#Aldus Boardman

[avasharpe]

Sugar and Salt

Chapter: One of ?

Summary: Amaya is trying to run a business and raise her newly orphaned niece; she doesn't have time for a relationship no matter how much she cares for Zari.

Sara just wants the other kids to stop bullying her kid and can't figure out why Sin’s teacher, Ava is so difficult.

Zari’s trying to raise her little brother and give him the childhood she never had. All the while trying to hide her feelings for Amaya.

When unexpected circumstances force them all to admit their feelings in an attempt to form honest relationships, they find that it's not as easy as it seems.

Fandom: DC’s Legends of Tomorrow.

Relationship: Amaya Jiwe/Zari Tomaz and Sara Lance/Ava Sharpe

Characters: Amaya Jiwe, Zari Tomaz, Behrad Tomaz, Kuasa, Sara Lance, Kendra Saunders, Sin, Aldus Boardman, Ava Sharpe, Damien Darhk, Ray Palmer, Nate Heywood, Mona Wu.

Rating: Mature.

Additional Tags: Bakery and Coffee Shop, Teacher AU, School, Mutual Pining, Parent-Teacher AU, Kids, Baking, Non-binary character, Trans Character, Disabled Character, later chapters will have smut. Chapter one is smut free.

Read at AO3

Read at FFN

Special thanks to @canaryatlaw for Beta reading and editing this!

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Amaya watched as the chocolate dripped down the side of the cake. In the cool back room of her bakery, it soon hardened in perfect droplets down the side of the cake. She gently turned it around and around dripping the chocolate down the sides. The morning February sun filtered in through the back windows, leaving soft golden light on the black mats beneath her feet. Everything was quiet, save for the sound of the morning birds as they called out to greet the Sun. Having done all the baking the night before, all Amaya had to do this morning was turn it into a work of art.

Amaya loved working like this, coming in early in the morning and opening up, where she could be alone in her space. These days she didn’t get to do that very often as someone else took precedence over her work. She looked up and glanced over at Kuasa asleep on the couch in Sara and Zari’s shared office, the little girl was curled up like a cat. Amaya hated to drag her into work at such an early hour, as she was still getting used to the early morning hours her aunt kept. 

Amaya had officially adopted Kuasa three months ago, when Amaya’s sister and brother in law died in a car crash nine months ago. They were both still mourning the loss and not a day went by that Amaya didn’t think of Esi and Jafari. She wished she could be half the parent that Esi was, but it was so hard. Kuasa had so much anger at the loss she had suffered. Amaya was still trying to get her to trust the home she had built.

Amaya went back to work swirling the chocolate on top, and began to prep the other decorations. By the time she was done the sun had risen, and she looked at the clock as she placed the cake in a box with their purple logo stamped on top. Jiwe’s Bakery had started out with her baking goods for friends and family in her kitchen in high school. After culinary school and a generous investment from her parents, she opened her doors in the big city and things had only grown from there. Luckily she wasn’t alone in the endeavor, she had Sara, Kendra, Zari, and her family. They all believed in her and were so proud of the woman she had become. 

Although they were usually closed on Saturday, this Saturday was the student bake sale at the school. Deemed mandatory by the PTA. Despite the fact that she was mad that all of the money was all going to the school’s new sports field, and not being used for textbooks or school equipment. Amaya had to convince Kuasa that it would be a good learning experience. She could finally see what it was like for her aunt as she ran the bakery. Amaya had gone as far as to get a food handler permit for her niece. Kuasa had reluctantly prepared her poster and came up with a name for her “business.” 

After placing the cake box in the fridge, Amaya walked into the office. Amaya never felt the need to have one, the kitchen was her office. After dusting off her hands on the cloth she kept tucked in the waistband of her apron, she sat down on the couch next to Kuasa. She gently swept the little girl’s Havana twist braids away from her face. 

“Time to wake up little one,” Amaya said, keeping her voice as soft as the morning around her.

Kuasa finally stirred, throwing her hands over her eyes trying to block out the morning light. 

