This is actually such a random one-shot. 0_o It was inspired by the episode "Out, Darn Spotlight" when Mrs. V proudly announced that she played all of the parts in Snow White. This one-shot just explores that idea a little more, and I also attempted to try and explain why Sasha can sometimes be a little too hard on Cindy. Read and enjoy! :)

"I am here."

Those were the only words anyone ever needed to hear from young Sasha Maelstrom to know that everything would work out. Her presence alone was enough to light up even the darkest of places, and in this particular situation, it was more than enough to fulfill her duties as star of the show.

Young Sasha knew little about acting, but it really couldn't have been as hard as everyone made it sound. All one needed to do was stand in front of people and talk, and Sasha was an expert at both. People loved her—she couldn't even begin to count the number of phone calls her parents continually received about her behavior towards the other children in her neighborhood—and she knew exactly what to say in the face of every situation possibly thrown at her. Her speech was eloquent yet to the point, beautiful and simple to understand. Sasha wasn't one to mess around, and she knew that her expertise would be needed now more than ever to save this second-rate school play.

She remembered first musing on the fact that Lindbergh Elementary School was to have a school play. Principal Willoughby wasn't one to push the fine arts, but ever since his transformation earlier that year, Willoughby had made a complete turnaround in almost all of his viewpoints. No one quite understood why or what had particularly happened, but he was different. Sasha didn't care to dwell much on the change; at that point, all she knew was that she needed to obtain the coveted part of Snow White.

Yes, the children would be performing Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. As much as Sasha detested anyone who wasn't the height of what she considered a normal human being, she was more than eager to be in the play. Of course, she wouldn't be a dwarf. Some other short children would be forced to play such degrading roles. Sasha was going for the gold. That's all she ever went for. She needed to be the best, and Snow White was clearly the position for her.

Sasha's audition hadn't gone anything less than perfect. Her dancing/singing/juggling/rollerblading/drawing routine was nothing less than her usual excellence, and both Principal Willoughby and Ms. Fowl were speechless. They had immediately given her the role after her threatening to sue the school on grounds of unfair biases. Her father was wealthy beyond anyone's imagination, and the fact that her family had been forced to move to Retroville because of his company still stung Sasha every day. How she missed France! She loved the cuisine, the etiquette, the fashion—Retroville disregarded all things Sasha considered most precious and valuable. It was a blow to Sasha's perspective of life, but she had still somehow managed to come out of the dreadful move alive. It made her want more than ever to show that she was special, which she knew she was, and this play would give her a chance to display her numerous talents.

The after school practices were time consuming, and Sasha knew everyone's lines before any of the children knew their own. She continually pointed out their faults, wrongdoings, and abnormalities. The children grew frustrated, although Sasha knew it wasn't her doing. If only the children could act as she, perhaps the children would calm down and actually perform a successful show. But Sasha knew the chances of that happening were zero.

It was the night before the play. The dress rehearsal was set to take place at approximately seven o'clock that evening. Sasha was eagerly bounding around in her house, eager to ask both of her parents what day they were planning on coming to see the show.

"You know I'll be at work, honey," her father had responded.

"But it's at seven!" Sasha countered. "You're done with work at five!"

Mr. Maelstrom, lounging on the couch, his bare feet propped up against a fine leather footstool, opened up the paper that was lying next to him. "I will have to stay after. We're having a huge project that needs to be completed before this weekend. I can't come, dear."

Sasha, her spirits broken and a frown forming on her face, went to scour their grand home for her mother. As sure as anything, her mother was pouring all of her energy into the telephone. If anyone couldn't find Mrs. Maelstrom, the best bet was that she was by the telephone, gabbing away with her girlfriends about adult related material. She was Sasha's last hope.

"Mother?" she timidly asked, recalling how many times her mother had reprimanded her for interrupting her important business calls. "I have a question."

Her mother looked down on small Sasha, noting her tense frame and worrisome brown eyes. "What?" she asked, a tone of annoyance replacing the overjoyed note in it prior to her daughter's interruption.

"What night are you coming to my play?"

"You're in a play? Oh sorry, Stephanie! I was talking to Sasha. Can you hold on a minute?" Mrs. Maelstrom put a hand to the receiver. "You didn't tell me you had auditioned for a play."

"It was going to be a surprise. I'm Snow White, the lead role." Sasha slightly smiled up at her mother and analyzed her face for a hint of happiness.

"Why aren't you the director?" Mrs. Maelstrom scoffed. "Everyone knows that that is the position one should want. The actors are only puppets controlled by the director. Do you want to be controlled by the director, Sasha?"

Sasha just shook her head no, hoping that her mother would ignore the fact that she wasn't the director. "What night will you be able to attend?"

Mrs. Maelstrom had already gone back to her phone call with Stephanie, and their conversation on the newest fashions for fall resumed. Sasha simply sighed and left her mother to her so-called business.

The rehearsal had gone worse than anyone could have possibly imagined. Even Sasha didn't think her fellow dunderheads could have performed so poorly, but she was learning new things every day. These children were obviously in need of a little Maelstrom help.

"Margie, you can't possibly think that when shouting at someone, you need to apologize afterwards? What's the point of being angry if you're just going to give in later with miserable apologies?

"Freddie, I can't believe that you're Prince Charming. You're more like Idiot Alarming with that kind of face.

"Principal Willoughby, I feel that some of these students aren't taking this play seriously. I demand that professional actors be hired in order to keep up with my level of performance."

