. “Sorry, Lizzie needs help with the bake sale.” She rolls her eyes at Lizzie's self-satisfied smirk, pouts as she tugs at Josie's collar, “not even for an hour? I swear it'll be better than eating cookies.” Cocks her head. “Well....”“Penelope,” Josie hisses through a giggle as Lizzie looks like she's about ready to throw up. “I'll make it up to you on Monday?”“Monday? You're spending the entire weekend baking?” Josie lowers her voice, “Lizzie needs me.” “Yeah,” she scoffs, “doesn't she always?”Things were supposed to be better now. But somehow, Lizzie has managed to sink her claws into Josie even deeper. “Pen-”“It's fine, Lizzie needs you, right? Not like I do or anything.” Josie begins to say her name again, but she cuts her off. “You know what? I just realised I have tons of homework to catch up on anyway.”Josie frowns, “we don't have any-”“I'll see you on Monday, JoJo.” She leans forward to kiss Josie deeply, gives her a little extra just to rile Lizzie up more, smirks into the kiss when Josie moans slightly and Lizzie gags. Once Penelope pulls back, she doesn't wait for Josie to open her eyes, walks off in a long stride, because she wasn't necessarily lying when she said she had homework. She does have a ton of research to do. Closes her eyes in frustration when she hears Lizzie groan. “Ugh, so needy.”Fucking hypocrite. As soon as she walks through her doors, all of her books are pulled from her room and downstairs, everything she has on dark magic. Because it has to be a curse, right? There's a chance of a cure. A time limit. A six year time limit. That has to mean curse.And curse means dark magic. Something that runs through her blood. Book after book after book after book. Nothing.There's..... nothing.Penelope silently screams and throws a book across the room. It lands with a loud thud and two seconds later Trini comes rushing in from the kitchen. “Whoa, mija, what's going on?”“I don't know.”Kim rushes from the bathroom, hair still wet from her shower and she knits her brows at the scatter of books and Trini's worried expression. “Did I miss something?” “I don't know,” Penelope repeats, rocks back and forth because what the fuck is she missing? “I overheard Alaric on the phone. Something- something about a cure, a-and preparing them and dying and-”“Who's dying, mija?”“Josie!” Her loud shout knocks Trini and Kim back, before she takes a calming breath. “I mean, I think. I don't know! He said something about them being his daughters and they shouldn't be discussing which one of them is going to die and I can't find anything!”Trini slowly steps forward, places her hand on Penelope's shoulder until she looks up. “Mija,” she says softly, “are you sure that's what you heard?” Penelope nods, “yes. I mean, I think so. I mean, fuck, I don't know!” She feels like she's said 'I don't know' too many times, but it's the only response she has because it's the only one that's true. Trini doesn't even tell her off for swearing. Kim joins them, kneels beside her and pulls her into her chest, soothing. “Nobody is dying, sweetie, least of all Josie. We can research it all, okay? We'll help. We'll figure it out.” “Okay,” she mumbles, eyes the pages in front of her before something catches her eye. A spell. A spell that could become very useful in finding out what is going on. “Hey, mom, can you drive me to the store? I think I have an idea of what to get everyone for Christmas.” -The pens surprisingly fly out. Each student and teacher takes one with a grin and thanks, especially Emma who mentions something about it encouraging the students to write in their journals and yeah.... that's kind of the point. Josie bounces up to her to take one from the table and her hand quickly shoots out, “no!”“What?” Josie frowns adorably. “Why don't I get one?” She tries to play it smooth, “because I have a much better present for you, JoJo. But it's going to have to wait until I get back.” Adds an eyebrow wiggle to get her point across. Josie pouts at her, “don't I get a pen, too? A pen from my Pen?” God, what a fucking dork. Penelope can't help but melt a little and rolls her eyes, knowing it's useless to try and deny her of anything, “fine, but I expect extra kisses for the inconvenience.” She makes a promise to herself that she won't read anything Josie writes. “Deal.” Alaric comes up behind them, the one person she's been waiting for. “This is a nice gesture, Penelope. Thank you.”“You know me, Mr. Saltzman, all about that holiday spirit.” Josie chuckles low next to her as Penelope puts on the most fake smile she's ever put on.He's hiding something. And it's going to get at least one of his daughters killed.She will get to the bottom of it. He stands smiling, not quite knowing what to say to that, waves his pen at her and walks away before Josie bursts out laughing. “You're terrible.” Penelope leans over with a smirk, “that's not what you usually say.” Josie blushes, darts her eyes around to make sure nobody heard. Unfortunately, “gross. You really are like your mother.” “Excuse you? I'm much smoother than that. That horrendous line was all you, baby.” “And the award for the parents with the worst timing ever goes to...” Penelope drags out. “What's up?” Kim leans against the table, “your grandma wants to know if you have grown out of your 'goth' phase yet before she knits you a new sweater.” Trini rests against Kim, “and your abuela suddenly seems to think you've turned vegetarian since it's, and I quote, 'all the rage now', and won't believe me unless she hears it from you. I think it's just an excuse to get you to call her.” Josie licks her lips to hold back her grin at Penelope's embarrassment and she tracks the motion hungrily. Answers in a murmur, “no, I have not outgrown my 'goth' phase, so black sweater please. And I will call abuela later.” “I'd better get going, I still need to pack for Europe so...” Josie trails off. “Have a good Christmas,” she says to Kim and Trini. Before she turns around, Penelope calls her back, “hey, what about me?” Josie's cheeks turn red again as Penelope points to her lips, her eyes worriedly looking over at Kim and Trini until Kim giggles and puts a hand over each of their eyes. Only then does Josie lean forward to kiss her quickly. “I'll miss you.”“Miss you too, JoJo. Make sure Lizzie gets a pen as well, yeah?”“Why do I feel like you're scheming?” Josie squints her eyes.Penelope shrugs, “maybe I am.” Josie shakes her head fondly and Penelope watches her all the way until she's out of sight before she glares at her moms.“Ah, young love.” Trini nudges Kim to shut her up, “you ready to go, mija?”-The Gomez household is chaotic as always. The males of both families are in the living room shouting at the TV while the women are in the kitchen.Penelope wants to growl at the sexist stereotype, but in all honestly, the guys would probably burn down the kitchen.Kim says as much.“So why are you in here with us, gorgeous?” “Ouch, Trini! What happened to good gestures over the holidays?” Madison comes to Kim's rescue. Kind of. “Now, Trini, who would we get to cut the vegetables?” June plays along until Kim gets annoyed and throws the knife down. “Right, you lot can fend for yourselves.”“No, no, no,” Trini says as she grabs for Kim's waist, pulls her back, “we're only messing with you, babe. You're great at cutting things.” “Oh wow, such a compliment,” is the sarcastic reply.Fuck, Penelope misses Josie. “So how's school going, Penny?”“It's good, thank you, grandma.”Kim gloats, “top of her class.” June hums, “she's a Gomez, of course she is.”“I think you mean a Hart.” Trini mumbles under her breath, “here they go again.” Penelope snorts as June and Madison compete. “Speaking of,” Trini declares loud enough to stop the bickering, “Penny has some reading to do, don't you, mija?”She's obviously referring to the folder that holds all of Salvatore's secrets, and Penelope has been itching to get back to reading it to see if there's any new developments. “Y-yeah, if that's alright.”“Of course it is,” June says as if it's the most obvious thing in the world, “it's so good to see you keeping on top of your studies even during the holidays. Maybe if Carlos and Sammy did that they wouldn't be working at a garage, they'd own one.”Yes, June does not approve of her sons working at Jason's garage instead of starting up their own. Trini always finds it shocking that she's the 'good seed' of the family. Kim makes her way over to hold a slice of pepper to Trini's lips after Penelope has left the room, noticing the way she looks in that direction occasionally. “You okay?”“I'm worried. What if she finds something bad?” “Then we'll figure it out.” “What if-” Kim leans down to kiss her, wipes her words away before Trini pulls back. “I know you think you're being cute, but that's still a way of telling me to shut up.” Kim smirks, “works though.” Moments later, there's a bustling through the door as Jason, Billy, Zack, and Tommi race to get inside and then the already chaotic household is full on bat shit as hugs are exchanged and 'I missed you' sentiments are thrown around. Penelope smiles as she hears the commotion, closes the book with no new updates and joins in the fun, wonders when her much needed information will come.-As it turns out, she doesn't have to wait too long. Lizzie has been writing in her journal about her mom which is no major surprise. It's also no surprise that she complains about how much Josie misses Penelope.Which brings a smile to her face. And an understanding from Lizzie's point of view as she writes: It feels like I'm losing my own sister more and more each day and I don't know how to stop it. I don't know how to stop that bitch from stealing her away from me.Okay, yes. Rude. But understandable, because Penelope feels the same way about Lizzie. MG, a close friend of Josie's and new to the school this year, writes about his crush on Lizzie. Still no surprise.There's some gossip that she enjoys reading, and some not so much, but one day, finally, before they're ready to head back to Mystic Falls, Alaric finally writes.It begins with cliff notes. Things like; Caroline, Europe, Kai, Leader.Things that don't really make sense, until they do. He writes a list, titles it; 'Possible Ways to Stop The Merge.'The Merge? Penelope tilts her head. Then comes a subtitle. 'Effects to the Coven if Lizzie Wins.'A large space, another subtitle. 'Effects to the Coven if Josie Wins.'What... The... Hell?The first sentence under the first subtitle makes her stomach drop, her heart stop, her tears flow, and her legs jelly.
If the stronger twin (Lizzie) becomes the Gemini Leader by absorbing the weaker twin (Josie) through the ritual-
She slams the book shut. Can't read anything past that point. Absorbing? The weaker twin? The meaning hits her like a train. “The Merge is a ritual that forces one twin to absorb the other. That's how they die,” she whispers to herself, still in shock. Penelope thinks back to all the times Josie broke plans with her for Lizzie. All the times Josie saved Lizzie's ass after she had an episode. All the times Josie gave up everything for Lizzie. It's always Josie being there for Lizzie.And even if Josie turns out to be the stronger twin, which Penelope is sure she is, there's no doubt in her mind that Josie would sacrifice herself for Lizzie. She gets out of bed, makes her way down the hall and pushes herself into Kim and Trini's room without looking, not even caring if she catches them doing anything because her mind is fucking reeling.Thankfully though, they aren't, and Penelope knows it's because Trini is still scared shitless of Madison hearing something. “Mami, mom! Wake up.”Kim groans, blinks one eye open, “Penny, it's three a.m.”“It's Josie,” her voice cracks and Kim is instantly alert, “I know how she's going to die.” “What?” Trini reaches over to grab the book from a shaking Penelope's hands and opens to the page she had her thumb on as Kim cradles Penelope into her side. “Penny, there's nothing here.”Penelope's head shoots up. She knows she's tired, but she isn't delusional, right? “Huh?”Trini hands the book back over. The cliff notes. The title. The subtitles. They're all there. But the sentence below has been scribbled out to the point of extinction.“Whatever was being written in there, Alaric doesn't want to chance anybody seeing it,” Kim says suspiciously. “What did it say, sweetie?”“There's a ritual, it involves one twin absorbing the other, I'm assuming to lead the Gemini coven.”Kim gasps, “that's barbaric.” Trini reaches over to wipe tears away from Penelope's cheeks, “mija, Josie's strong-”Penelope shakes her head, “it's not about her being strong, mami, it's about if she'll willingly fight Lizzie or not.” “You need to tell her.”“If I do that she'll give up before it even starts.” Kim sighs, “so what are you going to do?”There's only one thing she can think of. One thing that Josie will, fuck... hopefully, fight for. Her. “I'm going to break up with her.”Trini and Kim share a look, and for once, she knows exactly what it means. They think she's an idiot.And they're probably right.-The break up does not go well. Josie, with good reason, doesn't understand where it's all coming from, why it's so sudden, because they'd been so happy.But Penelope can't tell her why, can't tell Josie that it's to make her stronger, make her selfish, make her fight for what she wants. So she makes up some lame excuse about needing time away from each other.Or something along those lines.Honestly, her words are all muffled echoes that don't make any sense to her because all she can see is the heartbreak in Josie's usually warm eyes. She once made a promise to herself that she was going to be the cause of Josie's smile, and now she's the cause of Josie's tears.It makes her feel sick.But it has to be done. It has to be done because Penelope needs to be the bad guy. She needs to make Josie see that taking care of herself isn't selfish, that sometimes she has to put herself before Lizzie, and in order for Penelope to do that, she has to bring Lizzie's world down. If she brings Lizzie's world down while they're still together, Josie will never forgive her. At least if they're broken up, she might have a fighting chance to win her back when it's all over. Apparently, she's determined to break all of her promises, too, because she ends up the doing the one thing she vowed she would never do.She looks at Josie's diary. Penelope tells herself it's to be prepared for any negativity Josie is bound to send her way, because as much as she's grown into the 'give no fucks' sixteen year old she is now, the thought of Josie acting that way towards her will kill her, and she can't afford to show any weakness. It may be a mistake, reading it, and one day it's definitely going to come back to bite her in the ass, but it's also her only option.A smile comes to her lips as she glances over the earlier entries. Josie gushing about dates they'd been on, how Penelope makes her feel, her wishes for the future, the need to be her own person but how she doesn't want to hurt Lizzie in return.And yet again, that's the problem.The smile quickly turns into tears as she follows Josie's latest entry live while she writes. 'I just don't understand what I did wrong. Maybe... maybe Lizzie was right all along. Maybe Penelope was just using me. Maybe she was just playing some sick game because she's evil.' Josie's self-doubting words turn vicious, and the pen digs deeper into the page. 'I mean, it's in her blood, right? It was bound to happen eventually. God, I was so stupid to believe she cared about anyone other than herself. She's so selfish and I hate her! I fucking hate her!'Penelope breathes slowly through her nose. Josie's words are expected, but it doesn't stop them from squeezing her heart. Her thumb traces over the words gently. “Oh, JoJo. One day you'll understand. You have to.” -Kissing MG?Yeah, biggest mistake of her life. She knows she pushed Josie too far, and her newly bobbed hair proves it. Not that she isn't completely rocking the look, and not that she isn't impressed by Josie's impulsive pyromania, but her plan isn't working.The entire purpose of this was to make Josie stick up for herself. And she is. And it's great. But she's sticking up for herself with the wrong person. Instead of Josie taking measures to care for herself, it's only making her do more for Lizzie. Penelope needs a different strategy. And it comes in the form of the witches council. The one Josie so desperately wants to be a part of.Unfortunately, so does Lizzie, so of course Josie puts her wants aside to help her twin. It's a shame Penelope is going to ruin it for them. The witches are pretty easy to convince, as she knew they would be, because for some reason they all look up to her. All it takes is some honest words about Lizzie only wanting to be on the council to defend lover-wolf and his, as far as they know, non-magical teen angst brother and they were swiftly 'team Josie'.Speaking of Raf, what the hell is Josie thinking with her stupid crush on somebody that isn't her? And siphoning from him? Penelope knows that she didn't have a choice but siphoning from anywhere other than a hand is their thing. Jesus Christ.Obviously she can't pass up the opportunity to tease Josie, relishes in the way Josie blushes and takes pride in the fact that Josie isn't over her. And Lizzie. God, Lizzie. She thought at least something got through to her when she cornered her in the gym, but then the puppy had to go and make her feel all special and shit and Lizzie learnt nothing.Penelope knows though, that mentioning their mom, was more than a step too far.She'd honestly only meant to hurt Lizzie. It was right there, just waiting to be said. But when she gets home to get ready for Josie's birthday, she can hear her moms arguing in the kitchen. “It's too much, Kimberly! She's becoming... becoming...”“Me?” She can only imagine Trini working her jaw, “you know that's not what I meant.” “Isn't it? Because it sure as fuck sounds like it, Trini.” “Look,” Trini sighs, “I know we're supposed to let her make her own choices, and her own mistakes, but this kind of mistake is going to cost her a lot more than some high school drama. Josie set her hair on fire for crying out loud! She almost let a vampire bite her! If we let her keep walking this path, I'm afraid she's going to get lost, and we're not going to be able to bring her back from it.” Penelope looks down at the floor as she listens in. “Okay,” Kim relents, “okay, I'll talk to her.” Oh no. Penelope quickly tries to escape to her room, but their stupid fucking Ranger DNA doesn't allow her to sneak away anywhere and Kim yells from the kitchen. “Sit your ass on the couch, Penelope.” Full name. Fuck. Kim walks in with Trini behind her, before Trini takes the car keys without looking at either of them. Penelope waits until she hears the car leave the drive. “Is she mad at me?” Kim sighs, sits on the table facing the couch and folds her arms over her knees. “What are you doing, Penny?” Penelope frowns, “what do you mean?”