March 12th @ 6 AM
Outfit

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The lake was just as beautiful as she remembered it. The way the morning mist rose off of the mirrored surface, dividing the gray sky and gray water as if to remind the watcher where the sky ended and the lake begin. The smell of the dew on the grass and the wet pine needles, mixing with the dusty scent of the ancient wooden boats, had always been calming on her nerves. She remembered how she would spend many weekends holed up in the boathouse, safe from bullies and busy-bodies, and how the familiar surroundings still lingered in her mind when she was scared or lonely, as a mental haven she escaped the world from. As cold and damp as the day was, Kia felt far more comfortable in the boathouse then she had in the Headmistresses office and hoped that the Flickwick girls would also feel more at ease there. After all, they would need to feel at ease considering what she was about to tell them.

Kia remembered learning about her mothers death as though it had happened the day before, rather then over a decade ago. She remembered being abruptly shaken awake by her unnaturally stiff father and then apparating side by side to the American Ministry, where she promptly vomited from the sensation. Then she had sat there and waited for something, she didn't know what, her pajama clad legs swinging just above the worn floor as she tried to ignore the foul taste in her mouth. There were aurors whispering and glancing at her family down the hall and when she tried to ask her father what they were staring at them for, he just brushed her off absentmindedly, his eyes staring blankly at the wall across from them. Kale was asleep, his head lolling on his fathers leg and a bit of drool staining his pants, but Sean didn't seem to even notice.

When one of the conspiring aurors finally made his way down to them, he went to her first. He handed her a lemon drop and commented that her mother always said she was a very pretty young lady. It was then she knew something was wrong. First off, her hair was a mess, her eyes bloodshot and she probably had a bit vomit in the corners of her mouth; Secondly, her mother may have been proud but she was not a braggart. She wouldn't have talked about, of all things, Kia's physical appearance. Grades maybe, intelligence sure, but looks were not something of importance to Celestine. Kia popped the candy in her mouth and sucked away until the foulness from before was gone. Then she set her pale eyes on him in an unnaturally discerning gaze and said "What happened to my mum?"

He told her, at first opting for simple, childlike explanations but quickly changing to more adult ones when it became clear that not only was she mature enough to understand what he was trying to say, but she didn't appreciate him dumbing it down. Simply put, her mother was MIA and presumed dead, though there was really no hope that she was really alive somewhere, simply no trace of a body. She died a hero, they said, as they handed Sean the one thing they had found, her wedding ring. She remembered that he didn't stop staring at it for days afterwards. He even slept with it, laid in the exact middle of her mothers pillow, his hand caressing the delicately carved silver.

Now her fingers did the same, more out of habit now then out of mourning. She had been given the ring to wear in remembrance of her mother years ago and her time for mourning was long since over. But now she suddenly felt the need to play with the silver band, perhaps out of nervousness or some unconsciously held belief that she could wish herself brave. Afterall, it was her turn to be the auror. It was her turn to tell a couple of young girls that their mother had been killed protecting others. It had never dawned on her how hard it must have been for the young man to tell her about her mother. How unfair she had been to think that he was a moron for trying to break it to her gently. She understood now, however, and she only hoped that Ruby and Sophie wouldn't despise her after this.

Knock Knock

The hollow clunking on the door had to be Miss Snark with the girls, as there was no reason any other soul would be out there this early on such a dreary morning. Without looking away from window overlooking the lake, her hands still toying with the ring, Kia said softly "come in..." and then a bit louder and firmer "Come in..."  She heard the door open and Analiza quietly usher the girls in, murmuring something about leaving them to their privacy before taking her leave, the warped wooden door banging shut behind them. Taking a deep breath, Kia turned around to face the two girls. She didn't want to look at them, worried that her eyes would say everything before she even had a chance, but she managed to put on a brave expression as she finally came face to face with what could be Ramona's dopplegangers. "Hey guys..." She managed softly, a weak smile touching her full lips.