“It’s too early, Nana Ba.”

Amaya chuckled at the teasing nickname she had given her. “If I can get up at this hour despite being so old, then certainly someone as young as you can do so as well.”

Kuasa groaned, but sat up and rubbed her eyes. Amaya stood up and led the sleepy girl out into the kitchen. While Kuasa washed her hands, Amaya placed the dough on the table in front of her. She checked the oven and prepared the cookie sheet. Kuasa finally came over and yawned, not bothering to cover her mouth. 

“Why are we doing this?” Kuasa complained. 

“You know why. There are things we have to do and this is one of them. It’s a good thing to learn.”

“Why, I’m not going to take over your bakery. I’m not you.” 

“This isn’t about that, it’s to help you learn good money exchange skills and besides its mandatory for all fourth graders.”

Kuasa made a face and mumbled something about the PTA being stupid. Amaya let it slide as Kuasa voiced her frustrations, and the PTA had gradually slipped on to Amaya’s shit list.

Amaya broke off a small portion of the dough and rolled it into a ball. Kuasa then pressed her thumb into the middle of the ball, flattening it out and creating a tiny bowl. Kuasa then spooned out a bit of jam and filled the indentation she had made. 

They continued until they had used up all the dough and placed the last cookie sheet in the oven. Then they got to work packaging the cookies into individual bags and tying them closed. Between their industrial mixer and their usual recipe, they made twice as much as they needed, but Amaya figured they could always give away what they didn’t sell. 

As they were putting the cookie bags into boxes, Mrs. Solsa knocked on the door. Amaya again wiped her hands on the cloth at her waist and got the cake from the fridge. 

“Here you go Mrs. Solsa,” Amaya said, letting her in and presenting the cake for her inspection. 

“Oh thank you Miss Jiwe, I do so appreciate you doing this for me and on your day off too.” Mrs. Solsa said smiling down at the cake. “And it’s such a beautiful cake too.” 

“I was happy to do it,” Amaya said as she opened the door for Mrs. Solsa and waved to her as she walked out to her car.

Amaya locked the door behind her and looked up at the clock on the wall. It was half past eight, and they had to be there in time to set up before the sale opened at nine. 

“Kuasa, why don’t you start loading these in the car?” Amaya said as she came back into the kitchen and packed up the rest of the cookies into a box.

“Okay Nana Ba,” Kuasa said, picking up two of the boxes and walking out the back door to the gravel parking lot in the alleyway behind the store.

Amaya just shook her head at her and tied up the box with twine.

They had loaded half the boxes in the trunk of Amaya’s car when she saw Zari’s old black hatchback pull up. Zari parked next to Amaya’s car and hopped out, running up to Amaya in a panic. 

“I completely forgot about the bake sale! Please tell me you have some cookies or I’m screwed!” Zari exclaimed.

Amaya supposed she shouldn’t, but she laughed anyway and placed the box of cookies that she was carrying in Zari’s arms. As her business expanded, Amaya looked into having an actual website rather than just a Facebook page, that’s how she met Zari. The young computer programmer and social media influencer was a frequent customer and admirer of everything Amaya made. After her parents died, leaving her the responsibility of raising her young brother, Zari needed a real job. 

Zari brought them into the 21st century, with a new cashier setup that streamlined the financial side and website that allowed customers to make any custom orders. Zari also set up a growing social media platform that boosted business, catching the eye of people all around the world. She kept them up to date on the latest kitchen gadgets and technology. Four years later, Amaya couldn’t remember ever running the business without her.

“Does Behrad have a sign and everything else ready?” Amaya asked.

“Yes,” Zari said as she surveyed the cookies. “He’s good, he’s got a great sign and everything. I don’t know what I was thinking the last few days. I just completely forgot.”

Amaya puts her arm around Zari as they both walked to the back of her car with the rest of the cookies. Zari opened the trunk and set the box down. Amaya glanced at her, now worry free, Zari picked up one of the cookies and surveyed it. They had never sold thumbprint cookies, but Kuasa decided that’s what she wanted. Hence, it was a new recipe Amaya had created by tweaking the original one. 