“With Josie. What are you hoping to accomplish?” She frowns deeper, “you know what. I told you, I need to make her stronger.”Kim bites her lip, “sure, maybe at first.” She shakes her head, “but now? Now you're intentionally hurting her and that's not okay.” Penelope watches confused as Kim laughs humourlessly. “You don't even see it do you? Want to know why your mami and I were arguing?” Not really, but Kim is going to tell her anyway. “You know she hates bullies, right? Well, before I became a cheerleader at Angel Grove, so did I. And once it happened, shit, I didn't even realise I was turning into everything I hated.” Penelope waits patiently. “When I did, when the head cheerleader did something bad to someone, I stayed quiet. I knew it was wrong, but I was in the popular crowd, and if somebody else had to suffer, that meant I didn't have to. Then time went on, and soon I was joining in, but it was just a bit of harmless fun, yeah? No. I was making somebody's life miserable, but the more I got away with it, the easier it became, the less it affected me. And then,” Kim sighs again, “then I began dating a football player, behind my best friend's back. My best friend. Why? Because I could. Because I got away with it. It went too far, I truly thought I loved him, and I'd become so detached from the real world that I couldn't see he was just using me on the side.”“Mom-”“I was so angry. So angry that when she sent me a picture of her in some... more than risqué lingerie for approval, I sent it to him, asking him if this was the kind of girl he wanted to take home to his mom. He sent it to the entire school, and it was all my fault. I ruined my best friend's reputation, all because I felt like it. All because I thought I could get away with whatever the hell I wanted without consequence.” Penelope tries to cut in again. Kim won't let her. “The worst thing is, I didn't see what I'd done wrong. Not until I was sat in the office and her dad had to see that picture of her, and my world came crashing down. The names I got called after? The words written on my locker? They didn't matter, because I deserved all of it. Until Trini. When I told her, fuck, I thought she was going to launch me out of her bedroom window.” Penelope chuckles low. “But she didn't. She didn't because she's good, she's so good, and it took her a long time to make me realise that just because I did something bad, it didn't make me a bad person. Acknowledging what I did, and choosing to continue to do it, that would've done. Before I became a Ranger, I felt like I'd lost everything, all because I didn't know when to stop, and she's worried that if you continue to hurt Josie like you are, you're going to end up doing something you can never come back from, and that you'll lose her forever.” The words sink in. They sink in, in silence, for a long time as Kim waits until recognition settles. “How do I fix it?” “Be there for her. Stop your war against Lizzie. What's going to happen, it's no more her fault than it is Josie's. If she wants something, help her get it, push her to get it, don't fight against her in the hope that she does, fight for her. What would you rather do? Keep Josie hating you until her twenty-second birthday, or relish the time you do get to spend with her?” “Mami's pissed at me, isn't she?”Kim smirks, “a little.” Penelope sags into the couch and pouts. “But only because she knows you're better than this.”“What if- what if Josie keeps putting herself second? I don't think I can take it.”“Then we'll find another way. Even if it means tracking down the mysterious Caroline Forbes and forcing her to let us help.” Penelope grumbles, “she's currently in France.” They hear a gentle thud as Nightshade jumps down from the windowsill, ignores Penelope in favour of snuggling up to Kim. “Guess you're mad at me too, huh?” Nightshade meows at her. “Yeah, I get it. I'll fix it.” -It doesn't take long for Trini to forgive her, just like it doesn't take much for her moms to make up. Josie, however, is an entirely different story. Penelope kisses her. Josie tells her she hates her. Kisses her back. Avoids her. Goes to fucking Europe. And it kills Penelope, to watch Josie from a distance. That distance being Josie's diary. She writes about time spent with her mom, how she needs it with everything going on. The escape from the monsters that are periodically attacking the school. Escape from being buried alive by her own dead mother. Escape from Penelope. The last one stings. Miss Mystic Falls. Something Caroline has won. Josie notes how she wouldn't mind competing and Penelope scrunches her nose because really? Pageants are so out-dated and misogynistic. But if it's something Josie wants, Penelope will be by her side, whether Josie likes it or not. Josie also makes a note about the upcoming talent show. Wishes that she could take the reins from her sister, but knows it's no use.Another thing Josie won't fight for.As an outsider looking in, all of these things seem so small. But put all together, there isn't a single thing Josie has gone after that Lizzie has also gone after. Caroline's name stands out on the page, draws Penelope in, Kim's words repeating in her head. Alaric had written that as soon as the twins' leave, Caroline's next stop is Belgium. Maybe...No. That's insane. She can't just.... leave. Or can she? No. Nope. Absolutely not. But perhaps...God, what is she thinking? She can't ask her moms to just uproot everything for her. Drag Nightshade around the world with them. Leave Ptero and Tigress in their home underground until they hopefully one day return. Well, she could just go it alone.Ha. She laughs at herself, Kim and Trini would never allow that. Besides, the school needs Trini and Kim. They're the only ones strong enough to fight attacking monsters without the need of supernatural special sauce, including Alaric.Penelope flings her head back into her pillow with a groan. Why does everything have to be so complicated? She loves being a witch, but sometimes it really is a pain in her ass. “What are you thinking about?”She jumps on her bed and stares at Trini, grumbles as she shoves the folder away from her, “nothing.”“That's not a face of nothing,” Trini says as she sits on the bed next to her, “tell me.”Penelope sighs, “it's just something mom said, about finding Caroline.” Trini purses her lips, nods, “yeah she told me about that. I thought it might make you think about it.” “I'm not-”“Penny,” Trini whispers softly, “you act like I don't know exactly how you process.” “We can't leave,” she whispers, ducks her head into Trini shoulder. Trini breathes quietly, closes her eyes, dreads the sentence about to escape her, “yes you can.” You. Not we. Penelope lifts her head, “mami, what? I don't underst-”“You do.” Trini faces her, strokes her hair behind her ear. “Oh, mija. You have to go after what you love. If this was Kim, damn right I'd go to the end of the world and back to save her.” Penelope giggles. “If this is something you need to do, go and do it, spread your wings. We'll be here to do research from the inside, you go and save your girl.” Penelope lunges forward, wraps her arms around Trini and Trini has to hold herself to not be squashed to the bed. “Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.” Penelope damn near sobs into Trini's shirt, and Trini shushes her until she calms. “I love you guys.” “We love you too, Penny.” Trini tries her hardest not to cry, but she knows it's useless, and soon they're both total messes. “Protect Josie, okay? If something happens and I'm not here... just... please. Make sure she stays safe.”Trini holds Penelope tighter, “we'll treat her like she's you.” “I have to, I don't know, write her a note or something, give her one more chance to make me stay.”“That's a good idea.”“And I'll call you both every day, and I know a spell that will let you keep track of my heartbeat, and when I get there-”A loud, obnoxious laugh interrupts her rambling and she frowns at Trini. “Oh, Penny, you don't seriously think we're letting you go alone, do you?”What?- Tears are smeared all over the note Penelope writes, but she can't bring herself to write it all out again.Not that it would make a difference, it would more than likely end up in exactly the same state. When she gives it to Josie, she begs with her eyes, tries to put across her internal thoughts.Read it. Read it and give me a reason to stay.Of course, Josie does the exact opposite, because she's Josie.And damn it, Penelope still loves her for it. But she knows it's only a matter of time before she leaves Josie for god only knows how long, and it hurts.It hurts that Josie won't even so much as look at her. Honestly? It's killing her. After the slugs are booted out of their heads-Also after her initial embarrassment of Kim and Trini play fighting with their zords and destroying most of the woods around the school because 'ha, teenage brain'-Josie avoids her again, but time is creeping in. And Miss Mystic Falls is here. Already. Her last chance. Her last chance to say goodbye. Predictably, once more Josie lets her down. Fails on purpose as Lizzie grins smugly at Josie's fall. She's slow at packing, wanting the moment to drag, to give Josie the chance of chasing up to her, to say goodbye. Because she's leaving. She's doing it. She's ready for it. Penelope plans to wait for half an hour in the common room, one final chance before she goes, but it's unnecessary, because she hears Josie's footsteps behind her, feels hollow as Josie asks her not to leave.It's too late. She can't do it. Not after Josie threw herself down the stairs after Penelope thought she'd gotten through to her with the speech about her mom. One tiny look at Lizzie, and Penelope may as well have been talking to a wall. “Where are you even going?”She closes her eyes, can't lie directly to Josie's face. “I'm going to stay with my uncle Zack for a while,” she gulps, opens her eyes, explains that she can't be here to see what happens to Josie. It'd destroy her.Doesn't tell her that she's going to Caroline. Instead, gives Josie the folder of everyone's journal at Salvatore, wipes away her tears, uselessly attempts to hold back her own.Tells her she loves her. Josie doesn't say it back, but it's the first time either of them have ever come out and said it, and it has to happen on the most heartbreaking day of Penelope's life so far. Can't trust herself not to give in and stay. Walks away, down to the zords where Kim, Trini, Zack, and Tommi are waiting for her. Kim and Trini rush forward to wrap her in a squeezing hug as Zack takes her bag and loads it onto Ptero. “Promise me you won't give me updates on her. No matter how much I beg or plead, don't tell me how Josie is doing, okay? I can't handle it.” Trini looks at her in concern, but ultimately nods. “Be safe, mija, we'll come and help you during the holidays. If it takes that long. Your abuela is just going to have to deal.”“We love you, sweetie,” Kim whispers into her hair.“Love you both too.” Zack comes up behind them, places his hand on Penelope's shoulder, “you ready, kid?”“No,” she answers honestly, “but it's now or never, right?”“Zack,” Trini warns, “if anything happens to her-”“You will string me up by my penis,” he winces. “Yes, I remember the threat vividly, thank you.” Tommi joins them and pulls Penelope away, “come on, we should be off before your girl comes looking for you.”Penelope smile wryly, “just give me a sec.” She bends down to Trini and Kim's ankles, places a hand on each and murmurs a spell before two identical heartbeats stain a line across the bone before she gives the bracelet Josie gave her to Kim, the symbol a glowing red. “It's filled with my own magic, she needs it more than me.” Kim walks over to Ptero and stokes her beak, “get them there safely, alright? We'll see you in the morning.”Once Ptero is packed with everything they need, Zack, Tommi, and Penelope squeeze into the cockpit-Shit, this is going to be a tightly packed, long trip-And the last thing Penelope sees before they leave the school is Kim holding Trini tightly. She grasps the yellow and pink pendant in her fist and reminds herself why she's doing this. -With a quick locator spell, Penelope manages to break Caroline's protection barrier to track her down in Belgium, and two hours later, she's frozen outside of the door.Zack nudges her and pops up his eyebrows, a silent 'go on', before she raises her hand and knocks firmly. Twice. It takes much longer than they expect for the door to swing open, and up close, Caroline Forbes is much more intimidating than Penelope remembers. She quirks a brow, “who are you and how did you find me?” Penelope clears her throat. “Hi, Ms. Forbes. We've never been officially introduced, but my name is Penelope Hart, and I'm here to save your daughter.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Penelope stands firm as Caroline looks her over, judgement in her eyes. She doesn't shift her gaze over to Zack or Tommi, focuses purely on Penelope with an emotion Penelope can't read. “You're the one who broke my daughter's heart.” She gulps, breathes steady through her nose, lifts her jaw, “yes.” Caroline crosses her arms with a small snarl. “I know about the merge.” Caroline's eyebrows lift in shock as she uncharacteristically fidgets, “well, you had better come inside.” The three follow Caroline inside, Zack quickly placing a protective hand on Penelope's shoulder as Tommi looks around to get a feel of the place. “Don't worry,” Caroline soothes, “if you had any ill intentions, you would've been expelled from the door before you entered it.” “Some barrier spell,” Penelope remarks idly, sees a large wound spanning from Caroline's shoulder to her elbow. “What did that to you?” “I'm not entirely sure,” Caroline says as she looks down at it, “something that can stop a vampire from healing, that's for sure. Looks like I'm going to have to heal the slow way for this one.”Zack cocks his head, “you mean the human way?” Caroline smirks, “semantics,” looks at Penelope again, “so tell me, what does a young witch like you think she can bring to the table?”Penelope nods at the wound, “how about I heal that for you?”“Many a witch, much more experienced than you, have tried.” “But not me.” Penelope matches the smirk. Caroline raises her brow, nods. “It's,” Penelope scratches her neck, “it's going to hurt.”Before Caroline knows it, and scolds her vampire reflexes for not sensing it, Zack and Tommi are holding her down by her shoulders, but something in her tells her not to fight it. Instead, she frowns between the two of them. “I don't sense magic in either of you. What are you?”Zack hums in glee, “we can talk about that after. Do you want something to bite down on? I'd rather not get a vampire bite today thank you.”“You don't usually complain at being bitten,” Tommi wiggles her brow.Penelope scrunches her nose, “gross. I thought I left this back in Mystic Falls.” Shakes her head, picks up a knife from the table, ignores Caroline's wide eyes and instead points it at Zack, who instantly holds out his palm. “I learned this a while ago when this one,” she nods at Tommi, “got hurt by a pack once when she came to visit. Healing spells like this only work if you have the right ingredients and the right equipment, and what better ingredient than super healing DNA?” “I have super healing,” Caroline drones. “Not like this. And evidently not enough to heal whatever gave you this wound.” With that, she cuts Zack's palm and places her own over it, the blood finding a trail between their hands to the healing stone secured by her ring, until the stone glows a deep red. “Are you ready?” There's barely an answer before Penelope removes her hand and places it at the deepest part of the wound, closes her eyes and mumbles words that are almost foreign to even Caroline. Yet, still somehow familiar. It isn't quite Latin, but it's something. Nothing happens for the first few sentences, and Caroline begins to doubt the spell, until a small drop of blood drips from Penelope's ring and into the large cut and it's suddenly like her arm is on fire. At first contact, the sound is that of pouring water into an already hot pan, it sizzles and scorns and Caroline grunts harshly through the pain, her canines expanding without her say as she struggles against the inhuman hold, but it doesn't deter any of the three. Drop after drop after drop falls into the cut until Caroline's entire arm feels numb from the pain, and she pants through it, growls and whines, feels it almost cauterize as though a scolding poker touches her skin, until the last drop falls and she sags into her chair. “Do you have any aloe leaves?”Caroline rolls her eyes, Zack and Tommi's grip loosening now that the majority of pain has passed. Still hurts like a bitch though. “You didn't think to ask me before?”Penelope shrugs, “it'll still work, this will just ease the burning sensation a little and it will stop you from getting a scar.” “In the back.” Tommi tells then she'll get one as Penelope applies some ointment to Zack's cut. “Thanks, uncle Zack.” “Any time, kid,” he smiles, “should I make us some tea while the two of you discuss?” He receives nods as Tommi comes back in with the leaf, hands it off to Penelope and joins Zack away from the room. Penelope wraps the leaf around Caroline's arm and mumbles another spell so that it sinks into Caroline's skin. “I'll take it off in about an hour.” Caroline glances down in shock as the pain instantly begins to subside. “So, to answer your earlier question, there is a lot I can bring to the table.” Caroline tilts her head, “what language was that?”