These rants continued onward throughout the entire evening. The students each cringed and rolled their eyes as Sasha pointed out their mishaps during the rehearsal. One by one, each of them was criticized. Little did Sasha know that tomorrow evening held a new surprise.

The school day had seemed normal enough. She had answered Ms. Fowl's questions with complete accuracy and had been able to present on her favorite pastime, genealogy. She was proud of her heritage and felt that it was important to learn more about where she came from to do justice to the Maelstrom name. She'd sat alone at lunch, as usual. Sometimes she would sit with others, but talking to them eventually became insufferable. They were too loud, too dumb, or too overrated to be seen sitting with or talking to. She'd realized very quickly that going about things alone was best. If something needed to be done right, it was important that Sasha did it herself.

She walked home like she normally did, and upon opening the giant oak door, she pranced off to her room. This was going to be her big break. Surely she'd be recognized for her extreme measure of talent in comparison with the other children, and she was sure to become a star. Maybe then her father would notice her. Maybe then she'd be better than the director. Maybe then her parents would finally appreciate her and see that she had something to offer.

Later that evening, she asked her parents if they could give her a ride to the school. Her father had immediately made his way into his study and told her he was working, while her mother already had plans for the evening with a girlfriend she hadn't seen for three whole days. Sasha decided that it would be best if she just went to the play by herself. Her parents would come see the show another time.

After fifteen minutes of trudging through the cold, nighttime weather, she reached the school just in time to find her fellow cast members leaving. Principal Willoughby pled with them to return, but they wouldn't have it. One by one, like sheep following a shepherd, they paraded off of the stage and out the exit. Sasha stood, mouth agape and body slightly trembling, trying to figure out what had just happened.

"Well, that's the end of it!" Principal Willoughby moaned. "My beautiful play! How in the world are we going to put on the production now?"

"Why did everyone leave?"

Willoughby turned, startled to find that he wasn't alone. He did a quick physical scan of Sasha's rather messy appearance, and he instantly returned to lamenting. "They all left because they were tired of…" He stopped unnaturally, and coughed once. "Well, that doesn't matter because we have no cast!"

A light bulb went off in Sasha's head. "I could play all of the parts."

Willoughby gave an involuntary chuckle. "Honey, you couldn't play all of the parts even if you were the star of the show!"

"But I am the star of the show!" Sasha retorted, her face swirling together as she said this. "I can do it! I know everyone's lines, and I…I know what they're all supposed to do…"

"Ms. Maelstrom, I appreciate your efforts, sincerely I do, but the show cannot go on."

"But it must! I haven't put all of my time and energy to see the show canceled!"

"I'm afraid that's the way it ends," he sighed. He raised a hand to momentarily remove his glasses for cleaning. He took a quick wipe at the lenses with his shirt and returned the glasses back to rest on the tip of his nose. "Why are you still here? The show is canceled."

"Please!" she begged, getting down on all fours. "Please! Let me do it! I can, I promise! You won't be disappointed!"

"Well…I don't know…"

"Please! I can do it!"

Willoughby chuckled as he observed Sasha's vulnerable frame on the floor. Never in a million years did he believe she was capable of begging him for something.

"You're on your own, toots," he bizarrely complied. "Go for it."

Sasha immediately dashed off to ready herself for a night that was sure to be memorable. She busied herself by brushing up on the script, displaying all of the costumes she would need to hurriedly switch into during the course of the show, and applying simple yet transformable makeup. Once she heard Willoughby announce a change of plans for the evening, she eagerly stepped out onto the stage to smile warmly at the audience. To her dismay, less than half of the auditorium was full, and people were filing out before she could even begin. This did not stop her, however, and she continued onward, switching between dwarves, Snow White, and the Evil Queen. It grew awkward when she was supposed to be both Snow White and Prince Charming in the kissing scene, but she managed it by turning around, leaving her back exposed and wrapping her hands around her own arms. Loud kissing noises reverberated around the almost empty auditorium, and once Sasha had finished, she turned to see two lone figures left in the vast expanse of space. They were her parents.

"Mom! Dad!" she squealed as she ran off stage to bombard them with hugs and kisses. "You came!" Her eyes happily glistened, and her father was the first to speak.

"I can't believe you performed the whole play alone."

"That truly takes talent," her mother agreed.

"I couldn't let the show be canceled, so I had to step in!" Sasha merrily laughed. "I'm so glad you came!"

"Come on, darling. Let's go home," her father smiled as he picked her up and placed her on his shoulders.

"Let's celebrate this wonderful achievement," her mother pitched in as she affectionately patted her daughter's back.

Sasha's face wrinkled in confusion. "Don't you have work, dad? And mom, didn't you have a meeting with a friend?"

"Both have been postponed," her father firmly said as the family continued to walk out to their vehicle.

"We realized this play was more important, so the necessary adjustments were made." Her mother opened the car door for Sasha as her father gently set her back down on the ground.

"Thanks," Sasha mouthed, tears welling up in her eyes. Her parents just smiled at their daughter, and the three happily drove back home, a silence falling upon all the vehicle's inhabitants.

Yeah...I just had to end it on a fluffy note. :3 Deep down, even though parents can be tough on their children and sometimes neglectful, I think that they still deeply care. Some parents just aren't very good at showing it. Here though, I wanted her parents to come through for her when it really counted. :)

This one-shot was supposed to turn out more comical (that was my original intent), but I guess I got caught up in all the family drama. XP

Regardless of my wavering focus, I hope you enjoyed it! :)