Amaya could see the wheels turning in Zari’s head as she looked over the cookies to see if one would be missed. Zari unwrapped the packaging and shoved it into her mouth, letting out a sigh of happiness as she so often did whenever Amaya asked her to be her taste tester. 

“It’s so good,” Zari said, her mouth full of cookie crumbs.

A soft smile spread its way across Amaya’s face and her heart fluttered in her chest with a familiar feeling. 

“Zari!” Behrad shouted at her from the back seat, his soft brown hair disheveled as he and Zari were dressed in matching flannel shirts. “Those aren't for you. They’re for the bake sale.”

“I'm just trying one out,” Zari replied, opening her eyes and catching Amaya smiling at her.

Zari smiled back and licked her lips and it took a minute for Amaya to come back to herself.

“We should get going,” Amaya said, taking a step backwards towards her car.

“Right,” Zari said, closing her trunk door.

Amaya got into her car and clicked her seatbelt, glancing into the rearview mirror at Kuasa. A habit that she'd had since she first drove the girl home from the hospital with her sister and her husband in the back seat. 

“Why do you and Zari look at each other like that?” Kuasa asked, innocently enough.

“Like what?” Amaya said, knowing exactly what Kuasa was talking about as she turned the key in the car.

“I don't know? I guess it's just how you smile at her sometimes.”

Amaya looked back at her in the rearview mirror before she pulled the car into the alleyway. She was reluctant to admit the feelings that she had for Zari. Her life was complicated enough with Kuasa and the business. Amaya didn't want to lose her best friend, but she couldn’t help the way she looked at Zari and the want she had for her.

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They made it to school in good time, and they all shuffled into the gym with only mild looks from the other parents. Everyone was already there with their tables set up. It was rows and rows of the little plastic top tables, all neatly decorated and arranged with different treats.

“Hey, I’m glad you’re here,” Mona Wu, the school’s bus driver, and recess referee greeted them. “Sin and Sara, and Aldus and Kendra are waiting for you just over there.”

“Thank you Miss Wu,” Behrad said as they made their way over to the corner tables where they were sitting.

“Hey you guys,” Kendra said, with a bright smile as greeted them. 

“We reserved those two tables for you,” Aldus said, rolling up to them in his wheelchair.

“Thanks Aldus,” Zari said, setting her boxes of cookies on the table. 

“Yes, thank you,” Amaya said, doing the same with the table next to Zari.

When Amaya hired Kendra who was working as a barista and pastry chef. Kendra was fresh out of culinary school with little to no experience, but more passion than Amaya knew a person could have. She helped Amaya to double her custom orders and decorated their window display with the best pastries in town. 

Kendra was a newlywed when Amaya hired her and got pregnant soon after she started. When Aldus was born with spina bifida, her husband, Carter quit his job to be a stay at home dad and Kendra continued to work at the bakery.

Amaya spread out the fresh white tablecloth and Kuasa taped up her sign. She had grabbed a few of their nicer display racks that they used for weddings and other special occasions. They added class to the otherwise plain table and Amaya caught Kuasa’s look of pride as they organized the cookies. 

It didn't take long and Amaya sat down in one go the extra chairs, looking over at Sara. She had her eyes closed and head resting in her arms over the money box. Sin was busy playing a game on her Nintendo switch and looked equally tired.

Sara opened her eyes sensing Amaya’s gaze and gave her a small smile. 

“Hey sleepyhead,” Amaya said as Sara yawned and stretched. Hiring Sara was a no-brainer. Amaya loved baking, but was totally lost her first month in trying to keep up with the day to day sales, revenue, taxes, and balancing the budget. 

Sara had dropped out of college with a bachelor's and several classes in business under her belt after she had followed Oliver Queen to business school. Amaya just knew she was the one from the moment she walked into the kitchen and showed Amaya how to keep a record of sales and supplies so she’d never run out. Amaya hired her on the spot, and she’s never regretted her choice. Sara kept the business running so that Amaya could focus on what she loved.