“I don't know,” Penelope bites her lip, “it just... happens when I chant a spell.” But there's something bugging Caroline. Something she can't quite put her finger on. And Penelope can feel the scrutinizing gaze. “You look familiar. What coven are you from?” Without hesitation, Penelope produces her pendant, and Caroline's brows shoot up. “You're a Park.” “Only by birth.” Caroline plays with the pendant. “What do you know about your family?” “I know my coven went dark. I know my birth mother stood up against them. But that's about it.” After Alaric had told Penelope the story, she didn't feel the need to research into it any more. “Oh,” Caroline chuckles, “there's so much more to it than that.” Penelope's head lilts inquisitively. “Your mother didn't just stand against the coven, Penelope. She stood against your leader.”A beat. A gulp. A gentle look. “She stood against your dad.” -Kim and Trini wait until long after Ptero has vanished from sight, simply holding each other and listening to each other breathe, until Kim finally breaks the silence. “We should head home, there's nothing we can do until morning anyway.” Trini blinks up, “I think I'm going to spend some time with Tigress actually. If that's alright?” “Of course, baby,” Kim pecks Trini's forehead, “you don't need my permission for that.” She sighs, “just, don't stay down here all night, okay? We still have work to do.” “Just a couple hours, I promise.” Kim nods, kisses Trini once more as she turns to leave, looks back over her shoulder a few times to see Trini stroking Tigress and Tigress nuzzling up to her in a whine. She shakes as she enters the empty halls of the school, dawdles as she passes picture frames that she's seen countless times before, stops at one that holds a photo of Caroline and sends a silent message to keep her daughter safe before she moves on. Comes to a stop at the common room. Sees Josie sat on a couch, crying into her hands. Knocks quietly. Josie's head snaps up before the rest of her body follows and she throws herself into Kim's waiting arms, sobs into her neck as Kim stokes her back, lets Josie pour it all out. “She's really gone.” Kim holds her tighter. Pulls back and wipes at Josie's mascara stained cheeks. “Oh, honey. Let's get you cleaned up, yeah?” They make their way back down the hall until they come to a stop outside of Josie's room and she freezes. “I don't want to go in there.” “That's okay,” Kim calms, already knowing where Josie wants to go, “I think Penny left some stuff behind that you can change into.” Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say, because Josie begins to cry all over again. “Josie,” she whispers, “it's not forever.” Josie nods pathetically. “She just needs time.”Time to find a cure. Time to figure out what happened to cause this curse and how to fix it. Time to distract herself from the upcoming, eventual heartbreak it will cause if she can't. Kim moves them once more, walks slowly, cautiously, until they're at Penelope's room and she gently opens the door, the scent of her perfume hitting them and Kim tries not to cry along with Josie. “Why don't you go and wash your face in the bathroom and I'll sort some clothes out for you? I'm sure she won't mind.” Josie sniffs and nods, forces herself into Penelope's bathroom to wash up as Kim walks about the room, runs her fingers over Penelope's neatly organized desk, the nails that use to hang pictures that Penelope has obviously taken with her. Pictures of the three of them, pictures of the entire family, pictures of her and Josie. It takes Josie a good fifteen minutes until she re-emerges, face clean but eyes red and Kim sighs softly, “how do you feel?”“It's all my fault,” Josie shifts from one foot to the other, arms wrapped tightly around herself. “It's my fault she left. If I'd have just listened to her sooner or stood up for myself more or-”“Hey, hey, no.” Kim stands and brings Josie over to the bed with her, sits them both down as strokes through Josie's hair. She isn't sure if it's to comfort Josie or herself. “Penelope isn't innocent in this. She made some awful mistakes in the way she went about things. None of what's happening to you is you fault.”Oops. Josie pulls away with a small glare. “You know about the merge.” Kim sighs, “I know of the merge, but we don't exactly know what it is.” “That's more than I know,” Josie grumbles. “Look, we'll figure it out, okay? Trini and I will help you.” Josie squints her eyes, “why?”Honesty. That's the only thing that's going to work right now. Kim softens, “because I never want to see my daughter as heartbroken as she was the day she found out about it.” “What's going to happen to me?”Kim shrugs, “that's what we're going to find out.”Josie doesn't need to know that she'll be piecing together the puzzle as and when Penelope does.-It goes on like that for a couple of weeks. Josie and Kim meeting up to go through books while Trini stays in the background, watching over the two to make sure they sleep and eat. “How is she?”Josie asks every morning, because she knows that they talk to Penelope every night, and Kim always answers with the same tight, forced smile. “She's fine.” “Does she- does she ask about me?”Yes. But Trini and Kim promised Penelope they wouldn't tell her how Josie is doing, so they don't. “It's the first thing she does. Every time.” Then... well then, magic suddenly disappears. And Josie gets shot. Almost. The school goes into a frenzy as soldiers storm the building, Kim and Trini being the only ones to truly be able to protect the students. They fight their way through soldier after soldier, forcing their way through to where they know Josie is, grab weapons along the way and Trini freezes when she skids to a stop, sees the team leader with a gun moving from Josie, to Lizzie, to Hope, and back. Settles on Josie. Sees red. “Eeny... Meeny... Miny...”Pulls the gun out and shoots his shoulder before thinking, sees the gun fall from his grasp and adds another shot to his knee to bring him down. “Moe.” He grasps at both his shoulder and leg, rolls around on the floor in agony as Trini crouches down to face him with a snarl. “Nobody tries to hurt my future daughter-in-law.”“Aw, baby,” Kim coos and fuck, Trini said that out loud, didn't she?“Your uh, your what?” By Josie's confusion, yes. Yes she did.“That honestly makes me want to hurl.” Hope rolls her eyes at Lizzie, “I think it's cute.” Lizzie scoffs, “of course you do.” Unappreciative of the fact that both Trini and Josie are beet red, Lizzie is grumbling, and Kim and Hope are looking between them both with cute gazes, the soldier on the ground grunts, and before he can say a single word Kim is lifting him by his wounded arm, smiles when he yelps in pain. “What have you done to the magic?” No answer. Squeezes harder. “Don't make me ask again.” She sighs when he still refuses to answer and pouts at Trini. “Baby, he's not playing.” “Hey,” Trini clicks her fingers with an idea, “remember that time our powers got taken away by that stupid fucking... gooey mud thing whenever we got close to it?” Kim frowns, purses her lips before the memory comes back to her, “because of the talisman in it's stomach!”Trini nods, looks at Josie, Hope, and Lizzie, “your main source of magic is in the basement, right?” They nod. “My guess is whatever it is that's taken it away, it begins there.” “My wife is so smart,” Kim beams, almost forgets about the man whimpering in pain at her feet and cocks a brow, “what do we do with him?” Trini shrugs, she doesn't care. “Okay, you three head up to Penelope's room-”Lizzie scoffs, “no way am I exposing myself to-” Kim and Trini glare at her and she fakes a smile, “I mean, sure.”“It's protected,” Trini explains as she unties a wristband from her own wrist and one from Kim's, sees Josie play with the one Penelope gave her so long ago, though she never knew what it was for until this moment. “The two of you take these, they're the only way you'll get inside and you'll all be safe.”Hope steps forward, “I can't sit back and-”“Hope,” Trini calms, “you are an amazing witch, a strong wolf, and whatever vampire abilities you have I'm sure are great.” Hope rolls her eyes. “But you're useless to us without them.” “I'm trained in several types of mart-”Trini huffs, “so use your training to protect Josie and Lizzie.” She lowers her voice to a whisper. “Keep them safe, or Penelope will never get a chance to.” Hope's eyes widen, though she doesn't understand exactly what Trini is saying, the implications are more than enough to tell her something big, something more, is happening. Kim leans down to Trini's ear, “we aren't telling Penny about this, right?”“Have you met our daughter? Fuck no.” They watch the girls finally scurry off with Hope's insistence, Josie sparing a longing, encouraging glance at them as she's dragged away, before Kim looks down again and sees the soldier has been trying to escape the entire time. She hadn't even felt him tugging against her hold. “What exactly are you trying to do there, bud?”“You aren't magical,” he replies instead as Kim lifts him off of the ground without so much as a grunt. He stares in wonder and awe and confusion. In fear. “What are you?”Kim smirks, “something else.” -Six months later and.... nothing. There's nothing. Penelope slams her fists on the table, causing Zack, Tommi, and Caroline to jump in shock. “Penelope,” Caroline warns. “How is there no way? There has to be a way.” “Penelope, these things take time,” Caroline sighs, “I've have been searching for years, with very few leads, you can't expect to swoop in here and figure it out right away. Especially if you refuse to go on the vision-” “Whatever,” Penelope stands, the chair behind her threatening to tip over from the force, “I need a minute.”Tommi begins to stand with her, “do you want me to-”She shakes her head, “I'll be fine.” Lies. All lies. She misses everything. The school, her coven, her moms, the zords... Josie. Hell, she even misses her banter with Hope and Lizzie. Penelope Hart is anything but fine. The phone rings three times before there's a voice on the other end. “Penny. Thank god. Is everything okay? We saw your heartbeat skyrocket and your mami was about ready to steal Ptero.”“I'm-” Not fine. She's not fine. “Honestly? No. I don't know what to do any more, mom. Everything is so... different. It's hard. It feels like we've done all this work and there is nothing to show for it.”Kim sighs gently down the phone, “sweetie, you know that's not true. What about that lead from the witch in Canada?”Huh, Penelope nearly scoffs. That witch. The witch they found out from one of Caroline's so-called informants. The witch she asked her parents to track down instead of spending their break with her. “False alarm.” “Oh, I'm sorry, Penny. But hey, winter break is coming up soon. Your grandparents still think you're travelling the world and we're going to visit you,” Kim chuckles, trying to make light of the situation. “You know I've always wanted to try real, fresh Belgium chocolate.”Just hearing Kim's voice brings a sense of peace over Penelope, but there's something she's been hiding from her moms, something she has been avoiding since Caroline told her, something she begged and pleaded Zack and Tommi to stay out of, something that is eating away at her because it could genuinely be a break for them on 'The Merge' front, but she's been too scared. “I need to travel to Germany for break.”“Germany? Why?” Fuck. She should've known. She should've known it wouldn't be as easy as telling Kim and letting her tell Trini after. “Thanks for the warning that I was on loudspeaker, mom,” she grumbles, “hi, mami.” She doesn't greet Penelope, but Penelope knows Trini is smiling. “Again. Germany. Why?”Penelope breathes out through puckered lips, “Caroline told me who my dad was.” Doesn't let them get a word in. “And apparently my coven and the Gemini coven go way back. Like, way, way, way, way back. To the beginning.” “Why hasn't Alaric said anything about this?” That... is a very good point. “I have no idea. But Caroline said that because I'm a descendent of the original leader, I can do a vision quest to see where our covens went their separate ways, to see if there is anything relating to what caused the curse.” Kim's breath hitches, “a descendent? That means that your father was-”“The leader of my coven that my mother rose against? Yes. Another story hidden away. God, what would happen if my coven knew? If they knew that the man who gave my mother sperm to create me was a dark witch leader. I genetically have darkness inside of me.” And hell if this doesn't drag up a whole bunch of memories that made Penelope want to disregard Caroline's idea in the first place. Trini sucks her teeth, “your mother stood up against him, Penny, and won. You have so much more good in you than you could ever imagine.” “Is it dangerous? The vision quest.”“Carline said I might see some things that... could mentally exhaust me, but I won't be physically hurt.” “And... you want to do this?”Penelope bites her lip, “we've tried everything, mom. Everything. If this is my last chance at saving Josie, I'm going to take it.” Silence meets her. “How... how is she?”“Penelope.”She sighs, “I know, mami. I know. And Nightshade?”“Still looks at the front door every Friday night expecting you to come home.” Ugh, that breaks her heart. “Still a massive pain in my ass too.”Penelope laughs and wipes away a tear, “good girl.” They spend some more time talking about random things before Penelope finally hangs up and re-enters the living room. Caroline looks up at her first, “I can set up a quest by the time the holiday begins.”“You were listening?”Caroline taps her ear, “sorry, vampire hearing. You're usually further away than that when you call them so this is the first time I've heard you guys.” Zack taps nervously against his coffee mug, “what are you going to tell them about how you got that scar across your eyebrow?”A hand instantly flies to the gash on said brow, too weak to heal herself with magic once she'd finished healing the others after fighting off a pack of werewolves on yet another dead end lead. She smirks through a cocky grin. “Me? You two were the ones sent with me to protect me.”Tommi's eyes widen and Zack pales and they simultaneously giggle through nerves. “Shit.”-“Zachary Taylor! What the actual fuck happened to my daughter's face?” Zack rubs at his neck as he stumbles back from Trini's wrath. “Hey, T. Long time.”“Baby, leave the poor man alone,” Kim rolls her eyes, “besides,” she winks at Penelope, “eyebrow scars make all the girls swoon.” She bends down to Penelope's level and runs her thumbs over both of her brows, “and now you have matching ones.” Penelope bats her hands away with a glare, “mom. No.” “We ran into a wolf pack,” Tommi stutters.Trini works her jaw, “so you're telling me, a witch, a vampire, and two advanced humans-”“Walked into a bar.”“Not now, Kimberly!” Kim holds her hands up as Penelope chuckles. “Couldn't fend off a pack of fucking wolves?” Caroline steps forward, “in their defence, this was a very old, very experienced pack. A group of century old vampires would have a hard time doing half as well as they did.” Trini's teeth don't relent, and Caroline smiles charmingly with her hand held out. “It's a pleasure to finally meet you, though I must say, with the way these three talk about the two of you, I feel like I know you already.”Trini's eyes turn to slits, “your vampire charm shit doesn't work on us.” “I know, this is my normal human charm.” Kim smirks, “it's very effective.” She reciprocates Caroline's handshake. “Please ignore my wife, she gets grumpy after a long, bumpy flight.” Ptero squawks in the background. “Yes, I know you couldn't help the turbulence, but did you really have to barrel roll through London?” Another squawk. “I told you in was only a blimp, Ptero! Just because it was shaped like a missile, didn't make it a missile.” “Your... machine... it...” Caroline's head tilts and Ptero's rockets come out. “Whoa, whoa, girl,” Penelope soothes, “yeah, forgot to mention. She doesn't like being called a machine. Or an 'it'. She's sentient, and really temperamental.” Trini scoffs, “wonder where she gets that from.”“You, baby. It's obviously you,” Kim shrugs. Ptero nudges forward as she relaxes, nuzzles Penelope carefully, obviously missing her too. Caroline whispers in shock, “fascinating. And she will be staying-”Kim snorts, “back at the school.” She turns to Zack and Tommi. “If you guys want, she can give you a ride back, in case you want a break too.” “I'm good,” Zack says, no way is he leaving Penelope after he swore to keep her safe, and Tommi nods next to him. “Say hi to Tigress for me,” Penelope whispers as Ptero's engines start up. Trini shouts after her as she begins to ascend. “And behave yourselves or I'll turn you both into scrap metal.” A more timid squawk answers her. “So do we get a hug or-” Trini grunts as Penelope flies into her arms, grip tight around Trini's waist as Kim comes beside Penelope to hold them both. “We missed you so much, mija.” Caroline clears her throat, tears threatening to spill as she thinks of her own daughters. “There's a restaurant down the street. Very quiet and private. I'm sure Penelope can find her way back to the safe house.” She receives 'thank you's in return. “We have to be up early tomorrow, the Oracle will not wait for us.” Early the next morning, Penelope wakes before her moms, the heat from sleeping between them making her sweat even in the cold German air.Her mom is a fucking radiator. She slowly de-tangles herself from their protective grasps and creeps downstairs to begin making coffee for them all, cracks some eggs and beats them lightly before adding seasoning and heats up a pan for some sausages. Footsteps follow her and she already knows who it is. Trini has always been a light sleeper. “Good morning, mija.”“Morning, mami.”“How are you holding up?” Trini scrutinizes the eggs and grabs smoked paprika from the shelf. Penelope rolls her eyes because Trini always has to interfere in the kitchen. “Okay. A little nervous about the things I'm going to see, but Caroline has prepared me for the worst.” “Do you know why I hate thunderstorms?” “I... have heard some things at night, but I don't know what they meant.”Trini nods, breathes in through her nose. “When we first became Power Rangers, well, none of us were close. Hell, your mom even made up some lame ass story about me being a new kid and that we had a completely different class together because her bi ass couldn't handle me.” Penelope eyes bulge. “Oh, she was a mess. I know, hard to believe, right? But it's true. We were five misfit kids thrown together randomly by some strange alien hologram who programmed some coloured coins to find us six millions years in the future. Totally insane.”