"Shut up."
"What? You didn't even know what I was going to say." Sabrina finished adjusting her veil and sent a withering look to her sister in the reflection of the mirror. They both knew an I told you so was in order for Sabrina. She didn't believe Puck loved her, but Daphne knew as always. Despite Sabrina's adamant protests against her feelings and his, Daphne saw right through it. She was right. Sabrina was wrong.
Grasping blindly at another pin for a loose curl she stuck her tongue out and screwed her eyes. She glanced again at her sister whose arms were folded patiently waiting. Sabrina glared and tried to capture her stray hairs, nearly grabbing them, until her fingers lost their grip and five minutes of work fell to the floor with a tiny ping. Sabrina looked at her sister in the reflection again, eyes wide and pleading. Daphne laughed and came up behind her to adjust her bun.
"Oh alright, but only because it's your wedding day." She brushed her nimble fingers along her sister's hair. "Jeez Sabrina," she exclaimed tapping the stiff shape of her bun. "What's in this, glue?" Sabrina laughed and sighed as Daphne plucked a pin from the table.
"Tatiana was very specific about how I should dress today. I'm going to be the Queen of Faerie." She said that last part with a small shudder, so small Daphne almost didn't detect it. She shot her sister a worried look, Sabrina must be extremely stressed. When she tried to catch Daphne's eyes again, the younger girl averted her gaze.
"It's not her wedding you know."
"I know," Sabrina snapped. "But it is her son, and-"
"And he could care less what you wear. In fact, he probably would like whatever you really wanted to wear more than what you are right now."
"Thanks Daph, but I don't know. I want this to be perfect, but I'm not the best with fashion." She screwed up her nose as childhood clothes disasters resurfaced in her mind.
"Nonsense," Daphne proclaimed. She spun Sabrina around and pulled out a wand. Sabrina's eyes widened.
"The wedding wand?"
"The wedding wand." Daphne smiled. She found it just in time for Seven's wedding and had decided to keep it as a reminder. The girls sentimentally nicknamed it "The Wedding Wand," and it had served them well through countless celebrations. "May I?"
Sabrina nodded and stepped to the side with a wide smile, and eyes brimming with tears. Daphne remained uncharacteristically composed, almost serene as she waved the wand and a glow began to radiate from her sister. "Now you may think you don't know what you want but," she said bringing the wand down and enveloping Sabrina in a blinding light, "this does."
Sabrina closed her eyes, but after hearing her sister's squeal, she tore them open and rushed to the mirror.
"Oh Daphne," she said wiping under her lashes. Her sister ran up from behind and spun Sabrina around holding a tissue to her eyes.
"Sh Sabrina," she laughed. "You'll ruin your makeup." Sabrina chuckled, fanning her eyes while double checking her appearance in the mirror. Daphne stepped back with a smirk and Sabrina shot her the worst threatening look she had ever given. "Don't you tell him about this."
Daphne zipped her lips and throwing away the imaginary key. "My lips are sealed."
"We'll see about that." The two girls turned as Red appeared in the doorway with a smirk followed by Veronica and Uncle Jake. Sabrina glared at Daphne.
"Daphne."
"Oh relax Sabrina, it's all chillastic. Just some finishing touches."
"Chillastic?" Sabrina quirked an eyebrow and Daphne shrugged.
"I'm trying it out, but never mind that. We have gifts."
"Gifts," Sabrina said puzzled as the quartet produced four cream colored boxes.
"Come on kiddo, you know how the rhyme goes." Uncle Jake handed her his box; "something old."
Sabrina carefully unwrapped the ribbon and lifted the lid. Inside was a single white rose and all those repressed tears came flooding back. With tender hands Sabrina lifted up the vibrant flower for the three other Grimms to see. Her smile was wide, and when she looked up at Jake, he too had glistening eyes.
"Are you sure," Sabrina asked. Without a reply he lifted the rose from her fingers and stuck it in the middle of her veil. Immediately dozens of other roses filled the band. Small, delicate vines snaked down the rest of the veil producing sporadic roses along the fabric. The gown received a similar treatment, as small roses formed in the fabric in bunches at the bottom of her dress before fading at her waist. Jake smiled and stood back to examine Briar's handiwork.