Sara got pregnant shortly after Kendra did, and Amaya had no problem with Sara bringing Sin in with her. Although Sin wasn’t allowed in the kitchen, the office became a second nursery and was still a playroom for all the kids.

“I was up way too late last night. Sin decided that they wanted their design to be in the non-binary colors instead of just the purple and black they had originally picked out. So I had to run out and buy all new napkins and the ribbon for the bags,” Sara explained as she held up one of the cookie bags tied up with four colors of thin ribbon.

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“Well, it looks great.” Zari smiled. 

Zari looked over at Kendra’s table. The sign Aldus had designed was perfect, and he must have used Kendra’s letter cutting machine. The table was just as put together and was highly decorated with Kendra’s fine dining tablecloth, and good china.

Sara’s table looked just as put together. Although Sin had handwritten their poster, they had inspectable handwriting and had alternating colored letters in the non-binary flag of yellow, white, purple, and black. They had also decorated the table with matching colored napkins and plastic black tablecloth. 

Zari looked down at the empty white table that had been provided for them and figured that it would have to do. She looked over at Behrad and could tell he was disappointed as he taped up his poster. Zari kicked herself for not being on top of this. 

She had been Behrad’s legal guardian for four years now. Despite that, she still felt like she did during the first year when she was still trying to figure out how to be a parent.She looked over at Amaya as she spread a table cloth across Kuasa’s table. Like Zari, she had found herself as Kuasa’s legal guardian a year ago, but she was already doing a better job than Zari ever had.

Behrad was busy arranging the cookies. She picked up a few and tried to put it in place next to the line he had created.

“I got it,” Behrad insisted as he pushed her away.

“Okay,” Zari said, sitting back and looking over at Sara.

Sara smiled back before yawning again. “Are we starting yet?” 

“Not yet honey,” Kendra said, giving her smile. “But you’ll want to stay up. I see Mrs. Tabitha headed this way.”

They all looked over to see the witch of an old woman strolling from table to table, making pleasant talk with the other parents and kids. Although she was merely the principal’s secretary, she ran the school like she was in charge. They all groaned, with disdain painted across their faces. Zari crossed her arms but put on a smile as she approached, with Sara, Kendra, and Amaya following her lead. Tabitha had a particular hatred of them, making all these functions impossible. 

“Well hello Dearies,” Tabitha said with pseudo cheerfulness as she looked around their tables. “Now what do we have here?”

She reached to pick up one of Kuasa’s cookies, turning the bag over in her hand. 

“They’re thumbprint cookies fresh out of the oven this morning,” Kuasa happily announced, her shoulders straight and head held high in pride.

“Oh?” Tabitha tisked. “These look awfully familiar.”

Tabitha reached into her pocket and pulled out another cookie. Zari recognized it as one of their Jammie Dodgers catching the purple Jiwe Bakery logo. Tabitha held the two cookies side by side. 

“Miss Jiwe, I am surprised at the lack of effort on your part, taking pre-made cookies from your store. I thought you, a baker of all people would I’ve had the best cookies here today.”

Zari’s mouth fell open in shock. Was the woman blind? The thumbprint cookies and the Jammie Dodgers weren’t even remotely the same.

“We made them ourselves this morning at the bakery that’s my fingerprint,” Kuasa said, pointing to the jam in her cookie.

“Miss Tabitha,” Amaya said trying to explain herself. “We did bake these cookies at the bakery this morning, but we did so by ourselves. They are homemade, as the requirements stated.”

“Yes, but you and your niece admitted that you made them at the bakery this morning. Who is to say you didn’t simply grab some cookies that were intended for sale at your business and try to pass them off as homemade? I’m afraid such action must disqualify you and Kuasa and from selling these cookies today.”

“But that’s not fair,” Kuasa shouted. “We made these!”

“Miss Tabitha we did make these at the bakery and I promise you we had our own recipe. It seems unfair to disqualify us, just because you believe we’re being untruthful.”