“What happened?”“There was this woman. Rita.” The name still turns Trini's stomach. “Before we connected, we were as powered as we are now. Still learning. Shit, we barely had time to learn. But Rita came, and she was every monster under the bed you can imagine. It was a rainy night, and...” She takes a second, closes her eyes. “She came into my room, waited over me, water dripped onto my face and as it woke me up, she attacked. She shoved me against my bedroom walls, I had cuts and bruises everywhere. It... it effected me for a long time, that... invasion of what should have been my sanctuary. Where I should've felt safe and protected.” She gulps.Penelope listens with rapt attention. “Sometimes I look back on it and think it's kind of silly to have felt that way, to still occasionally feel that way, but it wasn't so much about what she did as it was the look in her eyes. She may have been an alien, yes, but there was absolutely nothing human about her. Cold, empty, vengeful. Those eyes, they are what haunt me. They are what made me feel violated. I never truly understood what fear was until that moment.” She clears her throat, “what I'm saying is, the things you see, the things you experience, they can have a serious impact on the rest of your life, but you smack it's ass into space and let the people you love in afterwards. You don't let it define you.” Trini finishes with a blush, not one to open up much anyway, and Penelope gapes. “Oh my god. You were doing so well, and then you ended with,” she gestures wildly, “that.” “Hush,” Trini grumbles, “you know what I mean. You might see some horrible things on this quest, Penny, but that has absolutely nothing to do with the young woman we raised. You are not your family's past, just as I am not Rita's victim.” Kim stumbles in, bites her lip, “huh, brought it back towards the end there. Though you did forget about the part where she killed Billy and then nearly killed us all in a pit of fire.” “Uncle Billy died?”“Yes.”“No.”Zack laughs behind them as Trini glares at Kim, “a little.” He takes a bagel and scoffs a dry bite into his mouth without cutting it, earning himself looks of disgust. “That moment was when I knew the two of you would end up falling in love. Such a married couple already.” Trini is still glaring as Kim smirks and Penelope processes before Caroline and Tommi finally join them. Caroline sniffs the air, “I could smell coffee.” More silence. “Did we interrupt something?”-The Oracle goes against every stereotype the group has ever heard. A younger man, mid twenties, dressed in a fine suit and tie, with converse. “And who are you meant to be? The Tenth Doctor?”He chuckles at Kim's dig and jokes, “where do you think he got the inspiration?” Then he spins in a twirl, “what? You think it doesn't suit me?” Trini snorts and Zack's eyes beam in excitement. “I'm Felix, and I will be your tour guide today.”“I love this dude,” Zack squees. Felix examines the room, “so much power in here. I mean, the vampire and witch are obvious.” Caroline and Penelope glare. “I mean that in the most respectful way, I assure you. But the four of you? You are something old, yet also something new. Stronger than a wolf. As fast as a vampire. And your healing. May I ask, would it be possible for me to have some of your hair?” Trini steps back. “For healing tonics.” He looks at Penelope, “not as effective as blood, but still does the trick.” “Make sure my daughter is safe first,” Kim warns. “You have my word,” he promises. “Penelope, shall we begin? I fear if we do not your mami is going to pin me against a wall by my brand new blazer.” Trini blinks, “how did you...”“Oracle.” Tommi winces, “that sounds exhausting.”“You get used to it.” Felix shrugs, “well, if you have the blood you do. If you don't it drives you insane.” The room goes quiet again. “Okay, chop, chop. No time to be wasting if you want that cure.”Kim frowns, “if you know we're here for a cure, can't you just tell us what it is?”He and Caroline share a look before Caroline answers. “The spell that was originally cast has been protected by magic far beyond our power, meaning we also can't use Lizzie or Josie for this since it directly effects them and the spell will be blocked. Oracles can only tap into memories of the person in front of them and their ancestry. Penelope is the only person in the world, as an outsider to the spell, that is able to find out what happened.” “How do you even know my family was there?”“We don't,” Felix answers, “but it's the only choice you have.” He produces a glass, “drink this, open your mind, I'll be there to guide you, just, perhaps not in this form.”She begins drinking before he finishes. “What do you mean?”And her world goes black.-Eyes blearily blink open to a scene of a camp. It's weird, this feeling. Like a dream, but not quite. She sees a young woman, beside her a young man, cuddled together in the corner. “We can not continue like this, Liam. We must rise against your mother.” Shit, is that?“My love, we do what we must to protect the coven.”“This is not protection! It's incarceration.” Penelope steps closer, looks over the man first, his black hair and piercing green eyes, so much like her own. “Ana, you will not be hurt with us. We're safe here.”Ana shakes her head, “this darkness has gone on for far too long. You used to agree with me. You said we'd run away together.” She moves to the side and Penelope finally sees her stomach. “We must do what is right for the baby.” “This is what's right for her. The other witches out there, they will do whatever they can to destroy us. Our home. The life we have built.” “This is no life for a child.” Penelope steps back. These people are obviously her biological parents. A raven lands on her shoulder. “Felix?” The bird nods. “This isn't what I came to see.” Felix nods his head towards the couple. “I won't let our daughter live in our world. This,” Ana gasps, “this is your mother's doing. She's turned you.” “My mother is doing what is right for our people. And I will continue my ancestors legacy after she has gone.” Ana turns away from him, “you are not the man I thought you were, Liam. You aren't the man I fell in love with.” Liam works his jaw, “I'm the same man, but mom is close to dying and I must continue what my family have achieved.”“Achieved?” Ana scoffs. “All your family has achieved is exile from the witches community. Pain and anguish.”“We achieved glory,” he shouts, “we are feared, powerful.” “We are forgotten. Living like animals in the forest. There's nothing glorious about that.” The scenes suddenly fast-forwards before Penelope's eyes. Shows Liam's mom die, shows him become the new leader. Fast-forwards again. Shows Ana sneaking off with a carrier. The same one that held Penelope. Which means one thing. Liam knew. It continues, fast-forwarding and stopping to show short scenes, like skipping to the best parts of a movie.Only this is the opposite of the parts Penelope wants to stop at. The civil war begins. Witches fighting witches. Dark and light magic clashing in the air. Death. Destruction. Victory. Defeat. On and on and on until Liam closes in on Ana. “Where is she?”His voice has turned, entirely different to the almost loving one he used at the campfire. “Where is my daughter?”Ana wipes blood away from her mouth, spits on the ground, “over my dead body. You will never lay your eyes on her.” Liam grips Ana's chin and forces her to look at him. “Famous last words, my love.” He snaps her neck. Penelope stumbles back, vomit tickling at her throat. And then he is stabbed in the back. Blood chokes up from his mouth as he spins, gurgles with wide eyes, “where did you come from?” He dies before an answer is given. The fight slows after they realise their leader is gone, with no successor in sight. Only a woman that stands proud above Liam. “Witches! Our coven no longer has to live in fear. Lest we forget where we truly came from. Lest we forget our real history. We were not born monsters. We were a proud coven with much to give. We were not destined for this life.” The woman swallows. “Ana knew that. She brought us together when we were too afraid. And for that, I will be forever grateful for her. We will make ourselves known once more. We'll try to rebuild our bridges within the community, let our children go to school, show them we aren't a coven to be feared, but to be integrated. And those of you who further stand against us, will officially be an enemy of the coven.”Murmurs spread across the mass, until one voice stands out. “What about our new leader?”“Ana was like a sister to me, I will take charge until her daughter finds her way home to us.” “Felix,” Penelope whispers, her tears not lessened, her gaze still drifting to her birth mother laying on the ground, “I'm ready to leave now. Please, please just take me to the merge.” -“Is she okay? What's happening to her?”Kim rubs Trini's back, “hey, hey, calm down, it just looks like she's having a bad dream.” “Memories,” Felix shrugs, seemingly fully conscious even with his eyes closed.“What the fuck? I thought you were supposed to be in there with her!”Trini melts into Kim's side, “now who's the one that needs to calm down?”Felix bites his lip, “a tiny lie, I admit. She needed to feel open and comfortable. The thing inside guiding her? It's herself. She's seeing what she truly wants to see. I can give her access, but I can't join her on her quest.”“Jesus Christ. Kim, she's in there alone. Our baby is in there alone.” Caroline smiles sympathetically, “I know I've only spent a few months with her, but she's a lot more resilient then you give her credit for.” Kim hisses, “that's not helping.” “I'm just saying, she's strong, just like her moms.” Zack clears his throat. “And her Uncle Zack.” Tommi next. “Seriously? Fine. Strength she gained from all of you.”“Better.”Trini throws an ornament at them. -Penelope feels as though she flying through a time vortex, she's stopped on memory after memory, each one bad and terrifying in it's own right. Murder, torture, wars. Death, so much death. Seasons and buildings pass her by, and she falls over a log as she stumbles to a stop, grunts as her ass lands on a rock. “Ow, so much for not getting hurt on this thing.”The bird shushes her. Voices from inside a house bring her from her stupor, and she looks inside to see two women arguing. Scrunches her nose at their wardrobe. “What year is this?”Felix ignores her. As she looks closer, she gasps, “she looks just like Josie. Wait, wait, is this it?”“Because you've always been daddy's favourite,” the girl inside mocks, the one that doesn't look like Josie. “Perfect little Joanne with her perfect smile and perfect attitude. Able to siphon more magic than the coven has ever seen. Well guess what, soon they're going to know what real power looks like.” Penelope watches in interest, “how am I seeing this?” She spins, spots a man a little older than them lurking in the shadows. “Ah, got it.” Joanne simply laughs it off, “oh dear sister, how many times do we have to go through this? Daddy loves us equally. It doesn't matter how much magic either of us can siphon, we will never be classed as real witches.” “That's where they're wrong. Can't you see it, Joanne? We can literally drain them dry with a single touch. Why must you insist on proving your worth in other ways when we can take whatever we want from them?” She looks up and down Joanne in disgust and resentment. “So much power, and so little will to do anything with it.” Fast-forward again. Penelope watches as the man runs up to Joanne. “Joanne, hello.”She smiles back politely, “Elijah. Good morning.” “I was wondering if you would like me to escort you on your shopping trip today?” Penelope blanches, “oh no. Oh god no. Please don't-”Joanne chuckles, “Elijah, you know my heart lies with another.”But Elijah shrugs it off, “I know. As does mine. But you are allowed to have friends, no?” Joanna rolls her eyes, nods. “Please, let me escort you. I'd feel much better if I were there with you.”“Thank god, they're only messing around,” Penelope sighs. “I do not need a man's protection.” Penelope barely lets out a 'yes, girl' before he replies.“I mean no offense, I was wondering if we could talk about your sister? I feel as though she is up to misdeeds. Something does not feel right.” Another voice shouts from the distance and Joanne waves in that direction. “Another time, maybe? I appreciate your offer, Elijah, but Edward and I have an appointment with the baker about our wedding cake.”Penelope watches him watch her go, and an uneasy feeling settles in her stomach. Next, she ends up in the house, in a bedroom, while Elijah flicks through pieces of parchment. She watches his face pale and looks over his shoulder, reads the spell, feels herself pale alongside him. This is it. This is what happened. The Merge. All because one sister was jealous of another. Under the spell is a list of ingredients. “Blood of an ancient. Flesh of impurity. Tooth of a mutt. Hair of a Gemini. Bone of a beast? That's specific. Not.”Elijah mumbles to himself as he repeats the ingredients, memorizes them, slams the papers down.Is frozen in place. “Well, well, well, what do we have here?” “I know what you're doing,” he grunts, “I will not let you hurt her.” “Let me?” She scoffs, “Elijah, how exactly do you plan on stopping me? Through magic? Through love?”Elijah continues to struggle against the invisible restraints. “Joanne is too pure for you. No dark magic will overpower her. You will not win this battle.” She cocks her head, “such... naivety. No wonder my sister has such a soft spot for you. Always the loyal friend, aren't we? Loyalty will get you nowhere. This is not about strength. It is not about who has more magical power. It is about will power.” “The will to want,” Penelope whispers to herself, “the merge isn't about who's stronger, it's about who wants it more.” Dread crashes down harder than anything else so far. “Oh, JoJo.” “I'll stop you,” Elijah grunts.“With what? The spell has already been cast, and those ingredients are to help cast it, not reverse it.” She rubs her hands together, “now I just need my dear sister to perform the ritual in five days and Gemini twins will never have to share power again.” She smirks, “what a wonderful birthday celebration it will be.” She releases Elijah as he slumps to the floor.More quick memories pass Penelope by, memories of Elijah begging Joanne to leave, begging her to find a way to stop this madness. But Joanne doesn't believe. Never thought her sister could do something so terrible to her. Thinks the ritual is of sisterhood and that he shouldn't have been snooping and jumping to conclusions. So he turns to dark magic to help.And so begins the downfall. A series of events flash before Penelope eyes as Elijah delves deeper and deeper into dark magic in such a short amount of time. She can see him grow vengeful and angry, the once bright look in his eyes dull to a void, yet still passionate. Passionate to save his best friend, a woman he loves with his entire being. It strike a cord deep within Penelope. The flashes stop again. Today is the day. She can feel it. A glance outside of his window across the way to the other house confirms as such as decorations begin to be hung. Elijah is facing a mirror, hands on either side of the wall, “how do I fix it?”“You have what you need,” a deep, menacing voice answers, “all but one. The key to reverse, but it will only work once the ritual has begun.”“Just tell me. I don't have much time.”“That which you seek, is not of this Earth-”He growls, “then how do I find it?The deep voice almost huffs, “it is not of this Earth, but dwells inside. A sprinkle of light, and words reversed, will save your love, and end the curse.” “It's always a fucking rhyme with these guys,” Penelope groans.“Where do I find it?”“Life.” Elijah stumbles back, “I do not understand. You were supposed to help me!” He bangs his fists against the glass. “You were suppose to save her.” “I gave you the answers you were looking for. What you do with those is up to you.”A piercing scream invades Penelope's ears before Elijah's fists shatter the glass, the menacing voice laughing as it fades. “He's out of time,” Penelope tells the raven, “that was the last straw, that's what sent him over the edge. I think I'm ready to go home now.” -Trini looks at her watch again, “it's been over an hour and all she's done is weep and moan. I can't watch her suffer like this any more.”Kim and Trini watch helplessly as Penelope whimpers on the floor, covered in sweat and pain dominating her features. “How much longer?”“I'm sorry,” Felix shrugs, “it takes as long as she needs it to take.” On cue, Penelope gasps as she bolts up right, clutches her chest and pants through her tears, Trini and Kim quickly rushing to her side. “It's okay, sweetie,” Kim soothes, holds Penelope tight and rubs her back as Penelope cries into her shoulder. “It's okay. Tell us what happened.”“It was an accident,” Penelope sniffs, “he never meant to go dark. He was trying to save her.” Caroline steps forward and bends down, and it finally dawns on Trini and Kim just how much the woman has at stake. “Penelope,” she whispers, takes her away from Kim's grasp and strokes wet locks of her behind her ear. “Penelope,” she repeats, “did you see who caused the curse?” Penelope nods. “Our covens, they were close, they were friends. He, he tried to save her, he was trying to save her. So much dark magic, so little time, it consumed him. It was an accident, he didn't know.” She shakes her head, looks Caroline dead in the eye with a venom none of them can comprehend until she speaks. “No outsider cursed the Gemini coven. They did it themselves.” “Here,” Felix hands Penelope another glass as the room settles, “this will help calm you, help you see things more clearly.”Kim and Trini looks at their ankles to see Penelope's heartbeat erratic, slowing as she drinks the tonic slowly. She closes her eyes and breathes deep before she looks at him, “thank you for helping me through it. Some of the things I saw, I don't think I could've-”“That was all you, Penelope. I'm sorry to have lied, but I wasn't in your quest with you. Everything you saw, it was what you wanted and needed to see.”“Whoa,” Penelope breathes, “so why a raven?” The group can't help but laugh a little before Felix bows to Caroline, “always a pleasure. If you need me for anything else.”