A.N. Thank you Clefspear for reviewing, sorry this is late (again). It slipped my mind. :/

9-11-2005

In was chaos in the children's home. Pre-school children ran through the rooms, laughing and half dressed with Felicity chasing after them almost in tears. Meanwhile, Harry and Toni left for the middle school as their bus pulled up.

Alabaster woke up just as they were leaving to an empty bedroom.

Lee and Damien's beds were messed up and their school bag missing. Alabaster sighed; sometimes it was really annoying being the only Elementary aged child. Strike that – it was annoying all the time – and now he was late.

Phil passed Alabaster some toast and a toothbrush as he left the house. Alabaster left the toothbrush on the table stood by the door and ate the toast on his way to school.

Gratestale was only around the block from the children's home and there were no busy roads.

Alabaster was late. Again.

When Alabaster arrived at school Doctor Lagan – who wasn't actually a doctor of anything except possibly in meanness or detention-giving in which Alabaster thought he would have been an A+ student in – frowned at him over his glasses and tutted under his breath; marking Alabaster as late. Again.

Gil, who still sat next to Alabaster in class smiled as he sat down. Alabaster smiled back.

It was during recess that Will made his move.

"Saw you had crumbs around your mouth when you came into class today," said Will. Alabaster looked up from the flowers he had been making grow straight into Will's mean gray eyes.

"I s'pose you were so busy stuffing your face that you didn't even notice the time," Will's smiled was horrible and unkind and his fists were clenched. Alabaster forced himself to notice these small details instead of listening to the words.

But, like venom injected into a wound, the words shoved their way into Alabaster's head, churning around his brain getting louder and louder and louder until it was like they were blasting from loudspeakers.

Alabaster's vision swam.

"Aw, and now he's going to cry," Will's gleeful voice echoed.

Alabaster screwed his courage and opened his mouth.

"STOP IT!"

The words were his but not, although they were stolen from his lips. Gil stood in front of Will, shaking but her face set with determination. Her hair was braided and swaying with the breeze, and she had crossed her arms defensively.

She looked beautiful.

"You're pathetic, Will," she spat.

And then all the bottle emotions Alabaster had held inside of him came bursting out.

Green light blasted around the playground and signs and symbols that Alabaster could not fathom swirled around him, engulfing him in a tsunami of magic and, as always, the woman with sunglasses and tattooed arms walked through the green light which parted before her and held out her hand.

When he looked back on this memory, Alabaster would say that he followed the woman without hesitation.

He would edit out his final glance at Gil.