Sophie was still groggy; when Headmistress Snark had gently shaken her awake there had been a sort of panic. Snark did not just show up in your dormitory at five something o'clock in the morning to have tea and biscuits. She thought maybe it had something to do with the things she had been seeing or the way she had been acting recently. She knew that she needed to curb her temper - but life had her spooked. First the double moon in the middle of the day; then Ruby's chest in Charms... the blood on her hands and the cards that Fergie couldn't see. Maybe Fergie hadn't kept his promise to not tell anyone; even her sisters. The last thing she needed was Emily or Ruby thinking she'd gone off her nut. They were both suspicious of her sudden and loud break up with Figaro but Sophie was so snappy they didn't push.

She rushed to dress because, well, what else was she going to do? She'd probably have time to change before Storm's class. After all what kind of visitor could they possibly have? Unless it was their Nan... if Fergie had gone and told then it could be Nan. She was trying to decide if she were going to be mad at Fergie or not as she marched herself to the entry way and waited for her sisters...Snark had said something about her sisters hadn't she? Sophie's head was so muddled from bad sleep all she could do was stand there and rub her eyes. It seemed silly but she somehow wished she'd brought her elephant Edgar with her. She felt like a sleepy three year old interrupted at nap time - which also meant she felt a little grumpy. She thought of the mug in her parents' kitchen that said Sometimes I wake up grumpy; other days I let him sleep in...and for some reason that image made her heart hurt.

When at last Emily, Ruby, and Headmistress Snark all joined her she was surprised when they were lead outside and down toward the boathouse. It was a sinking bad feeling in her stomach and she found herself hovering near Em rather than Ruby. She put her cold little hand in her elder sister's and chewed on her bottom lip. Never in her whole life at Hogwarts had the boat house seemed more ominous. Also, the gentle way Ana guided them down, the way she had touched Sophie's shoulder... it was not that the Headmistress was cruel but she was not a warm and fuzzy, openly affectionate person either. On principle Sophie only feared Snark on the grounds she was not a fan of SAWS - it was then her mind flashed on some form of torture to get them to admit Fauna was a werewolf. Sophie's over active imagination could run away with her even at 6 in the morning.

Strangely she felt herself calmed upon entering and seeing a familiar mop of dark curls. Without thinking she broke away from her sisters and threw her arms around the slender woman's middle, "Kiki"! Any thought that something might be wrong vanished from her head in the excitement of seeing an old family friend. Well, Kia wasn't old; but the Ferris' had been family friends for a long time. Sophie kind of idolized the older woman. She just looked so...bad ass, all the time! Even the way she was dressed this morning; Sophie noted the all black and mysterious aura it gave her. Pulling back she bounced on the balls of her feet, "Are you guest lecturing today? Did you come to tell everyone they're all idiots for wasting the WCU's time on investigating Fauna? Oh! Or did you come to show up Professor Storm and his crotchety old spell giving lessons? Did Mama tell you I stood up to the auld goat?! Da was very proud," she babbled and beamed up at Ferris completely unaware that her life was going to crash in on itself.

Early morning fatigue rested on Emily's shoulders, heavier then the cardigan she'd pulled on as an after thought.  She and five in the morning were not unacquainted, but they weren't on friendly terms either.  Complaining would have to wait though, at least long enough to get an answer, something Snark not waited long enough to give before leaving again.  If it turned out to be nothing, then she'd string together a fine list of annoyed grievances.  At this exact moment however, she remained quiet, trying her best to figure out the reason for an early morning visitor. 

What could be so important, she wondered, that couldn't wait?  Had something happened?  Something big?  Something huge enough to warrant getting dragged out of her bed to meet up with her sisters in a round up?  Had Sophie found herself in trouble again for something or other?  Sometimes the girl did bring trouble upon herself, something Emily been telling her for years.  If that were the case, did such a thing need involve Emily?  Probably not, and a far reaching idea at best.  It did waylay some of the darker thoughts she'd yet to consider. So far the urgency not tipped to adrenaline just yet.  Panic wouldn't be of any use anyway.

As soon as the trio arrived, they were whisked off towards the boat house.  No one spoke in the walk down, and Emily wanted to brush this off to the others being as tired and confused as herself.  It wasn't till a small hand found hers, did Emily finally acknowledge that Sophie wasn't just out of sorts for the hour and loss of sleep.  Sophie seeking comfort wasn't odd in and of itself, she was the baby of the family after all.  No, the weirdness came in seeking it from Emily, rather then Ruby.  Instinctively she squeezed the younger girl's hand, but wasn't sure what to say to her.  She couldn't very well whisper that everything was going to be alright, when she herself wasn't all that sure about it either.