“Thank you, Felix, I know where to find you.”He hums, looks at Tommi, “by the way, you might want to take it easy for a while.” He pats his stomach. “For another, you know, nine months, give or take.”Tommi's eyes widen first, before Kim, Trini, Penelope, and Caroline follow. “I'm?”Zack frowns, “what's happening?” “She's pregnant you idiot.”Kim tuts, “Trini.”“She's... you're...” Zack blinks, Tommi's lips lilt. She guesses there are worse ways to find out you're pregnant than from somebody who can literally see the future. “Are they...”Felix grins, “they will be perfectly healthy.” He walks backwards through the door, seemingly vanishes into thin air before he shouts back, “I see a lot of green in their future. Oh, what I'm I saying? Not green like envy, green as in the colour, just like their mommy.” Zack gapes, “that's a Ranger in there.” He beams at Tommi, “I'm going to be a daddy.”Trini hugs him first, “you're going to be a great dad, Zack.” The others join in right after, but Penelope is pulled away by Caroline. “Is there a cure?”“Yeah. The ingredients, some of them don't make sense, but there's a cure.” Caroline sags in relief. “But, there's one problem. The spell can't be performed until the ritual begins, we still have to wait until they turn twenty-two, and we still don't know if they will be the right ingredients or if the spell will-”Caroline holds Penelope's cheek, “we have plenty of time to perfect it. For now,” she smiles over at a suddenly crying Tommi, “let's celebrate this wonderful news.”Penelope waits behind with Kim and Trini, takes a deep breath. “You need to tell Josie what I'm doing.” They begins to question, but she cuts them off. “Look. She's been researching the curse. She knows you've come to visit me. If you go back with sudden information, she's going to guess that something is going on. Besides, I can't keep being kicked out when Caroline is on the phone with her,” she rolls her eyes. “Plus, Caroline will be telling Alaric about what we've found, and for some of them, we need all hands on deck, especially if Auntie T is going to need to take it easy from now on.” “Are you sure about this, Penny?”She nods at Kim's question. “No, but it's our best chance of figuring this thing out. It could take us years to find what we need, and I don't want to spend more time away from her than I have to.”-Saying goodbye to her moms this time around felt so much harder than the first time, and it's not long before she and Caroline are back on track with the cure.“Alright, so some of these ingredients should be pretty easy. Flesh of impurity, well, that's me.” Penelope's nose scrunches. “Vampires are considered impure. It looks like there is something from each being. Blood of an ancient, witch. Bone of a beast, wolf. Hair of a Gemini, does that mean one from the coven or one from the zodiac?”Penelope shrugs, “I couldn't even get as far as you to be honest. I wouldn't even know where to begin finding an ancient witch.” Caroline chuckles, “old spells like this one aren't always so literal. The blood of an ancient could be a descendant.”“Okay, so how do we figure that one out?” “So... Merlin wasn't a real wizard, not that Merlin.” Penelope nods, she knows that really all he was, was parlour tricks. “However, he stole the identity of the man who was. Long before, in the Nordic lands, there were stories written about a Norse traveller, with powers so great he could produce a weapon of destruction with a mere snap of his fingers. Merlin came across these hidden stories hundreds of years later, and took on the persona.” “And, we find this descendent of original Merlin how?”Caroline tuts, “with magic, of course. We just need to take a short trip to Norway and break into his tomb for some DNA. No big deal.”-Trini crashes through the door once they get home, Kim following behind with their bags, and they both stop when they see Josie curled up on the couch with Nightshade purring away next to her. “Should we wake her?”Kim bites her lip, “I think we should tell her now or we'll be tempted to put it off.” “Yeah.” Trini shakes Josie gently until her eyes blink open and a yawn escapes her, Nightshade only moving her head enough to glare before she settles back down. “Hi, Josie.”“Hey. How was your trip?”Kim rolls her eyes. Josie isn't asking about the trip. “Penny is just fine.” She shares a look with Trini. “Your mom says hi too.” “My...” she's still a little groggy, “mom? What?”“Come on, we have a lot to talk about.” It takes over an hour to fully explain everything to Josie, between tears and anger and gratitude and longing, and finally, Josie releasing a long sigh. The only thing they don't tell her is that she'll have to wait until the ritual before it can be performed. That kind of secret isn't theirs to tell. “So she's been travelling Europe with my mom and putting herself in danger, to find a cure. And she may have found one.”“Basically.” “I'm going to kill her the next time I see her.”Kim hugs Josie into her side, “maybe wait until she has all the ingredients, yeah?”“Right. And what are the ingredients again?”Trini lists through them. “Penny sent me a text saying they are after the blood. The impure flesh is going to come from your mom. We know we need a Gemini hair, but we don't know if that's from the coven or the zodiac.”Josie taps her chin, “what if I could get you one from both?”“Aren't you and Lizzie Pisces?” “Yes, but my grandfather wasn't. I'll ask my dad if there's anything of his he can get a hair sample from.”Well this is going much better than expected so far. “Okay, so we need a bone from a werewolf. Caroline said it would be best to be an alpha, a tooth of a mutt, and a sprinkle of light. We're not sure if that is physical or metaphorical just yet.”“Okay, but a mutt is just something that isn't pure breed right? Like when people try to merge names like 'Labradoodle' to make themselves feel better about their dog being a mutt, but it isn't a pure breed.” Kim lilts her head as Josie smirks. “Someone that could be a hybrid... or a tribrid... Like... Hope?” Trini laughs, “we'll leave that discussion to you. I'm not going to go out and call her a mutt.”Josie pales a little, “we can also get the bone from an alpha.”“But?”“But... it might require a tiny, tiny amount of grave digging.” Kim wrinkles her nose, “obviously, how else were we going to get a bone?”“And somehow breaking a spell that surrounds every alpha's grave.”“Ah.” -Though all the other ingredients have been easy enough to obtain, with the except of Joshua Parker's hair sample, something Alaric had grit his teeth throughout about. And Merlin, who turned out to be heavily guarded by supernatural beings beyond anything they knew, resulting in more than a few scars even Penelope's magic couldn't heal, before they were able to track down his descendant. The last ingredient, the key, the light, is the one that takes them the longest. “How do we manage to get all of the ingredients we need in the space of four months yet this is the one that's kicking us in the ass?” When Kim and Trini meet up with Penelope this time, they're in a different city to Caroline since the twins are visiting her and Penelope insisted she couldn't see Josie or she'd end up packing it all in to be with her.She still has a mission to complete. And ever since the baby was born, Tommi and Zack had to give the mission up.Nobody held any form of resentment against either of them, they needed to put the baby first, as it should be for parents. Trini, Kim, and Caroline understood that more than anyone.“Penny, we have time-”“We've been looking for it for over a year, mom.” She also hasn't seen or spoken to Josie since she left. Kim winces and Penelope sighs. “Sorry, I'm sorry, I'm just... god, I'm so frustrated. We have the ingredients. We have the spell. Why can't we find this stupid, so-called key?” Her eyes widen. “What if whatever Elijah was talking to was messing with him? What if there is no light? Between all of us we've covered every inch of the world. What if it doesn't exist?” She taps her fingers on the table, “did Josie try the-”Trini shrugs, “bracelet? Yes. She even combined yours and Hope's magic and there was still nothing.”Kim sighs, “think, Penny. Think back to the memory. There must have been something. He must've said if it was an object, or given some form of hint as to where it was.”“He didn't. He just said it was light.” She shakes her head at herself, squeezes her eyes shut as she drags the now blurry memory from the back of her mind. “Elijah asked him why he wasn't helping more. Why he wasn't telling him where it was or where to find it- holy shit.” “What? What do you remember?”Penelope gapes, “holy shit, holy shit. How could I not remember this? He was answering the questions, but Elijah wasn't asking them properly. He asked where it was, instead of what it was.” She laughs humourlessly. “It's life.” The room goes silent as the three of them finally figure it out. Trini the first to recover, “oh my god.”Kim joins in, “how did we not see it? Penny, it's been with you all along.”Penelope frowns in confusion, “what do you mean? It's the crystal. We are on about the crystal, right? The one in Angel Grove? You know, the one that keeps the Earth alive in the right hands? The sole reason for the Power Rangers?”Trini reaches over to Penelope's shard pendant, the one swirled in yellow and pink, with a tear in her eye. “We'd never get close to the crystal now, the Rangers wouldn't let us, and we knew that, so we-”“Took a piece before we packed in our duties. Just in case.” Kim finishes with a smile. “You're the key, Penny.” “Huh.”She still may be a little in shock.“No pressure then.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Caroline has spent the last ten minutes in silence processing the information. “So your job was to protect this... crystal? And this crystal is the key to life?”Kim shrugs, “pretty much.” “And the pendant around Penelope's neck is a piece of that crystal?” Penelope thumbs said locket, still in awe herself, and nods. “Will it be enough?”“The spell called for a sprinkle of light, right?” Penelope nods at Trini's question. “This crystal, it's the most powerful thing on this planet, I'm sure there's enough of the pendant to try the spell out a few times.”Caroline falls quiet again, contemplating. “We have time.” It sounds like she's saying it more to herself than anyone else. “We have time,” she repeats. “Yes. And if we run out, we can just get more.”Kim and Trini side eye each other and Penelope looks towards the floor because no. No, they can not simply 'get more'. The only people that even know the thing around Penelope's neck is part of the crystal, are the people in this room, Zack, Tommi, Billy, and Jason. Jason was a fun conversation. Regardless, the two face Caroline once more. “Yeah.”“Shouldn't be a problem.”“Nope. Not in the slightest.”Caroline chuckles, “so we can't get more. Got it. Thank you for trying to lie to me.” Trini blushes and Kim bites her lip. “Okay. You know what? I have faith.” She stares at Penelope until Penelope's head lifts up from the floor, and gives her a reassuring smile. “There's a reason the two covens found their way back to each other. You're a very powerful witch, Penelope. One of the most powerful I've ever come across at your level. Hell, you're beyond your level. And after these two years we've spent together, I know my daughters' lives are safe in your hands.” Oh. Whoa. That's- whoa. “I do, however, have one question that I never asked you.” Penelope gulps, because she knows what question is coming. Has anticipated it from the first moment she looked into Caroline's eyes. “When you showed up on my doorstep that first day, you said you were there to save my daughter. Now, obviously I know you meant Josie, but if you thought Josie wouldn't sacrifice herself if that was at all possible in The Merge, would you have shown up for Lizzie?”Penelope scoffs, “oh please, she'd probably haunt me if I didn't.” Caroline smiles ever so slightly, but the seriousness doesn't waver, and Penelope clears her throat. “Yes. Yes, I would. At first, maybe not. All I cared about was Josie, but then I realised... if Josie did win, if she, in her eyes, was the one to kill Lizzie, that would've ended up killing her anyway.” Caroline nods and Kim pulls Penelope into her side. “Besides, who else would I make suffer on a daily basis? Hope? Too easy. Nope, I'm going to rub it in every single day that it's because of me she's alive.” Caroline smiles again, and Penelope's eyes squint because she knows it's a typical tactic of hers. Asking questions that force Penelope to lower her guard, back it up with a joke until she feels lighter. Sometimes she wonders how Caroline knows her so well, how she has a different tactic to Kim and Trini, but still ends with the same result.And Caroline wasn't doing it because Penelope is worried about it all. Well, partly, because obviously she'll be worrying about it until the day of The Merge. The Merge that is four years away. The Merge that they may or may not have a cure for and all they can do is wait until it happens. That's the issue. The waiting. Because now? Now there is absolutely nothing they can do and it all feels so... surreal. Two years of constant travelling, researching, keeping busy. Now what is she supposed to do? “I hate it when you do that.”Trini moves to Kim's side and slips under her free arm, the one around Penelope squeezing, and rests her head on Kim's shoulder. “Anybody else hungry?” Three answers battle over each other, all along the lines of 'starving' and she laughs. “I think it's time to go home.” They all somehow manage to fit into the pterodactyl, even against Caroline's protests that she'd just catch the next flight. Ptero takes it personally of course and flies far more recklessly than she usually would just to piss Caroline off. Kim finds it hilarious. Penelope tries her hardest to hold in her giggles. Trini berates Ptero to no use and blames Kim for the rebellion. And Caroline frankly looks like she's going to throw up the entire trip back. Penelope never thought she'd see the day where a sentient machine would be the thing to knock the infamous Caroline Forbes off of her game. -By the time they land, Ptero had loosened up and flew much more steadily, but that's probably so that Caroline didn't actually throw up and ruin her interior.Tigress instantly stands, alert and excited as Penelope climbs out of the zord first, the cogs in her throat grinding together in some version of a purr before Caroline is the next one out and she's instantly in an attack position, the cogs now whirling together in a growl. “I take it this is the other one.”“Tigress,” Penelope smiles. She makes her way over with Caroline behind her and introduces them. “She's mami's zord. Tigress, this is Caroline. Josie's mom.” The zord's head tilts quizzingly before she gets excited again and bumps her gigantic nose gently on Penelope's head, Penelope's hand coming up to stoke up and down it with a whispered, 'I missed you, too', and takes Caroline's hand to join hers. “Don't worry, she won't bite.”Kim scoffs from the distance, “lies!” Penelope can't see it, but she knows Tigress is glaring at Kim. “What? It's true.”Something else must happen after since not two seconds later, Ptero's rockets are out and Tigress pulls back with a snarl. Caroline's eyes widen, but Trini cuts in. “Hey! Will you two wrap it up for one night please?”“Are they always like this?” Caroline daren't speak louder than a whisper in fear of upsetting the zords again, and Penelope chuckles back. “Only on days that end in 'Y'.” She glances over to the door that will lead them to the car, “you should see her first.” Caroline squeezes her shoulder, “no. I'm happy that I'll get to see my girls all the time now, but I've still been able to see them whilst I've been away. She needs to see you. She needs to hear the good news from you.” “You should go and get Lizzie and Hope. Bring them over for something to eat,” Trini remarks idly, until Kim hisses at her and she gulps. “Oops.”