All for us

Tally elbowed Raelle forcefully in the ribs not a second after they stepped into building where their class was.

Raelle spun to the side while gently rubbing over the spot. "The fuck was that for!!?"

"What do you think she was thinking? She looked off, didn't she? I know she was looking at me? Do you think she thinks I’m worthless? I mean at this, being in the army and everything? She think’s I should have stayed home, doesn’t she? That I should have taken the dispensation?! She listened to Abigail and her bullshit," Tally was talking so fast that she had trouble keeping up with her own words let alone thoughts. "Well??" She added impatiently when Raelle continued to say nothing.

"What the actual hell are you talking about?" asked her sister demandingly.

"General Alder! She was speaking with Quartermaine in the yard?" Tally said as a matter of fact trying to stay calm when she realized that her sister didn’t have the slightest clue what her problem was.

"And?" 

"What do you mean and?" Tally asked impatiently, throwing both hands in the air flippantly. "She looked at me!"

Raelle watched her for a moment before taking a deep breath. "Tally, why are you so obsessed with Alder? Relax, she wasn't 'looking at you weird'! She probably wasn’t looking at you at all,"

"I'm not obsessed with her! I just don't want to look bad! I know she was looking at me, and in a strange way at that. Disappointed or something. Do you think she's disappointed in me?" Tally talked until she had to take a breath.

"Tally. Please listen to me! I'm sure she's not disappointed in you, okay? I don't understand why you're reading so much into how she 'looked' at you. You don't even know her, so why do you care?" Tally didn't want to hear it. What did Raelle know? 

"Because I want her to think of me in a good way! Abigail got us in trouble by running her mouth and I want to get out of it as soon as possible, okay? Let's be honest, I suck at literally everything I do around here! I can't even do a decent windstrike! I'm ridiculous, really ridiculous, and yeah, sorry I don't like the idea of Alder thinking of me that way!" God, Tally was feeling bad, but she needed to vent for a moment.

Raelle looked at her in bewilderment, probably not realizing how much this was stressing Tally out. "Girl, take it easy. I understand, but you can't start comparing yourself with Abigail's standards, okay? We're at the beginning of our training and it's okay that we're not perfect! Abigail has certainly been taught the work her whole damn life!"

"We? Raelle we are not comparable! You can at least do something, I can't do anything!"

"So what? Believe me, Tally, you'll find yourself and your abilities too, and I'm sure you'll be absolutely fucking insane once you do! Like I said, don't measure yourself with Bellweather, okay? And I'm sure Alder doesn't think badly of you. How could she? She doesn’t even know you. You’ve interacted like twice.Trust me, whatever it was you thought you saw, she probably wasn’t thinking about you, she doesn’t have the time for it. Besides, you’re like a stupid golden retriever or something, who could dislike you?" 

That made Tally laugh, and she immediately calmed down. "Fine! If you're really sure, I'll try to believe you. You wouldn't say that if you didn't mean it, would you?" asked Tally while taking Raelle's hand in hers.

"I would absolutely never do that!" she stated, and Tally felt a little foolish, but knew Raelle was just kidding. Probably.

"Well, I'll trust you on this one. Come on, let's go," Tally tugged her along the corridor. "Or we'll be late again!"

“And wouldn't that be a shame,” Raelle added and they both laughed.

"Okay, that was strange." heard Sarah in her head and she couldn't blame Christina for saying so because yes, it was. Sarah and her Biddies were now on their way back to the administration building after saying her goodbyes to Anacostia. 

"What do you mean?" asked Sarah because even though she knew what Christina meant, she wanted to hear it. Sarah valued all of their opinions highly, but no other was quite as perceptive and willing to express their thoughts as Christina.

"Well," the woman began to speak out loud after closing Sarah's office door behind her. "Craven seemed odd, don't you think?"

Sarah still wanted to hear more. "In what way?"

"Oh come on, Sarah, you don’t need me to say it. She was clearly nervous when she saw you."

"So? It happens. I am her superior, it is only natural. What Bellweather did, I am sure that's why she was nervous.  Maybe she thinks I agree." Sarah said nonchalantly, secretly hoping that this was not the reason. She didn't know why, but she wanted Craven's nervousness to be something else. Perhaps she didn’t want the Cadet to think that she agreed with Bellweather in any way. Yes, that’s it! She thought to herself, nodding along her own thoughts without realizing. 

“Uhm, General? I don’t think that’s it at all,” said Helena in an as a matter of fact voice

“I don’t think so either,” said Selina. “I think-”

“I don’t want to know what you think,” Sarah quipped, rolling her eyes in exasperation.

Selina snorted a laugh “Well,” she said, raising her eyebrows “We both know that you do so let’s just get to it, shall we?”

Sarah laughed a little before lowering into her chair “Very well, please,” she gestured a hand for her Biddie to start.”

“I think,” Selina began to speak, slowly sitting down on the chair opposite Sarah and watching her carefully. Sarah had the feeling of being x-rayed and she did not like it. “that Craven…,” she took a break from speaking, trying to think of the right words. “I think that Craven fancies you,” she continued and Sarah looked at her for a moment before bursting into laughter.