By the time Emily finally decided on something neutral to say, they'd arrived and Sophie's hand left hers.   The small girl launching herself on the mysterious visitor who turned out to be not all that mysterious after all, Kia Ferris.  While Sophie babbled, Emily sent a glance to Ruby, wondering if the other girl felt the same pinging sensation at the bottom of her stomach.  Kia giving a lecture was far too innocent a reason for the three of them to be dragged out of bed.  That sort of knowledge could have waited for breakfast, but by this time Emily was running out of logic that did not involved overly morbid ideas.

"What's happened," Emily finally asked, unable to contain the question any longer.

Unlike her sisters, Ruby was well acquainted with this time of day. She was already dressed when Headmistress Snark entered the room. She had a horrible feeling in her stomach this had something to do with Sophie. In short the youngest Flickwick had been acting just shy of completely nutters. Ruby thought it mostly had to do with what Fauna was going through, and then there was the trouble with Chance - which wasn't so much trouble as Sophie getting in over her head for a boy. She had taken the break up with Fig excessively hard for someone who had done the breaking. As she gathered herself and followed after the Headmistress there were a million dark scenarios playing through her head - ranging from Sophie hurting herself to... well Sophie hurting someone else. She had become increasingly aggressive over the last week and Ruby was worried she'd finally snapped.

When she reached the entrance hall she felt a momentary sense of relief that Sophie was standing there; though she looked sleepy there didn't seem to be anything physically wrong with her. This feeling was soon replaced however by a nagging sense of impending doom at the sight of Emily followed by the trek down to the boathouse. This didn't bode well for any of them - especially when Ruby was too preoccupied to notice Sophie reaching for Em's hand instead of her own. The world was topsy turvy, all flipped upside down. She tried to picture her mother's face. She tried to imagine the calm lines and slight smile Ramona always wore. She tried to remember to be brave. She tried, but her insides were quaking and she found herself wanting to stop along the way to throw up.

Calmed as Sophie was by the appearance of Kia; Ruby felt panic and bile rise to the back of her throat. She stepped closer to Em as she spoke, slipping her arm around her sister and huddling close. Something was wrong, very wrong, something was wrong with their Mum or their Da because if it was anything else there wouldn't be someone from the WCU standing there. Most of Ruby's life she'd admired Kia, her drive, everything she'd managed to do so young... but in that moment on that morning Ruby hated the sight of her. She zeroed in on the fact Ki wouldn't look at them. It felt like time dragged on forever before Ruby finally vocalized what the back of her mind had been wondering since she walked into the boathouse, though it was much softer and weak sounding than she wanted it to be, "She's dead isn't she"?

It all made sense in a dizzying rush - the way Sophie had been acting; they were vision episodes. Her meltdown in charms, the way she'd rushed to Ruby has though something was terribly wrong. She put two and two together faster than Sophie did; you didn't have to be a Seer to connect the dots. She should have known from the drawn worried features of Snark. She and Ruby never butted heads but the woman was more curt; not openly affectionate even when it was known she had a fondness for you. Ruby suspected her involvement in SAWS canceled out the fact she was a Prefect. Biting down hard on her lip she didn't want to see the reaction on Kia's face but found she couldn't look away.

"Kiki! Are you guest lecturing today? Did you come to tell everyone they're all idiots for wasting the WCU's time on investigating Fauna? Oh! Or did you come to show up Professor Storm and his crotchety old spell giving lessons? Did Mama tell you I stood up to the auld goat?! Da was very proud,"

Kia had barely finished her turn when she was nearly knocked over by the flying ball of furious energy that was Sophie Flickwick. How the tiny brunette could possess so much boundless energy this early in the morning was beyond her. While the hyperactive rush of questions would have annoyed Kia coming from anyone else, she couldn't help but crack a small smile at the girls antics. She reminded her so much of Kale when he was younger, before the attacks. Suddenly the smile faltered as the thought of Kale's attack reminded her of why she was there and more importantly, what she was about to tell them. It was not lost on her that Sophie's precious smile was going to disappear and she hated the fact that she was going to be the one to erase it.