“Why would I bring Hope with me- Penelope catches on before Caroline and her brows raise as high as they can go. “Oh my god!” Then she smirks, crosses her arms. “This is great. Truly.” “Penny,” Trini warns. “Yes, well,” Caroline brushes off her jeans, “I'd better go and get her and I'll leave you to deal with Josie.”Oh right. That- that is something that's happening. She clasps her hands in front of her and fidgets nervously on her feet. “So, Belgium, huh? Great place. We should totally go back and visit. Maybe even-”Kim rolls her eyes and pushes Penelope forward with a loud laugh, “get in the car. We'll bring the bags up.” Penelope huffs as she stumbles forward, Tigress reaching out her paw to stop her from falling before she glares at Kim with a growl and Kim rolls her eyes once more, adding that she didn't even push hard enough for that and Tigress should calm her claws down. Honestly Penelope blanks it all out as she reaches the car and waits inside.Waits to go home. Once they finally enter the house, after a car ride of silence, she stands at the bottom of the stairs. It's late. Well, early morning. Josie's probably still asleep. She could just- no. Lizzie and Hope will be over soon anyway for breakfast so that'll wake her up. Would it be bad if she just let Josie come find her?Probably. With a deep sigh, she take the first step. Her hand trembles as she places it on the banister, and she freezes. Takes another breath. Another step. Freezes. “It's going to be night before you reach the top.”Penelope jumps and spins around to a grinning Kim. Trini shakes her head and grabs Kim's hand, pulling her forcibly away as Kim yelps and staggers along. “Leave her alone.” She grunts at herself. She's being ridiculous and she knows it. So instead, she closes her eyes, takes a deep breath through her nose and allows the comforting smell of home to be her calm before she climbs the stairs two at a time.And it's not like she's putting it off further as she gets to the top, but the long hallway is full of pictures that she hasn't seen in what feels like forever. Slowly, she stops by each one and recalls the memories from each photograph, something she never fully appreciated while she was here. Until she eventually reaches her room. The door is wide open. Part of her was hoping to have that second longer before she pushed it, but why would Josie need to close it when she had the house to herself? Penelope walks in slowly in an attempt to make as little noise as possible. Josie's never been a heavy sleeper, and she's certain that wouldn't have changed. Her breath catches in her throat when she finally sees her. The covers are tucked under Josie's arm, her hand resting gently on top of Nightshade, the other under her own head and Penelope can hear Nightshade's purrs from where she stands. She bends down, rubs at Nightshade's head first, but she must not notice at first that it's Penelope's hand giving her the fuss because she rolls onto her back, stretches out to show her belly as a hint to scratch there, and grumbles lightly before her eyes blink open. Penelope notes that Nightshade looks confused at first. She knows the smell, but not the face, and it hurts for a second, but Penelope also knows it's to be expected. “Hey, baby,” she whispers before Nightshade sniffs at the back of her hand and recognition comes in the form of a loud cry as she bolts up and rubs herself all over Penelope. “Shh,” she giggles, “it's good to see you, too.” Nightshade doesn't stop crying her little purr-cry as she continues to bump her head against any part of Penelope she can reach. Josie shifts around in her sleep and the movement causes a now disgruntled Nightshade to jump off the bed and leave the room in favour of food. Charming. Mid eye roll, Penelope's eyes get stuck on Josie, and while she looks peaceful, Penelope can't help but frown at the bags under Josie's eyes. Her fingertips move to gently brush Josie's hair back. “Pen,” Josie whispers, and Penelope stills. Josie grumbles some more and it isn't until she's quiet again that Penelope hears the sound of her own heart racing and blows out a breath. Somehow, that's what causes Josie to wake. Her eyes snap open in fear and she jumps up from her spot, barley avoids smacking her head against Penelope's hand and Penelope thanks her rapid reflexes for being able to move it in time. Also thanks her reflexes for blocking Josie's arm from swinging out as she begins to mumble out a spell that's only just halted by Penelope placing her other hand over Josie's mouth. “Whoa, JoJo. It's me.” Josie's eyes are still dark and wild as she thrashes for a second, until she seems to notice her surroundings and her body slackens. Penelope smiles sheepishly, “hey.” “Penelope,” Josie whimpers, her eyes brimming with tears as Penelope removes her hands and sits there patiently, waits for Josie to comprehend that fact that she's here. “If I'm dreaming I'm going to be so pissed at myself when I wake up.” Penelope laughs out a tiny huff, tries to contain her own tears that are threatening to spill. “You're not dreaming.” Then she smirks, “nice to know I've been in your dreams, though.” “It really is you.” Although Josie says it with a hint of exasperation, Penelope can hear the underlying shock and awe in her voice and the next thing she knows she's having to hold her ground as Josie launches herself in her arms, face buried in Penelope's neck as she sobs out. “You're back.” “I'm back,” she confirms, pulls back and stares into Josie's eyes in an attempt to find the words she's longed to say, and finally finds them with a soft sigh, “JoJo, I'm sorry.” Josie frowns and Penelope shakes her head at herself. “I'm sorry,” she repeats, “I never should've left like that, and I certainly never should've made the choices I made leading up to it.” Josie copies the head shake, “we were sixteen, Pen. I'm pretty sure all of us made some stupid decisions.” Penelope smiles, but it doesn't reach her eyes until Josie rests her forehead against her own, and her smile turns to one of relief. “I missed you so much. I'm glad you ended up staying here where my parents could keep an eye on you.”“Oh please,” Josie scoffs, “both of them were a wreck. I'm almost certain it was me taking care of them.” Her eyes widen, “don't tell them I said that.” Penelope chuckles before they spend a few seconds simply looking at each other, taking each other in. “Scars.”“Yeah,” she subconsciously runs her fingers over the small marks on her face while Josie pouts at her, “doesn't matter what country you're in, werewolves are still a pain in the ass.” “I can heal them if you want. I think between the two of us we can fix them. But honestly?” Josie's voice lowers to a whisper, “I think they look really hot.”Penelope laughs louder than she probably should, Josie following suite. “Guess I'll have to keep them then.” She clears her throat, “your mom went to go and get Lizzie and Hope. We have news.”Josie nods and shrugs, “I gathered you wouldn't come back without a cure, Pen. I'm just happy to finally see you again. We can get angsty later.”“There's a catch,” Penelope gulps, anxious for Josie's reaction. “We have the cure, but-”A finger on her lips shuts her up, “what did I just say?” Penelope's brows furrow as Josie removes her finger and leans in instead. “There's always a catch with magic. I'm sick of living in the past. So right now, I just want to thank my girlfriend for risking her own life to save mine.”“G-girlfriend?” Josie smirks, “unless your feelings for me went away while you were gone.”Her head shakes rapidly, “no. Nope. Not for a second. But... honestly JoJo, I have to admit I'm a little surprised by your response to me being back.” Josie sighs lightly, “honestly? I'm a little surprised, too. I thought of every reaction I'd have when you finally came back. I really couldn't say whether I was going to slap you, hug you, or kiss you.” Penelope wrinkles her nose, “I'm pretty sure if you were awake when I got here, it would've been all three. Preferably in that order.” “Instead I was going to set you on fire.” She shrugs. “Again.” “Can't lie, I'm glad I managed to stop that one.” She clears her throat, “so uh, what does this mean for us?”“Did you just miss the part where I called you my girlfriend?”She bites her lip, “well no, but you still haven't kissed me yet and it's already been ten minutes so-”“Penny!” God damn her mother and her timing.“Guess the reunion is going to have to wait until later.” Penelope stares, mouth agape, as Josie stands and flaunts around the room with an arched brow, a challenging brow, silently asking Penelope if she's going to be joining them. “What did they do to you?”“Your parents and I got pretty close. They helped me a lot.” She glances around the room once more, takes in all of Josie's additions to her bedroom, “really made yourself at home here, huh?” Okay now the confidence makes sense. “I asked about you every day, you know. Every single day.”Josie smiles, holds her hands out to pull Penelope up. “I know, and I-”“Penelope!”“Full name,” Josie's nose wrinkles, “better get down there.” Her fingers lace through Penelope's as she tugs her down the stairs, Penelope only managing to follow with a slack jaw. Kim turns to them as soon as they enter the kitchen. “Finally,” she scolds, lifts her jeans leg up and points to the tattoo, “can you remove these now? They were great to keep tabs on you while you weren't here, but I really do not need to see your heart rate when Josie's in the room.”Penelope's cheeks flare red while Kim smirks. Josie giggles and Trini grunts while she hands them both a coffee. “It's cute, mija, but you know it's bad when even your mom is grossed out by it.”“Hey!”“What? Everyone knows you're the biggest sap.” “Okay can we never bring this up again please?” She pauses, thinks, “especially in front of Hope and Lizzie.” Josie snorts, “like Hope is any better.” Penelope spins on her heel in question as she finishes up removing their tattoos. “Oh, Pen, you've missed so much. Hope is like, really open now. Hugs and everything.”“Oh great,” Penelope drawls, “I'm gonna have a slobbering mutt to put up with now, too? I definitely should've stayed, even if just to keep Hope cool.”“Watch it, Hart,” Hope warns as she, Lizzie and Caroline enter the house, Caroline heading straight towards Josie to wrap her in her arms and Penelope's heart melts at the sight instead of listening to whatever dribble Hope is still spouting, “this mutt is a key ingredient to your spell.” Penelope quirks her brow, “I mean, you could always not give us a tooth and risk Lizzie's life.” Hope rolls her eyes. “Hey, Lizzie.”“Satan. Long time.” Lizzie crosses her arms with a glare, but Penelope can tell there's an ounce of playing in there, mostly because Hope nudges her with a fond look. “Thanks for, you know, finding a cure or whatever.”“I did it for Josie.” Josie pulls back from Caroline's grasp and moves to stand beside her, reaches down to hold her hand while Lizzie pretends to gag. Trini hands out more mugs filled to the brim with coffee and orders everyone to sit at the table. It's too early for this bickering nonsense. Kim holds her cup out with a pout when she realises it's empty and Trini tilts her head in challenge, “the coffee pot is literally right next to you.”“But it tastes so much better when you pour it.”“What? Everyone knows you're better at coff-” Hope stops mid sentence at Trini's death glare before she makes an 'okay' gesture with her hand in Trini's direction, “but your cooking? Best out there. Seriously. Ten out of ten would recommend.” She gulps down a large sip of coffee while Lizzie pats her on the back.Once everyone has eaten and they all feel a little more energetic, Penelope clears her throat. “Right, so. We found the cure.” All eyes on the table stare at her, some in amusement and some in frustration. Okay, just Lizzie in frustration. Josie squeezes her hand. “Yeah, obviously. But uh, there's a small catch. We,” she looks between her parents and Caroline to gain the confidence she needs for the next part, “we can't actually perform the spell until the ritual begins.” It goes dead silent. Lizzie is the first to whisper, “that's still four years away. We have to wait?”“I'm sorry. I wish I had better news-”“Hey,” Josie interrupts gently, “we're still in the best position we ever have been. And we have you to thank for it.” She grins in embarrassment at Caroline, “and you, mom. Obviously.”Caroline 'uh-huh's her playfully before she speaks up. “Look, this news is good news. It means we have a chance. We can practice the spell-”“How does it work?” All eyes now turn to Hope. “The spell, the potion? Do they drink it? Do we throw it? How does it work? Do we use the potion first and then only use the spell during the ceremony?” Penelope bites her lips. “We don't know.” She sighs, “when I did my vision quest, I could only see what my ancestor could see. Nobody in the Saltzman family has access to the memories or anything relating to The Merge, they've been blocked. I'm assuming by the same witch that created the curse in the first place.” “So we find a spell to reverse the blocking spell,” Hope declares.“Don't you think we didn't think of that already?” Penelope doesn't meant to snap, but after everything she's been through, does Hope really think she'd overlook something so obvious?The she reminds herself that Hope is going to be just as worried about Lizzie as she is about Josie. “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap.” Hope waves her off. “If you have any ideas about it, I'd love to hear them. But we have been looking, and I know JoJo has been trying out spells this side of things.” Lizzie looks offended that she wasn't included in the mission. “Maybe now that everyone is up to date on everything, we can all work together.”“Until then,” Caroline adds, “we perfect the potion.”Lizzie sniffs from her spot, like the situation is finally catching up with her, and her tear filled gaze meets Josie. “I can't believe our family did this. I can't believe one sister did this to another.”Josie purses her lips, “I can.” The tone is something Penelope is going to have to ask her about. “But we're different. We can stop this.”“We have time.” Caroline has repeated the statement so many times, she's tempted to get her a bumper sticker. “We do have time,” Penelope agrees, “we're three powerful witches, one badass vampire, one whatever Hope is,” Hope snarls, “and two super humans. We got this.”Trini nods her way and Kim winks at her, Caroline beams, and Hope and Lizzie look to each other in support. Josie? Well Josie is watching Penelope with all the admiration she can muster and it hits her deep in her stomach. “Right,” Kim declares, “that was fun and all, but Trini and I have to go out and stock up on groceries.”“We do?” Kim glares at her. “Oh, yeah. We do.” Caroline hums out a chuckle and motions for Hope and Lizzie to follow her, “yes. I suppose I should go and see Alaric and sort out whatever mess he's gotten himself into this time.”“You're sticking around now, right?” Lizzie asks the question, but Josie looks just as interested in the answer.“Of course. I have a school to run, after all.” Josie grins so wide her teeth are on full display before she runs back into Caroline's arms again, Kim and Trini standing behind Penelope each with a hand on her shoulder. But of course her mom has to ruin the heart warming scene. “We'll only be gone an hour.” Penelope blushes. As they all begin to leave and midway through Josie pulling Penelope up the stairs, claiming that she just 'wants Penelope to hold her for a while so she knows this is really real', Hope freezes in the doorway. “If you're going to keep practising the potion, how many teeth am I going to have to donate exactly?”-It takes a good two months for Caroline to take back control of the school. A following six months change the entire curriculum to involve offensive magic, introduce a safety net so that wolves could roam free during full moons, and deals with the local hospitals to bring blood bags in for the vampires, as well as students offering blood donations to keep things as safe as possible for everyone. Kim and Trini's roles also changed to martial arts training, Caroline knowing they were the only two that could handle the strength and speed of both vampires and wolves.Honestly Penelope is kind of upset she never got to attend school under Caroline's control.Though she knows she is the only one to have one on one teaching with her. For two years. That is an experience she will forever be grateful for. That's not to say she isn't involved with the school any more. She finds herself in the infirmary helping other witches with their healing spells while Hope has been teaching the wolves to control their inner animal. Lizzie and Josie have been researching a way to get into their ancestors memories, trying spell after spell after spell, working with Dorian to read every last word in every last book he owns. Once more, it feels like they're getting nowhere. They haven't had much luck with the potion either. With no measurements, they can only hazard a guess at how much of each ingredient they need and they're quickly running out of some of them. Penelope really does not want to go back to get more of the descendants blood. If only they could find a way to access those memories, Josie or Lizzie would be able to see exactly what the witch did. But alas, for now, all they can do is keep looking. Penelope slings her bag down on the coach before she flops onto it with a groan as Trini comes out of the kitchen. “Long day, mija?”“No thanks to you and mom.”Kim appears behind Trini, “what did we do?”She gapes, “seriously?! Three, three wolves with broken bones and a vampire with a chipped tooth. How the hell did you chip a vampire's tooth?”Trini shrugs, “you have to learn how to take the pain before you can give it.” Before Penelope can groan at them more, Josie enters the house with a timid smile. “What happened?”“How do you always do that?” Josie chuckles at Trini before she leans down to peck Penelope's lips in greeting.It still shocks her after nine months that Josie so casually greets her this way. No drama. No hesitation. Nothing. Sometimes she finds herself waiting for the other shoe to drop. For Josie to explode with something she's been burying down, the anger and resentment she held after Penelope left. Soon. She'll ask her soon. “We found something today.”Penelope perks up, “to do with the spell?”“No. Not the spell. Uh- you, actually. Well, maybe both?” The three wait for Josie to elaborate. “I don't know how you're going to take this, but I asked Dorian to look into the language you speak and... well, it's Sumerian. Sort of.” “But I already speak Sumerian,” Penelope adds. “It's,” Josie bites her lips, “it's backwards Sumerian. Backward eme-sal to be exact. It's a less common dialect which roughly translates to 'fine-tongue', and apparently only a few distinct linages of witches can perform it. Like I could learn it and speak it, but it wouldn't work for me, only them. One of them being the Parks.” Kim cocks her head, “like parseltongue in Harry Potter?”Trini snorts, “if only the kids knew what a nerd you are.”“Excuse you? Were you or were you not the one that-” Penelope clears her throat. “Right. Continue.” Penelope rolls her eyes, “so what does it mean?”“Basically, you're performing the spells that correct the situation. So when you healed mom in Belgium, you weren't actually casting a healing spell, but reversing the magic that caused it in the first place to correct it, you know? In theory, you could reverse the magic that blocked our memories.” “So, if you, for example, siphoned from me-”Josie nods in excitement, “you should be able to spell it back.” Penelope spins in her seat and grins and Kim and Trini, “that's so cool.” Back to Josie. “But wait. I stopped a bowl mid air from falling to the ground when I was a kid. That had nothing to do with magic.” Josie can only shrug because she didn't know that, just excited to have found something about it. “Well we should practice it. Throw some fireballs at me.”“Not until after dinner,” Trini warns, tuts, grumbles as she turns, “like a child with a new toy.”“I heard that!”“Good, you were meant to.” Kim smiles in her dorky, love stricken way as she follows behind Trini before Josie moves to stand in front of her, voice lowered. “You know,” her fingers twirl the ribbon around Penelope's neck, “we could always practice the siphoning tonight.”