“That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard in a very long time, Selina. How on earth do you come up with such things?” Sarah asked and it took her a while to regain her composure. The Biddies just looked at her, amused.

“I agree,” said Holly in a matter of fact voice as if she had no doubt in her mind. “I don’t.”

“You don’t what?” asked Sarah in confusion.

“I don’t have any doubts,” Holly elaborated and Sarah rolled her eyes at the fact that she once again forgot that seven people are keeping her company at all freaking times.

“Hey! Dont be so rude!” Helena chimed in and Sarah couldn’t help but laugh at the little outburst.

“Alright,” Sarah said as she rose from her chair, walking across the room slowly while thinking about the subject. “Let’s assume, which is so far-fetched that I cannot begin to describe how ridiculous it is, that Craven fancies me. So? She wouldn’t be the first one, would she? And she won’t be the last either. And it doesn’t matter.” Sarah explained because it was true. She wasn’t stupid. There had always been Cadets that looked at her longer and harder than the average Cadet would. Some were all smiles and shy in her company, even if it had just been a few minutes while others made their point very clear in telling her how ‘good she looked’. She also heard the word mild or mils, she didn’t quite remember exactly, on a few occasions and she never found out what it meant, but it sounded very sexual in her ears. 

Sure, some of them were charming and good-looking, and there is no denying that Cadet Craven was a beautiful young woman, but she had never been interested in any of them. Nor was she now. She cared about Craven simply because she was part of her army. And obviously, even if she would be interested in any way shape or form, her position wouldn't allow it. But she obviously wasn't. Wouldn't be. So it was a waste of time even thinking about this sort of thing. Ridiculous, actually. “Anyways,” she said, looking up at them after realizing that her thoughts were spiraling around the subject. The biddies sat there, watching her intently. Did they hear her thoughts or was she able to shield them this time? “This isn’t the case with Craven. I am sure it has to do with the fact that Bellweather was complaining to me about her unit. You must admit that this would upset Craven quite a lot.”

“And Collar,” said Helena, smirking.

Sarah shot her a warning look. “I wasn’t finished. Yes, Craven and Collar.”

Selina cleared her throat to draw attention to herself. “I didn’t say she fancies you in a romantic way. What I meant, is that she looks up to you, she worships you as the leader of the United States Army. She respects you a great deal, Sarah.” The General nodded along. She wasn’t too sure if Selina was being entirely truthful about this, the expression on her face was difficult to read.

But what she said was right, of course. Sarah didn’t understand why her first thought was that she meant it in a romantic way, but it did not matter. She laughed to herself at how ridiculous the idea had been and ignored the confused looks on the girls' faces. “Well, it is refreshing, isn't it? Not many people do these days.”

“That’s not true, don’t say that.” Amanda said from where she was sitting on the chair by the window, eyeing Sarah skeptically. 

“Oh come on, we all know that most people hate my guts. Take Collar for example, I see the way she looks at me. She loathes me. But it’s not that I’m not used to it, I can deal with that.“ 

“Whatever they say, don’t listen to them. We love you, Sarah,” Danica said, her secret soft side scratching the surface today.

The General looked at her and asked “Danica, would you repeat that, please? I couldn't hear you,” she grinned at the woman. 

“I will not, you heard me!”

“A shame,” Sarah smiled “Thank you for saying that. Now get out of here, all of you,” She sent them off to bed, but not before saying “I love you, too.” through their shared link.

They were getting ready for training for the day.  Tally didn't mind that Abigail was still not speaking to them, except that every moment felt tense. She felt like she was walking on eggshells so much that when Abigail did speak finally Tally couldn't help but jump.

"You guys going to bother showing up today?" Abigail asked pointedly. 

"I'm always there." Tally instantly defended. 

Abigail didn't dignify her with even a glance. "Right, mhmm, but are you going to actually try while you're there because if not you might as well not be there."

"I always try. We aren't doing that badly on points. If we can manage to pull ourselves together somewhat, we might even earn a trip to the pageant festival.” Tally dared to speak optimistically, choosing to ignore Abigail's comments. 

"Don't get your hopes up." Abigail said before leaving the room.

Raelle sighed behind her. "She's right, you shouldn't get your hopes up." 

"I know we are capable, why am I the only one who believes it?" Tally turned to face her. 

"Because Abigail is actually right. We have no talent and there is no point to even trying. We're going to be war meat either way. Might as well make the decision easy for them." Raelle drawled solemnly.

Tally sat next to her. "Or... we could try and put in some effort to work together." 

"There's no point, Tally, just give it a rest." 

Tally stood abruptly. "No." Raelle just looked at her. "No. I did not come here to sit around and be told I'm not good enough. We're going and we're going to prove we are just as powerful as Abigail." Tally grabbed the blonde by the arm and yanked her off the bed. "Besides, wouldn't it be so much fun to see the look of shock on her face? Come on."

"Fine, fine, I'm moving, let me go. We can try but I still think it isn't going to work," Raelle conceded and followed Tally outside.

Glory snapped her laptop shut the second she entered their room. "Okay, what is it with you? What are you up to?" 