Reaching out, she pressed a hand to Sophie's hair in a familiar manner, caressing it as a mother would. It would likely be the last time Sophie would feel such a touch and with that thought in mind, Kia barely managed to keep her voice from cracking as she said lightly "No... I am not here for that..."

"What's happened,"

Emily was the first to catch the whiff of something wrong and Kia's words suddenly got caught in her throat. She tried to swallow around the lump they formed but found it nearly impossible. How did she tell them? She didn't want to sugercoat it, out of respect for their maturity, but she had no idea how to say 'your mother is dead' without sounding callous about it. She still cried herself to sleep sometimes, and her mothers death had been over a decade ago. How would the far more sensitive Sophie fair? The thought did not make it any easier to swallow, but Kia managed in the end to stammer "W...well..." She sputtered to a stop, her mouth flopping open as she tried to form the words. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately depending on how you look at it, the most perceptive of the three girls found the words for her.

"She's dead isn't she?"

Kia stared at Ruby for a moment, her mouth agape. In a flash of a second, Kia saw Ruby as herself at age 11. It was the way she looked and the way she said it, all deceivingly calm and empty, hiding the emotion bubbling underneath. What should she say now? What could she say? It was out there, just floating around waiting for Kia to seal and stamp their hope away. Tearing her eyes away from Ruby, she glanced back out towards the lake and took a deep breath, her pale eyes threatening to well up. She had to do this and she hated herself for it.

"...Yes..." She said softly "... Yes, she is..."

Sophie's[1] face faltered in confusion; her ears barely registering the fact her sisters were speaking. She didn't bother to look over her shoulder at them, her brown eyes focused on Kia - both confused and wounded as she bit her bottom lip. It couldn't be true - Ramona Flickwick didn't just die. In her daughter's mind she was damn near immortal. She was bigger than life, she had eyes in the back of her head, she knew everything in Sophie's small universe so well that the fifteen year old couldn't even lie to her properly. If her mother was dead she would have felt it. She would not have been able to get out of bed, put on her clothes, and follow Snark out to the boathouse. If her mother was dead then she would cease to exist as well. That was how it worked. None of them would be standing here if Ramona Flickwick just up and died. The universe itself was supposed to stop turning, the moon and stars would crash into the sea.

"You're wrong," Sophie's voice was small, formerly confused eyes hardening as she pushed Kia away. "You're an awful dirty rotten liar," she actually slapped Kia as her voice rose in pitch. She felt trapped, like the walls of the boathouse were closing in on her. Something inside of her was giving way as she babbled about how it was scientifically impossible for her mother to be dead. "Da wouldn't let you be the one to tell us! You big fat lying liar! He wouldn't let them send some Ministry grunt to say she was just dead! You don't just say someone's mother is dead Kiki! That is the most awful thing ever, you are the most awful thing ever, YOU ARE A MORTAL SIN KIKI," her voice grew louder and louder with each word as she jabbed a finger into Ki's shoulder. Very little of what she said made sense; and as Ruby watched her baby sister descend into a tiny ball of incoherency she stepped forward and grabbed her firmly by the upper arm. Sophie just babbled and yelled - but her mistake was taking a swipe at Ruby.

"That's enough, Sophie! You need to stop," the normally passively loving and nurturing Ruby shook her so hard Sophie's teeth actually rattled. She felt clammy and ill. She was going to throw up - but not in front of her sisters. Her legs felt like jelly. She wanted to crumble in on herself but she couldn't. She felt her heart rip down the center as Sophie stopped babbling an dissolved into sobs - trying desperately to cling to Ruby while Ruby felt her nerves unravel as Sophie tried to cling to her. She looked helplessly at Kia before turning to Emily...and deciding without putting it to a vote that it was her sister's turn to take care of Sophie. Ruby had been doing it for fifteen years; it was Em's turn...and as such she unceremoniously handed off the sobbing mess that was the youngest Flickwick to the one in the middle. Sophie clung to Em like a barnacle.