“Just because your room is soundproof doesn't mean the rest of the house is,” Kim shouts through.Josie's cheeks flare while Penelope rolls her eyes with a mumble, “like I didn't have to soundproof their room years ago.” -They've been practising Penelope's recently confirmed power for another three months, and they've come to one conclusion. It works when it wants to work. She isn't sure what controls it. It can't be her emotions because she wasn't feeling anxious, upset, angry etcetera when she healed Caroline. It can't be the way she says the spells because the language comes naturally to her. And it's so fucking frustrating, because she knows what she has to do in order to get answers. They all know what she has to do in order to get answers, but it's something she never wanted to do, had hoped she could leave her past well and truly behind once The Merge was over. Hoped her coven never found out who she truly was. “You're sure about this?”Penelope sits at the table, gripping her coffee tightly with a trembling bottom lip as she watched for a sign, any sign that her parents won't support her decision and convince her to back out. She knows they won't. “It isn't about you guys,” she rushes to needlessly explain, “I just feel like I have no choice, like I can't access my full potential if I don't understand it. And if I can't do that, I can't help Josie reverse the blocking spell. What if this is the only way?” “We know, mija.” Trini reaches over to grasp her hand in her own. “We didn't think that for one second. We love you.”Penelope shrugs, “I just didn't want you to think I have any intention of staying there or leading the coven. I don't want that. But... I need to learn how to control this. The vision quest didn't show me everything I needed to see.”Kim smiles gently, “that's because you didn't know you needed to look for those answers at the time.”“What if... what if they hate me? What if all they can see is the man who had a part in creating me? Or, or if they hate me because I won't stay and lead. Or the witches I know in the coven feel betrayed that I wasn't truthful? What if,” her eyes fall to the table, “what if being surrounded by them brings up something in me that's just been begging to come out this entire time?”Trini squeezes her hand until she eventually looks back up into comforting eyes. “Penny, none of that is going to happen, okay? I promise.”“You can't promise something like that, mami.”“Of course we can,” Kim adds, “because we know you. We raised you. And we couldn't be happier with the woman you've become. We've told you time and time again that there is so much good in you, and that darkness? It doesn't define you, Penny, it only makes you stronger.” Trini smiles, “you've been practising dark magic for years and it's never once consumed you. It isn't going to start now.” “Maybe,” Kim says warily, “maybe it's something you can talk to Josie about. We know darkness, Penny, but not in the same way you do.”Penelope thinks back to when she first came back home, after Josie was so blasé about one sister turning against another, how she'd told Penelope about how her parents had helped her a lot. It's something she always wanted to bring up, but Josie had made it clear more than once that she didn't want to live in the past any more.Obviously Penelope understands that. Josie wants to live in the now, because she knows deep inside that there is still a chance the cure she found for The Merge may not work and that Josie wants to spend the time she may possibly have left happy. “Did it get bad? When I left?”“Yeah,” the three of them spin to face the door where Josie stands nervously, her fists gripping the fabric of her jacket, “it did.” She sighs and sits next to Penelope while Kim and Trini leave them alone. It's definitely a discussion they need to have in private, and they know enough about the situation that they don't need to hear it again. “After you left,” Josie begins, Penelope listening with rapt attention, “it wasn't too bad at first. I was upset and angry that you'd gone, but I was coping, you know? I spoke to your mom quite a lot so I at least knew that you were okay, which helped.”Penelope nods, waits. “But when we started looking into The Merge... the more I found out about it, the angrier I got. At my dad for keeping it from us. At my mom for distancing herself. You, for leaving instead of us figuring it out together. And then... then it was Lizzie.” Josie breathes out, doesn't look at Penelope once as she continues. “I said some things, things I don't exactly regret but... I guess, when I realised you were right all along, everything just came crashing down and I took all of my feelings out on her.”“JoJo, I never meant for the two of you to-”Josie shakes her head. “I know. You wanted me to be more independent, but not at the cost of losing her. I get it now. Anyway, I was staying in your room,” Penelope's brow quirks and Josie side-eyes her with a small eye roll, “and I went back to ours to get some things. Lizzie was there. I made a comment and went to leave, but... well, Lizzie being Lizzie had to rile me up. I could see her siphoning some magic, so then I siphoned magic... it was this whole thing. I don't actually think she would've done anything if I hadn't, but once I started-”“You couldn't stop.”She shakes her head again, “I didn't want to stop. I remember how her eyes widened and she looked scared, Pen, scared of me, and for just a second, I liked it. I liked that power. I liked that I hurt her.” “Is that why you moved in here?”Josie purses her lips, “partly. I knew if I stayed in the school something like that could happen again. I needed to stop being angry and get focused. Your mami is surprisingly very calming,” she chuckles. “Yeah she's a big softy under that moody exterior.” They stay quiet for a moment, until Penelope speaks again. “So what do you think? Is it a good idea?”“I think so. I don't for one second think you'll be tempted to give into that darkness, Pen, it's just... it is in your blood, but it's also not, you know? I think that your passion for righting past wrongs is too powerful, and I also think that because you understand how certain events happened the way they happened, you have an advantage because you know that ultimately, your ancestors weren't bad. Elijah wasn't bad, just got dealt a bad hand and circumstances made him that way and it was out of his control.” Penelope's lip quirks, “very wise. Will you come with me?”“Of course. I'm going to be by your side every step of the way until we're old and wrinkly.” Suddenly determined, Penelope stands and breathes deep, “it's you and me forever, baby. Let's go and find the answers to the last piece of this fucking curse.”-Tracking down the coven is not as easy as they thought. It should've been simple, right? She could ask the witches of her coven, they'd tell her where the base is. Easy. But no. Because of course life wants to throw her yet another damn obstacle. Apparently, it ends up being like climbing a pyramid. First, she has to come clean to her coven about who she is when she asks where their base camp is because all of the witches suddenly appear wary since she's never asked before, like she had a not-so-good reason for tracking it, and their leader down. Once she finally gets an answer that one of their parents may know, she has to yet again explain why she needs the information. Still, it isn't easy. She's only ever told where to go to next to get the next piece of the puzzle.So much for being out and open in the community. She can see it on a few of their faces, the instant fear when she tells them who she really is, but thankfully Josie, Trini, and Kim are all there to help her through it. Their journey ends up taking them from home, to the other side of Central America, to South America, to England, and finally they end up in Latvia. “Okay so apparently she lives in an old village about four miles away from here.” Kim grunts, “and why couldn't you just use a locator spell again like you did with Caroline?”“Because I don't have anything of hers. Nobody does. Caroline was easy because I just used the old bear that- ow!”Josie grumbles and glares after she smacks Penelope's shoulder. “I thought I'd lost that! You had it? Unbelievable.” Penelope winces, “sorry, baby. Drastic measures and all.” Since there are four of them, Ptero flat out refused to fly them around and honestly Penelope couldn't blame her. Three was bad enough, but when they brought Caroline back the space was so tight that not only did her interior get scuffed, but a few elbows also ended up breaking a few buttons. Trini called her a drama queen and Kim told Trini to leave her baby alone. Which meant they had to fly the 'human' way- Caroline's cocky words, and use cabs. Which was fine. But long and annoying. Kim, of course, makes conversation with every cab driver they meet while Trini gives the other Rangers, and Caroline updates, and Josie and Penelope talk idly. Dread doesn't hit her until they're driving up the long, twisting road that leads them to the village. Penelope plays with the bracelet around her wrist, the same one Josie had given her for her birthday all those years ago, the same one Penelope had given back while she was away, and retrieved when she returned home. It glows bright red with Josie's magic, just in case anything went wrong on their travels, and Penelope is really hoping that she won't have to use it. The village is modest. Quaint houses, semi-busy streets, aged convenience stores with chipped paint on the front. It feels nice, welcoming. But as they pull up to the address Kim showed the driver, Penelope doesn't feel so welcome any more. “Do you want me to knock?”She shakes her head at Josie, “no. No, this is something I have to do.” She slowly breathes out and leaves the car, stands in front of the door before she brings her shoulders back in faux courage and knocks. Waits. Waits.Waits some more. “I don't think anyone's hom-”The door opens. Shit. Okay. Cool. “Yes?”The woman almost looks exactly the same as she did in Penelope's vision quest, only with a few grey hairs and wrinkles around her eyes. Not exactly unwelcoming eyes, but also not entirely welcoming either. “Uh, hi. My name is Penelope Hart-” she stops herself, gulps, and feels Trini's hand on her back in comfort that it's okay to say what she's about to say. “Penelope Park.”She's cut off again by arms pulling her forward as the woman gasps. “You've returned.” She pulls back and looks at Penelope with a tear in her eye. “You look just like your mother. Come in, come in!” Once they're all rushed in and still catching up with the situation, she continues. “Would any of you like some tea? Or snacks? I'm Cassandra by the way.”They all glance at each other until Penelope clears her throat. “We're fine thanks. Uh, these are my moms, Kim and Trini.” Kim waves while Trini uses her fingers to signal with a light scowl in her gaze. “And this is my girlfriend, Josie.” Josie holds her hand out. “We're sorry to show up so unexpected-”“Oh please. I've been expecting you since you spoke to James.”Trini's scowl deepens, “isn't that Mr. Wilson? Carrie's dad?” Penelope winces and braces herself. “You mean to tell me we travelled through three countries for no fucking reason?”Cassandra shrugs it off. “We have to have a very tight network. Although we are back into the witch society, there are still those who deem us a threat. Unfortunately I trust no one person to make the judgement on somebody being who they say they are. It keeps everyone safer that way.” Okay so, Penelope understands that, but Trini is still steaming behind her. “Anyway-”“Your mother was a very brave woman, Penelope. What a beautiful name. I never got the chance to know it before your mother took you away. She didn't want to give your father any opportunity to find you if she fell. I tried for years, but nothing.”Penelope clears her throat again, “with all due respect, Cassandra, can you please not call them my mother and father?” Cassandra cocks her head. “I appreciate everything Ana did for the coven and for me. I wouldn't be here without either of them and the coven would still be in hiding. But,” she grabs Trini and Kim's hands, “these two are my parents, nobody else.” They squeeze her hands and Josie looks like she's about to cry, but Cassandra simply nods mournfully. “Very well. I guess since she was like a sister to me and I was the one to help her through her pregnancy, it's hard for me to grasp that you had a life separate to that.” She clasps her hands together. “Anyway, now that you're back we can-”“Yeah that's another thing. I'm not here to lead the coven. I need to find out how to control this... backward Sumerian language.”“The coven is your birthright, Penelope,” Cassandra answers instead, confusion written all over her face.Penelope nods, “exactly. My right. Which means it's also my right to say no to it. Like you said, I've had a life separate from that. A life I'm very happy with.” Cassandra frowns. “Look, from what I've heard you've done amazing things for them, I don't see why blood should decide a leader. Things happen for a reason, people become... something for a reason.”She knows Kim and Trini are thinking back to the first day they found the power coins. “And I fully believe that a change came to the coven because it was meant to. I'm not their leader, Cassandra. You are.” Cassandra stands tall, “if it is your wish for me to lead, I shall do so until such a time comes when you are ready.” Penelope holds back her groan. “You know what? We can discuss it another time. I just really need to know how to control this power.” “Your fath-” Penelope glares. “Liam. He wasn't always dark.” Penelope knows this because of her vision quest. “Those before him, his mother and her mother, they were always able to control it because the dark magic gave them an extra... boost so to speak. Obviously, at first, he couldn't, and the only thing his mother told him was to allow the darkness in.” Josie watches Penelope carefully. “I won't do that. Not... not to that extent.”But Cassandra only smiles. “You don't have to. We worked for years to find a way, hoping that we could reverse whatever had happened in the past that made them like they were. Eventually we found out that it stems from a need of protection. Life threatening protection. To the past coven leaders, it was a selfish protection.” “That doesn't make sense. I was able to heal Josie's mom when she got hurt, that wasn't life threatening.” “Yeah but, Pen,” Josie whispers, “think about it. You needed her because my life was in danger. You were doing it to protect me.” Penelope hums, “okay that's fair. But what about when I was little and stopped the bowl from crashing? That wasn't life threatening either.”Trini rubs her shoulder, “mija, you were terrified that we were going to send you away. I guess you were fearing for your own life as any child with past trauma would.”“It isn't always so,” Cassandra cuts in, “if you know there is danger it will work. It relies purely on instinct. Almost like a sixth sense. Dark magic simply heightens your senses, hence why it was easier with it. I guess you've tried dangerous spells, right?” Penelope hums in confirmation. “We tried that. It never worked because we knew ultimately we'd never cause each other any real, permanent damage. Well, not back then at least.” She says the last part with a hint of sadness and regret and it takes a second for Penelope to understand why. “I know you were the one that killed him.” Cassandra's eyes widen. “I went on a vision quest. I know everything that happened, don't worry.” Cassandra sniffs, “it's funny, I didn't feel regret at first, but as time went on the good memories of him began to come back. But I have no regrets about ridding the man he became, the real Liam was dead long before that.”Penelope doesn't know what else to say because she didn't see that version of him properly. But it doesn't matter to her anyway. She only wants answers for the now and the future. “Okay, that makes a little more sense. But... right,” her best bet is to be honest, “Josie is part of the Gemini coven and she turns twenty-two in three years.” Kim rolls her eyes, Trini shakes her head, and Josie gapes. “What? Time's ticking.” Cassandra cocks her brow. “A spell was cast so that no descendants of the original curse can go on a vision quest. I know that the only chance of doing that is to reverse the spell or she could potentially die. And we've tried so many. A memory spell. A time spell. Forgotten things spell. Everything we could think of. So if it worked to help Caroline because I needed her in order to save Josie, why isn't it working now?” “How do you know it hasn't worked? It isn't her memories you're trying to get back.”Oh. That's a good point. A good point until-“Felix hasn't been in contact with Caroline.” Thanks, Kim. Ah, yeah. Fuck. If anyone would know that specific spell had been reversed, it would be him. After all, he was the one to tell them it was blocked in the first place. “So why isn't it working?”“Because you don't think there's a chance I'll die any more.”The room turns so silent the sound of a pin dropping would echo around it.Josie shrugs, “I guess in some twisted way that's kind of sweet. It means you're either confident in the cure, or you're confident I'll win.” “I,” she gulps, “I was a little confident in the cure until Hope brought up the potion. But you're right. I do think you'll win.” Josie looks to the ground, and Penelope knows exactly what she's thinking. That she doesn't care about Lizzie. Which isn't true, and Josie needs to believe that. “Remember when Hope and I got attacked by that wolf that managed to get past the barrier?” Josie nods. “Well... Lizzie was with us.” Eyes snap up to hers in shock. “The wolf nearly got her, and even before Hope could do anything, I spelled. For her. She made me promise not to say anything because she didn't want you knowing she almost got mauled.” Understanding washes over Josie. “I just... I've been preforming the spells on you.” She turns to Cassandra again. “Is that it? I don't fear Josie will die, but I could still fear Lizzie will.”“We- Liam never had that situation, but I guess that makes sense. Even if Josie is in the room, a spell this powerful, the blocking spell, it would need your full concentration. It has to be just the two of you.”“Then we should head back. Try the spells on Lizzie.” Before they leave, Penelope gives Cassandra one last glance. “Thank you so much for your help, Cassandra. I know the coven will stay in safe hands.” Cassandra sniffs, “I know you say you already have your family, but hopefully someday, you can come to see us as your extended family. I would love to tell you some stories about Ana if that's okay with you?”Penelope looks between Kim and Trini. She knows they would never hold her back if she ever wanted to learn about the people she shares her DNA with, but for now, she's content with how she is, so instead she settles for, “maybe.”