Notes : The first three chapters take place before my other fic A Light For the Lost.

Just like in that fic, I decided to use the fan-name Clover for the Woodsman's daughter.

House Repairs

Finally, everyone in Beatrice's family was human again. Finally, they could go back to their home by the river. They had to abandon it after their transformation since it wasn't quite adapted to bluebirds. Which was almost funny, considering how these were everywhere in the house from the decorations to the logo on the potato sacks.

They didn't know what exactly happened in their absence, but they found the mill destroyed. The other half of the building turned out to be pretty much intact, however. It even was much less dusty than they expected after their long absence.

Beatrice knew why. Of course, she wasn't there when Wirt and Greg were brought here by the Woodsman but they had told her about it. Therefore, while they were figuring out what they needed for the repairs, she told her family the story of how the mill got in such a state.

Her parents didn't seem pleased to find out some stranger had occupied their house without asking first but it was too late to do anything about it now. Plus, now that the snow outside was melting away, house repairs were the priority.

While everyone else was helping to fix the roof, two of Beatrice's younger siblings decided to go look for the dog who had wandered off again. However, the family pet wasn't the only thing they found : coming towards them were two visitors.

As the little group approached the house, Beatrice (who was holding the ladder for her father on the roof) recognised one of the visitors as the Woodsman ; however the teenage girl accompanying him was a complete stranger to her.

"Mom, dad!" Beatrice's younger siblings called. "The mister who lived in our house said he wanted to help fix it!"

"…And then I told my father I'd like to see where he lived before he went back to our home" the Woodsman's daughter (who went by the name of Clover) explained to Beatrice as they were cleaning the house with the children. "We met your siblings, helped them find your dog, talked a bit… and Father decided he should probably give your parents a hand."

"Is that his way of saying 'sorry I used your house without permission'?" Beatrice asked while dusting her own nightstand.

"Guess so", Clover replied while cleaning the window.

Seeing that the two teenagers were doing a good enough job on their own cleaning Beatrice's bedroom, the children soon left them to take care of the rest of the house. A few minutes later the room was spotless.

"You were there when my father killed the Beast, weren't you?" Clover asked.

The redhead sat on her bed and stared at the window for a few seconds before replying :

"We left the clearing before it happened. I think we wanted to put as much distance between us and the Beast as possible. It was only when we heard him scream in agony that we stopped."

"And then?"

"Wirt used the scissors to turn me back into a human, we said goodbye and he and his Greg disappeared. End of story. Now why don't we go see how your father and my parents are doing in the mill?"

Beatrice stood up and left the room before the brunette could ask any more questions.

As it turned out, the adults were doing just fine on their own and didn't really need the teenagers' assistance at the moment ; therefore Beatrice sat by the river with her dog to her left and the Woodsman's daughter to her right.

For the longest time, neither of them produced any sound.

"About the scissors and turning back to human…" Clover started tentatively.

"We've talked enough about me", the redhead stated. "What about you?"

"We've been talking about me all afternoon…" the brunette pointed out.

The silence came back, only troubled by the sounds of the river.

"If you don't want to talk about it, fine", Clover finally said. "We can talk about something else. Or not at all. Both are good."

Beatrice smiled faintly. Once again she had someone around her age to talk to, which was good ; however what she really needed at that very moment might be someone to be silent with. She had just met this girl and yet it already looked like she could be both.

The two teenagers remained there without uttering a word until the dog got bored and went back to the house.

"Let's get back inside too, it's getting cold here" the redhead said.

Her parents invited the Woodsman and his daughter to stay overnight and they gladly accepted as it was getting late and their home was quite far.

"You sure you don't mind sharing your bed with me?" Clover asked her new friend as they went back to the latter's room for the night.

"It's not like you have a choice", Beatrice shrugged. "Where else would you sleep, on the floor? Or you could go with my siblings but you'd have to share a bed too. You might as well stay here."

The Woodsman's daughter nodded, smiling slightly as she too got ready for bed. Then both teenagers proceeded to have the best night sleep they ever had.