One free of her...which was how Ruby felt (though then immediately felt guilty for feeling relief at handing her off) she looked back to Kia. She must have drawn the short straw...Merlin why couldn't Snark have told her. Pressing her fist to her lips she tried to push down the bile at the back of her throat. She tried to stay on her feet but found herself instead backing against the heavy door shaking her head, "I just got an owl from her," which was obviously the wrong thing to say because then Sophie latched onto that and started screaming about how Kia was a liar again and that was the proof. "Stop! Sophie, just shut the fuck up for once in your life," Ruby had never snapped at the little fifth year. It never seemed fair because as blustery as she was... Sophie was so delicate.

Turning her eyes back to Kia, "You're here to take us home then? Is that why Da didn't come? Or..." she grimaced at the thought, "Was it one of the daylight attacks? Are he and Nan alright? I can't..." her voice trailed off. There was no way to finish that sentence for all the ways that she could have. I can't... be responsible for this family, take care of my sisters, be the Matriarch at seventeen damn years old. She was folding in on herself; the thought cloud in her mind getting too heavy. She could hear Sophie sobbing into Emily's shoulder but she couldn't look. She couldn't take care of her this time. It was as if suddenly everything inside of her that was loving and good dried up and cracked. She wanted to run but she couldn't make her feet move.

1.	I'm just going to combine Sophie/Ruby posts from here on out so things move a little faster.

Sophie's slap was unexpected but not surprising. Kia recalled how the shock of her mothers death had left her speechless and cold while at the ministry, only to have her unleash her pent up rage on her father later, beating her small fists on his chest as he held her, murmuring that it would be alright. She had yelled nasty things at him then as well, claiming it was his fault and that she hated his guts, similar to the painful accusations now being thrown at her by the youngest Flickwick. He had taken all the verbal blows in stride but as placid as his expression was, she could see the torture in his eyes.

Touching her stinging cheek, she looked away as the youngest Flickwick raged at her, truly appreciating her fathers sacrifice. The pain from Sophie's accusations was so intense that tears welled up in the corners of her eyes, threatening to spill over as the teen called her a liar and a 'sin' of all things. Had it been anyone else, and with any other circumstances, Kia would likely have slapped her back for being such an impetuous child, but she couldn't bring herself to be angry with Sophie. It was her turn to be understanding, to take the blows in silence.

It was in that shocked silence that Kia stood there as Ruby screamed at Sophie and pushed her off into Emilys arms. Kia wanted to hug the girl herself, to pet her hair and whisper reassuring accolades in her ears, but she knew it wouldn't be accepted right now. Perhaps it hadn't been the best idea to offer to be the one to tell them. She felt like she was going to lose them because of this and that hurt even more then the slap and the insults. Thankfully, Ruby was much calmer and more understanding then Sophie.

"You're here to take us home then? Is that why Da didn't come? Or...Was it one of the daylight attacks? Are he and Nan alright? I can't..."

"They're fine..." Kia said quickly, recognizing the look in Ruby's eyes. She had been there. It was hard becoming the mother for your siblings, and in some cases, your father. Ruby seemed to realize this and the way her body tensed up under the mantle of stress made her look even smaller then Sophie. Kia couldn't stand there any longer. She had adored Ramona as well. It had torn her up inside knowing that she died by the hand of the very creature Kia was supposed to be hunting. She wanted nothing more then to wrap her arms around them and hug them until the pain went away. Reaching out to Ruby, she pulled the eldest into a tight embrace. "... It's ok to cry, Ruby... You don't need to be strong right now..." She murmured soothingly into Ruby's ebony curls.

Kia couldn't even get the words out.  Starting and stopping only confirmed the suspicion she’d been suppressing up to this point.  Somebody died.  No, not just somebody… Ramona.  Why else would they send Kia?  Why else would they drag the three of them out at the crack of dawn?  The previous heaviness in her stomach clenched violently in response to the thought.  Ruby put a voice to the accusation already forming in the back of her head.  Putting a voice to it made it real, and even if Emily never been one to pussyfoot around sensitive topics... this was on an entirely different level. 

This... something fully shut off inside her and it wasn't until the unmistakable thwak of a slap did she come back again to the present.  By that time, Sophie already started screamed at Kia, fighting the truth tooth and nail.  On the one hand, denial bubbled up in her mind as well.  Kia could be wrong; this could all be the making of some horrible mistake.  Some other woman been attacked and she just only resembled Ramona Flickwick.  Ruby grabbed Sophie away from Kia, the small girl still thrashing about.  Good.  Ruby could take care of Sophie.  Ruby could do those sorts of things that Emily never been able to master.