"Nothing," Glory stammered. 

"Mhmm so why do you stop what you're doing whenever I come into the room?" She gazed at the other girl expectantly. 

Glory sighed in defeat. "It's nothing, it's just a hobby to take my mind off of this place," 

"Which is?" She prompted her to continue. 

"Really not important. Just a small step beyond people watching I guess. I like to write, so I was just imagining what Tally and the General's thoughts were after they saw each other the other day," She could tell by the rambling that Glory was embarrassed about it. 

"Can I see?" she asked tentatively, knowing she was already lucky that Glory had shared that much with her. 

Glory's eyes widened. "Oh um well it's not- ," 

She just looked at her patiently.

"Fine-Sure," Glory shoved her computer toward her and immediately covered her face in her hands. 

She flipped open the screen. "Relax, I'm not going to judge you or anything. You know I'm just as bored here as you. I'll take any kind of entertainment I can get." 

Her eyes scanned over the screen down to the bottom corner. "Ten pages?! How?!" 

"It might be more than just their interaction the other day," Glory said but her voice was muffled through her hands.

“I can see that.” She chuckled as she scrolled through it all. “Did you hear Tally’s unit pulled themselves together enough to get themselves to the pageant. Kinda hard to believe.” 

Glory sighed. “Yeah, I heard. I wonder if the General gave them a personal congratulations?” 

“Judging by what you have here, you already imagined what it would look like if she had.” She gave Glory a pat on the back. “You have to send me this.” 

“No! I'm not done! And it has a ton of mistakes. No one else can know about this or see this. Ever. It’s just a hobby!” Glory panicked and tried to get her laptop back, but she turned away at the right second to evade her and stood with it, still skimming the paragraphs. 

“Oh it's way too late now. My interest is piqued and like I said, I am so bored. Please. You seem to have your characterizations down, but then again I don't know either of them well enough yet to judge. Please, Glory, I need this.” 

Glory gave in. “Fine. I'll share it with you, but seriously, don't send it to anyone or put it online or anything like that. Promise me!” 

“Okay, okay! I promise I won't. It will just be me reading it.” 

“Well, I guess this was worth it, maybe?” Raelle said behind Tally as they stepped off the bus at the festival grounds. There were a few tents with canvases of red and brown bordering a large field that Tally was certain was normally used for sports or other activities.

 On the gentle breeze she could hear sounds of faint live music emanating from a small wooden stage in the center of the field. Closer to her was a mix of children playing and a gentle rumble of people, civilians, and witches alike talking and generally enjoying themselves. It was a beautiful day for this, they were lucky it wasn’t raining, or maybe it wasn’t luck. The army was a sponsor of the event, it is possible keeping a clear sky was part of their contribution. Either way, Tally was excited to enjoy it. 

She spun around to look at Raelle. “Worth it? Of course it was worth it! Look at this! It’s sunny, we aren’t in training, we are off base, and civilians and witches are celebrating together! How can you not be excited about this?!” 

Tally’s smile widened when she saw Raelle concede with a small smile of her own and a slight bob of her head. “Maybe. You are right that it’s nice to get away from everything even for a few hours. Honestly, the look on Abigail’s face would have been reward enough. Priceless.” 

They strolled through the stalls for a short while until at some point they got separated by a rush of people trying to get to the main stage for one of the bands. It was nice to hear in the background, but she had no interest in sitting down to watch it, instead she focused on making sure she stopped by each of the tents to examine all of the souvenirs and trinkets there were. Not that she needed them, but it was all so interesting to look at. 

She was examining a set of three handmade bracelets, each with their own color and designs to be worn individually, but it was clear they all belonged to a set. If she had a unit she liked, perhaps it would have been something she would consider as small gifts. It was when she was just about to ask the attendant for a price that she received a tap on the shoulder. 

“Finally found you! The show you wanted to see is starting. Then we are getting food. I am starved!” Raelle said, a hint of joy in her voice that made Tally shake her head. Finally the girl was getting in the spirit. 

She thanked the attendant and placed the set back on the table. Turning back to look over the field, Raelle was looking impatient waiting for her. The shadows grew long on the ground as the sun sank in the still clear sky, and the soft breeze inherited a chill. 

The show was everything she could have asked for. Seeing the recreation of Alder and her sister and the signing of the Salem accords had her enthralled the whole time. Raelle had to shush her on a number of occasions because she was just too excited. And of course, there were a few tears for Alder’s sister, and every sister who had died during that time. At the end she was the sole individual on her feet clapping and Raelle had to force her back into her seat like a normal person.

Alder’s story, every time she heard it, made her admire her even more. 

“Okay, now that that is over, can we get food now?” 

“Aren’t you inspired? Impressed? How are you still thinking about food?” Tally was still in awe, though she knew the stories well. 

“Mhmm, yeah sure. It was kinda cheesy though. Speaking of cheese, how do we feel about pizza? I need food like now, Tally, or I might die.” 

Tally laughed wholeheartedly at that. “Come on then,” She took off in a light jog, still feeling energised by the performance, and she could hear Raelle’s boots on the ground not far behind her.