“Excellent. Let me write my number down for you. Now you call whenever you want, okay? Don't even think about the time difference. I'm... Ana would've been proud of the witch you've become. She was such a good, honest woman and very powerful witch. I will always choose for our coven what I truly believe she would've chosen. She was inspirational to me.”Although Penelope doesn't want to delve into it, she can tell Cassandra is genuine, and perhaps bringing up Ana is more for her own benefit than Penelope's, so she gives her a hug and tells her she'll be in touch once everything in her life calms down. “Right, better get that flight back home.”Trini groans. -It takes Felix less than half an hour to call Caroline once Penelope casts a forgotten memories spell on Lizzie. Which was hard to do at first since Hope wouldn't stop lingering outside the door.Fuck, they could've saved so much time. She legitimately feels like the biggest idiot right now. “It's not your fault, Penelope. None of us thought the spells had to be spoken with a very specific goal in mind.”“Caroline... don't try and make me feel better. You know I hate it when you do that.”Caroline laughs at her before a knock sounds around the room and Lizzie, Hope, and Josie enter. “You ready?”“I still don't see why we can't come with,” Hope grumbles.Only Penelope and Lizzie are going. Penelope insisted that Josie and Hope stay here, since viewing the vision quest can get intense if what Trini, Kim, Caroline, Zack, and Tommi said is true. And Penelope knows from experience that the things somebody sees isn't always what they set out to see, like her seeing Ana and Liam. “Because. JoJo, I love you, but I don't want you throwing fireballs at Felix. Hope... no mauling or like... shedding.” Hope rolls her eyes. “We'll be taking Ptero so we'll be to Germany and back in a flash. Don't worry.” Josie still looks a little apprehensive and Penelope lowers her voice. “Look. She's going to see things she doesn't even realise she wants to see. I don't want you to be there for that. Your vision quest gets deeply personal, and it gets intense. Trust me. I'll look after her, okay?”“Of course I trust you, Pen. I just don't want you to kill each other,” Josie smirks.“Hey, I can literally reverse anything I feel is going to kill me, remember?” Lizzie clears her throat, “okay so are we going now or are you two going to flirt for the rest of the day? I just need to know because if you're going to flirt all day I need to one; go throw up, and two; reapply my make up.” Josie smirks again and bends down to whisper in Penelope's ear, “make Ptero do some barrel rolls.” “Oh she'd do that whether I wanted her to or not,” Penelope giggles.Once Lizzie calms down from Ptero going as fast as she can, as high as she can, and as purposely rocky as she can, and once Penelope manages to get a grasp on her giggles after, she turns to face Lizzie seriously. “How you doing?”“I'd be better if this thing knew how to fly.”Ptero barrel rolls again and Lizzie screams. “Oops. Told you not to call her that or insult her. But seriously. Lizzie, I know I've already told you this, but I saw things that I wasn't prepared for. That I didn't want to see, or at least, that I thought I didn't want to see. Just remember that you're only looking at memories. You can't run in and change anything.”“Yeah, yeah. I got it, Hart.”When they eventually land down in Germany, Lizzie in typical Lizzie fashion, slides through the door and announces herself. Loudly. “He already knows you're here.”“I'm being polite.”Felix pops up in front of them seconds later with his usual grin. “Penelope! So wonderful to see you again. I must say,” he claps slowly, “I am impressed. Well done for lifting such a powerful spell.”“You already knew I could do it,” she squints her eyes. “Surprisingly, I didn't. Even my powers come with limitations. I knew there was something more in you, but I didn't know what. Strange feeling for an Oracle I must say.” Lizzie clears her throat. “Yes. Lizzie. Your mother is quite the intimidating vampire. Oh, speaking of. Penelope-”Penelope shoves a hand full of hair in his direction. “Mami said you only get it because she needed her hair cutting anyway.”Felix grins and pockets the hair, “such a wonderful woman. Okay, Lizzie if you could just drink this tonic and we can be on our merry way to your- oh... she already drank it.” “Didn't see that coming, huh?”-Lizzie has been under for roughly two hours. Double the time Penelope was under. She's squirming on the floor covered head to toe with sweat and pain in her features.“I'm very glad you chose not to bring the hybrid. I have a feeling my throat would've been ripped out by now.”Penelope chuckles and agrees. “Hey, Felix. Is this going to work?” Felix purses his lips, “sometimes, it's better for me not to give something away or it could drastically change the course of events. Events that may not directly involve yours.” “Like the butterfly effect.” He hums. She sighs. “Yeah I get it.” Lizzie bolts up another twenty minutes later, gasping for breath and clutching her chest. “Holy shit, Satan! Why didn't you warn me?”“I did!” Felix rushes to hand Lizzie the second tonic to calm her down. “Are you okay?” Lizzie grunts, and Penelope senses that there are some things she'll need Hope to be there for. Just Hope at first and possibly Josie down the line. “What did you see?”“Jesus, give me a second.” Penelope knows she purposely takes her time sipping the drink because she's smirking against the glass. She doesn't think Josie will blame her for casting a tiny, tiny, spell to make Lizzie choke on it. “Alright, fine. I found out how the spell works. But, it's a good job this worked, because one of the ingredients are wrong.”Penelope worries because they're already running low as it is except for Caroline's flesh. The brush with the hair is on its last couple of strands, the blood is less than half full, she really doesn't want to go grave digging for more bones, her crystal has around a quarter left, and Hope has already given them three-“We need a tooth from Hope in wolf form.”Teeth.Great. “Well she's your girlfriend, Lizzie. Guess which job you get?”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

In the years that follow Lizzie's vision quest, they try to make as normal a life as possible. Penelope began with her grandparents, telling them of the adventures she went on around the world, omitting the obvious, which also meant family vacations were back on, and when she eventually took Josie with her, Madison and June were instantly on her back about their future. When they'd be getting married, raising children of their own. Penelope stuttered through the entire ordeal whilst Josie simply rubbed her back in reassurance. If only it were that simple. It took Lizzie three weeks to forgive Hope for nearly mauling her when she attempted to retrieve a tooth from her wolf until Penelope came to her rescue and had to tranquillise her with enough to put down three elephants on a lazy day. But only after Lizzie had tripped on a tree stump and gained a decent sized scar down her check from the sharp rock she landed on. Alaric eventually managed to get a hold of his drinking problem and is currently teaching ancient artefacts in the school while repairing his relationship with Josie and Lizzie. Cassandra checks in with Penelope to give her updates on the coven and Penelope entertains her, but she still has no passion to lead them, happy with her job in the school. She still lives with Kim and Trini, but they've added a guest house at the back for her and Josie for their own privacy. Not that it stops Trini from wanting them over every Sunday for dinner, and not that it stops Penelope from doing their laundry there. Josie began helping Dorian while Lizzie started up a magical anger management group for those struggling with the stress of school, the acceptance of being a magical being, or just those that needed an outlet from time to time. Tommi and Zack have a healthy, strong, infant now, named after Zack's mom, and they're expecting another one in the coming months. Sometimes the infant is a little too strong. Apparently not only did their DNA change entirely, even after quitting the Rangers, it also effects any DNA they may pass down. They've chosen to home school her to avoid any conflict, but they bring her to the Salvatore school when they can so she doesn't have to hold back her powers and gain that social interaction with those that understand her. Jason and Billy are both happy with their decision to not have children.So, all-in-all, Penelope would say that they've all managed to create some normalcy in life, and it's been working out pretty damn well for them. But The Merge is getting close, and everyone can feel the days become more and more tense. “I was thinking,” Penelope begins a week before the event will take place, “we should take a vacation.”Josie giggles and twists in the bed to face her, “oh yeah? Right now? Spend a few days out of state?”“Nope,” Penelope shakes her head. She leans over the edge of the bed and shakily grabs a tiny box. Josie's eyes widen. “I was thinking more like a honeymoon in Italy.” “Penelope...”Penelope sits up, “hear me out, okay?” Josie's lips close. “I uh, I know we don't know exactly what will happen. We aren't guaranteed that any of this is going to work, but we literally don't know what could happen regardless of this.”“This is a great speech,” Josie drawls, though Penelope can see her eyes tearing up, “really. Sweeping me of my feet for sure.”“What I'm saying is,” Penelope rolls her eyes, “whatever may or my not happen, I want to be by your side through it all. I want you by my side through it all. I, Penelope Hart, am asking you, Josette Saltzman, to be my forever.” She opens the box. Josie bites her lip as she stares at the black and silver ring. Light and dark entwined into one. “Forever may only last a week.” Penelope hums, “I have faith it's going to last until we're both old.” “Why didn't you wait until after The Merge?”“Because I didn't want you to think I'd only thought about it after you were safe.” Josie cocks her brow. “JoJo, this ring has been burning a hole for over a year, this isn't just something I'm jumping in to. But I want you to know that I'm not going anywhere. We're going to beat this shitty curse, and we're going to have a small outdoor ceremony where my mom is going to be overbearing and mami is going to have to separate my grandma and abuela because even at their age they're still competitive and Lizzie is going to go full bridezilla even though it's our day and-”Josie smirks, “I haven't said yes yet.” Penelope pouts, “so say yes.”-She shouldn't be surprised really, that they have barely entered her moms' house before Kim is jumping up from the couch. “She said yes!”“How?”Trini chuckles, “you're glowing, mija.” Penelope blushes and Josie reaches down to hold her hand. “Congratulations,” she says as she hugs them both. “This calls for my famous slow-cooked ribs. Can you call Caroline, Lizzie, and Hope over, gorgeous?” Kim nods before she grins at them, “it's about damn time, Penny.”“So you guys knew about this?”“Oh please,” Kim scoffs, “that ring has been with her for a year.” Penelope mouths 'told you' to Josie and Josie rolls her eyes. Kim begins her ramble of things they need to sort out as she makes her way towards the kitchen, following Trini. Josie keeps her grip on Penelope's hand, “does my mom know?” Penelope nods. “And Lizzie?” She winces.-Lizzie makes every single threat under the sun for the entire week, but those threats change into more 'I'm going to haunt your ass' territory.Why? Because today is the day. Nobody wishes either of them a happy birthday. If they don't make it, there will be nothing happy about it. So they only do what they can. Treat the day as any other until the ritual begins. Penelope is shaking as they stand on a hilltop, away from any other civilisation. The eclipse is coming to a start. Kim and Trini stand off to the side, clinging onto each other, ready to jump in if things get too much for Penelope, if there's a hint she's losing control. Hope is in the background on the other side. Caroline and Alaric in front of Josie and Lizzie. And Josie and Lizzie are holding hands, ready to perform the spell that will being the ritual. It's fucking horrible. She's fighting off her tears, concentrating purely on the reversal spell, but Josie and Lizzie are letting them roll freely. It isn't fair. This should've never happened. It's not right. There's a sliver of light left behind the moon, and Josie's watery eyes glance towards her. “I love you,” she mouths, and Josie trembles as she mouths it back. “Penelope, this better work.”“It will, Hope.” They cut their palms, drink the potion, and begin the spell. Wind swirls around them and Penelope can barely hear anything past it. She glances to Kim and Trini, who haven't moved an inch, but are both looking towards Caroline and Alaric, who are both clenching every muscle they have, until she finally shifts her gaze to a panicking Hope.“Penelope!”“Not yet,” she shouts back. She can feel it in the tips of her fingers, the spell in her hands flying out of them and joining the ever growing mass of leaves and twigs swirling in a tornado of a circle as Josie and Lizzie continue chanting. The two of them jolt back, and Josie's eyes snap open, pure white. Something rushes through Penelope. A force like nothing she's ever felt before. Her vision turns obsidian around the edges, the only thing in her sight being Josie and Lizzie. It takes over her, the power, makes her feel unhinged. Her fingers curl and words leave her mouth, deep and gruelling, pushing through the initial magic that caused all of this like trying to break thick plastic wrap with a sponge. She vaguely feels Kim and Trini running towards her and Hope running towards Lizzie, but she shoves them back without interrupting the spell.Josie and Lizzie begin to collapse, frozen mid fall before grey smoke leaves their bodies, whirling up and up and up as it joins together before it crashes back down against the ground, creating an explosion that causes Josie and Lizzie to be flung in opposite directions. The resistance is still there and Penelope fights harder against it, traps it in its own way so she's the one holding it back until there's a loud rumbling, the ground shakes, and suddenly it crumbles in on itself. She falls to her knees. Air escapes her lungs, leaves her struggling to breathe, and it's mere seconds before Kim and Trini and fussing over her, their cool hands taming the pure fire in her veins as she chokes on nothing. “JoJo,” she whimpers, “is she-”There's no answer. Her head manages to lift enough to see the scene in front of her. Hope's fingers running through Lizzie's hair in worry, Caroline doing the same thing to Josie while Alaric is trying to run between them until-“Lizzie? Hey. Hey that's it. Come on. She's awake!”Penelope's brain is shouting at her. Just fucking move. But she can't. It feels like any ounce of energy she may have is literally there just to keep her from passing out. But she does manage to gasp out, “what happened?”“Your eyes turned black and you were glowing,” Kim says, her voice as soothing as possible. “We thought we'd lost you for a second there but we knew you were stronger than that.”“We tried to jump in but, I don't know, you made it so we couldn't,” Trini finishes. “You were incredible, mija.”She shakes her head, growls to herself, and sits up on her knees, “I need to get to Josie.”Instead, Kim picks her up and carries her over there and she instantly leans over Josie, stoking her knuckles down Josie's cheek, anxious for her to wake up. She's still breathing so that's a good sign she guesses. Hope brings Lizzie over shortly after. “Jesus, Satan, what the hell was th- Jo? Why isn't she awake yet? What's happening? If you hurt her, I swear-”“Lizzie,” Josie grumbles, “shut up.” Multiple sounds of relief simultaneously fill the space around them and Penelope finally lets her tears fall free. “JoJo. Baby, come on.” “Damn. Worst hangover ever.” Penelope laughs through her sobs. “Did it work?”All eyes dart to Caroline and seconds later her phone rings. “Felix? Uh-huh. Yes. Thank you.” She hangs up and cries herself. “He said although he can't say too much, your twenty-third birthdays should be-”Nobody lets her finish. Alaric grips her in a hug that she's obviously uncomfortable with as she pats his back, Hope squeezes Penelope's shoulder, Kim and Trini hug her and state how proud of her they are, and all Penelope can do is look lovingly at Josie. “We need to find away to erase that spell from history. We can't let anything like this happen again.” “I agree,” Caroline says, “but maybe that can wait until tomorrow, yes? You look like you're ready to sleep for a year.”She chuckles before she brings Josie's hand up to kiss her knuckles. “You still want to marry me?”Josie pounders, “only if Nightshade is the ring bearer.” “I think we can make that happen. How are you feeling?”“Well,” Josie sits up, “it was scary, but it still wasn't as bad as the time I almost got shot.”Penelope gapes, “the time you were almost what?” She glares up at a guilty looking Trini and Kim. “Oh you two-”Kim claps her hands together, “I think we've been here long enough, don't you? We have a lot to celebrate. To new beginnings,” she cheers. “We also have a birthday cake waiting.” Penelope tilts her head and Kim scoffs before she kisses her forehead. “What? Like we for one second thought you wouldn't pull this off?” Trini shakes her head with a fond smile and drags her away. She really does have the best parents.“You did it,” Josie whispers as the others begin to follow Trini and Kim's lead before Penelope helps her up, “you actually did it.” “I'm amazed, too,” Lizzie drawls behind them, bringing Josie into a fierce hug and Hope does the same to a shocked Penelope. “Didn't think you had it in you, Satan, not going to lie.” “Thanks.”Josie laughs, “I never had any doubt.” “Gross,” is Lizzie's final word before Hope escorts her in the direction of the others, leaving just the two of them after Lizzie grumbles about wanting her damn birthday cake because she deserves it.“It's over,” Penelope breathes, “what do you want to do now? I mean, after our honeymoon of course.”Josie shrugs and smiles, “doesn't matter. We've got the rest of our lives to figure it out.”