That wasn’t what happened, not at all.  No, something strange happened in that moment… Ruby did not swallow up Sophie grief into her and work at comforting their baby sister.  Instead, Ruby did something Emily might have done had she been the one to grab at Sophie first.  A hard shake, a firm command and send her off to be finished off by Ruby.  The world been tipped over on its access, or they were stuck in some alternate universe?  There had to be some kind of logic for what followed.  Without so much as a word, or a glance, or anything at all to indicate her thinking, Ruby pushed Sophie to Emily.

Small arms clung to her, Sophie already shuddering sobs as Emily grasped onto her baby sister,
 trying to keep her upright.  “Shh,” Emily warned the younger girl when she interrupted Ruby asking questions to scream at Kia again.  It been unnecessary though, Ruby snapping did the trick just fine.  Tears pricked sharply at her eyes, but there was little to combat them with sounds of Sophie’s sobs much too close for comfort.  She couldn’t do this, she didn’t know how to take care of Sophie and deal with her own grief.  The two were getting combined much too rapidly and a before long Emily uselessly wiped at her face as she tried to take in the conversation going on between Kia and Ruby.

“You can’t think to leave us here after that kind of news,” Emily finally blurted, the cynicism tainted by the tears straining her voice.  Dressing for classes been pointless, they should have been warned otherwise.  Someone should have given a better indication before dragging them out of bed.  Right about now, Emily wanted nothing more than to go back to bed and never, ever wake up again.  Let life pass by, it didn’t really need her anyway, right?  “We have to go home now,” Emily adjusted her arms to keep Sophie, her mechanics unused to the extended effort.

((Just doing a quick post, so it is going to be a it short))

“You can’t think to leave us here after that kind of news, We have to go home now,”

"Of course..." I'm here to take you home, what kind of person do you think I am? Kia started to say, but bit her tongue until it nearly started bleeding just to keep from snapping at Emily. It isn't Emily's fault, she reminded herself, she has every reason to be upset right now. She just wished that they remembered that she wasn't some mindless drone that was simply repeating what she was told, she was their friend. Their godsister. She loved them and their mother, and this tragedy was tearing her up inside. Not as much as it was for them, of course, but certainly more then an unsympathetic outsider. Perhaps it would have been better, or so she was beginning to suspect, that an outsider told them. Perhaps they wouldn't hate her as much as they did now. She let her head hang a little as she considered this, a heavy silence enveloping her.

"I already talked to Headmistress Snark and she has agreed to let you take the weekend off to attend the funeral..." She said finally, breaking the moment of silence. The words felt hollow and empty, as though they were coming from someone else and she was merely listening placidly from the sidelines. "... So um... we should probably get you packed up..."

It all happened so fast; Sophie screaming at Kia and then slapping at Ruby - it wasn't until she felt her teeth snap together as her sister shook her that Sophie quieted. Ruby had never been rough with her before; she had never just unceremoniously dumped her on someone else either. In her mind pieces were falling together and apart in such rapid succession she couldn't keep track of anything. She was trying to will her mind to fix this - to latch on to some form of proof that meant Kia was wrong. Sophie could forgive her for being wrong. They would hug and cry then everything would go back to normal. She closed her eyes tightly, face buried in Emily's shoulder; she shook from the tension in her tiny body. They could go back, they could go back to being asleep. They could start the whole day over again, if she could just make her mind work long enough to figure out how to make the world start over.

Ruby stiffly returned Kia's hug - for the first time feeling her own resentment toward the woman. She had no idea what she was talking about. Ruby could no more cry and fall apart now than Sophie could piece herself together. Everything in their world had just come unraveled; someone had to hold it together. She mumbled that she was fine and shook her head. When she pulled away she tried to convey with just a look all the reasons why she couldn't just cry. She sniffled and shook her head again, as if she were physically trying to 'suck it up'. If Emily would just...take care of Sophie - Ruby couldn't even bring herself to look at the two of them. They could get through this. In the back of her mind she could hear her mother voice explaining to her for the millionth time that life was about pushing through pain. Someone had to be the anchor. Someone had to be the one who kept it together in the face of the world crumbling.