Sabrina was in awe, and once the shock wore off, she carefully pulled a rose out from her veil. It immediately formed a bouquet in her hands, which she inhaled deeply. Selecting another rose from that, she reached up to Jake, tucked it into his pocket, and kissed his cheek. "Thank you," she whispered pulling away.
"See you out there," he responded, and with a final bow exited the room.
Wiping her eyes, Sabrina moved to Red. She held her box out with a small smile.
"Something new."
Sabrina smiled and tugged at the bow. When she lifted the lid, in the center sat a perfume bottle in a circular shape. Curious, Sabrina gingerly picked it up, and at Red's encouraging smile sprayed it into the air. She closed her eyes and was hit instantly with images of Ferryport Landing's woods, and summer nights on flights with Puck, and her room, and cozy gatherings in granny's kitchen, and her family. Opening her eyes, she could tell everyone had smelt that same wild, soft, mysterious aroma too. She sprayed the perfume on herself a few more times before setting it aside and turning back to Red.
"How?"
Red said nothing, but pulled her into a tight embrace. As they hugged she tilted her head. "Magic," she whispered pulling away and leaving the room.
Sabrina, Daphne, and Veronica shared a look and began to laugh. It was Veronica who regained her composure first.
"Sh sh, we've got to get this done or you'll be late," she said lightheartedly thrusting the box into Sabrina's arms. Sabrina looked from the box to her mother, who took off the ribbon. "Something borrowed," she whispered eyes gleaming.
Keeping true to her promise, Veronica barely let Sabrina pull the top off before she was reaching her hands inside for the pair of ivory earrings. Smooth and round, the dainty studs were outlined in small, intricate crossed wires that twisted into a thin line in the back for her ear hole. Cautiously, Veronica brushed Sabrina's hair away and secured the first one in.
"These belonged to granny Relda. She let me have them for my wedding day, and now," Veronica paused to wipe her eyes. She attempted to continue, and seeing that she could not Daphne traded her earring for a tissue and slid the other earring into place.
"And now," she finished for her mother, "you get to wear them, but be careful," she warned. "I still have to have my wedding too." Daphne pulled the two of them together laughing and the three hugged for a few moments. Veronica disentangled herself first, still wiping her eyes.
"Don't either of you dare tell your father about this. I'll never hear the end of it," she joked and they all laughed again. Sabrina grabbed her mother's hand and squeezed. Veronica's eyes watered as she cupped her daughters face. Softly, but firmly, she pushed Sabrina's shoulders down and kissed her forehead. With a final nod of approval, Veronica pulled out of Sabrina's grip, and left.
The two girls watched her, and surveyed the room memorizing every detail before their eyes fell on each other.
"And then there were two," Daphne joked.
"There was always two," Sabrina playfully countered. "You were always there."
"So were you."
Sabrina and Daphne smiled as their emotions threatened to overflow. There had been enough crying today to last Sabrina a life time, but this was Daphne and she wasn't about to deny her sister. Except maybe for a few more minutes, and with a quirk of her brow and sweep of her hand, the tears were kept at bay.
"Now remind me," she said in mock confusion. "It goes something old, something new, something borrowed, and?"
Daphne chuckled, unwrapping the box, and holding up a rust colored orange strip of cloth; but even though the color was aged Sabrina remembered. She remembered the bright orange monkey holding onto a tree, and the blue pants with balloons and hearts. In fact, as she blinked away her tears, she saw her sister, the wild and free girl again, happy in those clothes.
"I made it after the war," her sister explained as she wrapped it around her bouquet. "I saved it though, for you."
She stepped back watching Sabrina examine the strip. Stitched in what must have been the faded blue of those jeans were the words; hang in there.
"It's not a lot but," she said smiling, "it is something blue."
"Hang in there," Sabrina repeated. "From start to finish?"
"Well," Daphne began, "there were many beginnings. That wasn't the first, and it wasn't the last, but it was the most important. That was our real beginning Sabrina. It was my favorite, because it's a promise that'll never end. I've dated enough guys to know when the start will have a finish, and you and Puck will only have beginnings." She laughed. "Look at me I sound like granny. The point is that I love you Sabrina, and even though in some ways this is goodbye, it'll never be the end. You and I are still hanging in there; and you and Puck will too." She picked up one of the ends of the strip between her fingers and held it between them.
"I promise."