"Can you..." she trailed off, turning her eyes to Sophie who was now just quietly sobbing on Em. She hated to ask Ki, but who knew what Sophie would do if left to her own devices. Wetting her bottom lip she swallowed hard and tried to remember to breathe, "If you could take Sophie to her dorm... Em and I can be ready within the hour to go back," she chewed on the inside of her cheek. She knew - given the way Sophie had just unleashed her tiny fit of rage on Kia it probably wasn't fair but Ruby couldn't...she couldn't do the Sophie thing right now. She couldn't be what Sophie needed if they were going to get through this alive. She felt her nerves trying to unfurl and had to turn away from all of them, jerking the door open and walking out briskly. It was all she could do to keep herself from running back to the castle - because running never got you anywhere but closer to doom at a quicker pace.

---

((We can keep going or just call it good? I think we've covered everything we needed to unless you want to write their exits as well?))

Kia sighed as she watched Ruby rush from the boathouse, as stony as ever, her chest twinging with the pain of knowing that Ruby would, more then likely, do the exact opposite of what she had told her. That meant some very rough times ahead for the girl... no, young woman. Ruby was going to have to be an adult now and Kia hoped she was up to the challenge. The last thing Kia wanted to see was someone she cared about falling apart, even though she knew she couldn't really do anything about it. Talking to Ruby about how she felt would more then likely do more harm then good, since no one liked to hear that their suffering was commonplace. Somehow it made it feel silly and unimportant, despite the fact that it was anything but.

Which brought Kia to Sophie. While she couldn't help relieve the inner turmoil of the elder sibling, perhaps she could help Sophie reel hers in. Reaching out, she lightly placed a hand on Sophie's shoulder, standing behind her and looking off to the side so that if Sophie wanted to cry, she didn't feel judged. "Sophie... wait. Before we go pack, I need to tell you something..." Kia started, pausing when her voice cracked. It was getting harder to keep her voice calm and the tears from coming. "... I didn't... I didn't come here because I got the short straw... or because they made me do it. I offered to come here, in fact I insisted that I be the ones to tell you guys..."

She coughed a little, trying to finish before she was struck speechless, "... I didn't want some faceless, unknown person who doesn't love you or your mother to be the one to break it to you. Your mum was the closest person I had to a mother since mine died and you three are the closest thing to sisters I have... and I thought that it might... help... if I was the one to tell you. But..." She paused to wipe away an errant tear "... I was wrong... and I am sorry..." Her voice faded off and she bowed her head.

Sophie panicked when Ruby left her. That had never happened before - not in her entire life; no matter what stupid thing she had done. Then Emily headed out of the boat house and she was left alone with Kia. KIa who she had always looked up to, Kia who she wanted to be just like, Kia who she had just hit and said horrible things to. Kia who always always upfront and took no bullshit from anyone. She braced for the lecture. She tried to steel her nerves and tried to stop the tears. She was waiting for the laundry list of job hazards and the way life happened.

What she got was a tearful Kia explaining that she had taken it upon herself to tell them because she was trying to protect them. She wanted it to be someone who loved them; who loved Ramona. She didn't want it to be some stranger who only vaguely understood the magnitude of this loss. Sophie shook with tears as she flung herself around the really only slightly older woman. She buried her damp face in Ki's neck and blubbered an incoherent apology. In her mind she went through all the people they could have sent - how much worse it all could have been if it hadn't been Kia. It was a crap job; and suddenly Sophie understood she and her sisters weren't going to be the only ones suffering from this loss.

It was a rippled turned to crushing wave of suffering for anyone who had ever loved her mother the person; not just her mother the mother. Her mother was a whole other person; she had friends and people who needed her just as much as her siblings ever had. There were all their friends who found a safe haven in the Flickwick house; there were the werewolves she tried to help; there were people like Kia - people needing love and not even knowing it. Ramona was no sating; she had a temper and Merlin help you if you got on the wrong side of it... but it was a powerful knowledge Sophie didn't know what to do with yet, so she let Kia lead her out of the boat house back to the castle.