“How dare you call me a liar? My decision is final. Pack up your things and please leave at once. You too, Miss Tomaz,” Tabitha said, picking up one of Behrad’s cookies and shaking her head. “Don’t think I didn’t notice how unprepared you are today, and stealing your friend's cookies. What a bad example you two have set for the children that have been entrusted into your care. I’d hate to see such behavior continue.”

Zari couldn’t believe what Tabitha had just said, bluntly threatening them like that. She was ready to open her mouth and call out Tabitha for being the entitled bitch that she was, but Zari held her tongue. She knew that it would only make things worse. Zari looked over at Behrad, he hung his head and stared at the ground in defeat. 

Kuasa let out an enraged shout and stomped. Amaya looked over at Zari, she could see her feeling of failure mirrored on Amaya’s face.

Zari thought that would be the end of Tabitha’s rant, but she turned towards Sara and Kendra with accusatory eyes. She turned her attention towards Aldus and Sin’s tables, quickly picking up one of each of their cookies and inspecting them.

“You have to pay for that, you know,” Sara said, crossing her arms over her chest.

Tabitha tutted, but continued her inspection. “I suppose these will have to do.”

Zari looked down. She felt like she had brought Tabitha’s wrath upon all of her friends as she was the one who pissed her off several years ago. She looked over at Behrad who was sitting quietly in the chairs, just staring blankly at the floor.

“This isn’t fair!” Kuasa shouted stomping her feet and getting Tabitha’s attention. 

“Kuasa’s right, none of these rules were ever presented to us, and you can't just change them the day of,” Amaya said placing a hand on Kuasa’s shoulder, backing them up.

“You're just being mean because you don't like us,” Kuasa announced, her words catching the attention of everyone in the area. 

“What's going on here?” Mona asked as she and Ms. Ava Sharpe, Sin and Behrad’s teacher, approached them.

“Tabitha has disqualified us all for absurd reasons,” Zari said. 

“They're not absurd,” Tabitha screeched. “They were all in clear violation of the rules.”

“They’re stupid rules!” Kuasa said.

“It's because Amaya and I bought the cookies she made at the bakery, but she didn’t use one of our recipes,” Zari explained to them.

“I don’t see why that’s a problem? They used the resources available to them,” Mona asked with a confused look on her face.

“I agree, that should disqualify them,” Ms. Sharpe said, crossing her arms as well. 

“Well,” Tabitha said, clearly enraged that Mona and Ms. Sharpe weren't taking her side. But then she smiled in a way that made Zari uneasy. “Why don't we let principal Darhk decide.”

Zari sighed and even Kuasa deflated, as they all knew Darhk would take Tabitha's side, and his word would be final.

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“Well, I must say I agree with Miss Tabitha on this. The rules were clearly stated beforehand and you have indeed broken them,” Principal Darhk said, as he sat across from them at his desk in his office.

Tabitha stood next to him with a triumphant smile. Zari and Amaya stood in front of his desk, as their children waited outside.

“But the rules were only changed yesterday!” Zari protested.

“On the contrary, they were actually changed more than a week ago. There was an email if I recall. If you want to see the date it’s printed right here,” Darhk said holding up the piece of paper for them, his finger on a date. He wore that easy smile he always had that put Zari on edge.

“All right, we’ll go,” Amaya said, turning towards the door in defeat.

“Hold on Dearie,” Tabatha said with a cunning smile. “The bake sale was a mandatory volunteer day for all parents. Since the two of you have been banned from participating, you will have to make up that volunteer work somewhere else.”

“Fine,” Zari said wearily, hoping that this simply meant volunteering in class, but knowing that was unlikely.

“Yes, and that reminds me we need some people to help set up for the spring concert. I’m sure our music teacher, Mrs. Heywood, would appreciate some help with the decorations.” Darhk said, folding his hands together. “So I will see the two of you here, this Monday at 9 a.m. You should only have to work until 3pm or so if you work diligently and it should only take a week.”

“What?” They both cried out.

“But we have a business to run?” Amaya said. 

There was no way Kendra and Sara could do everything on their own. Even if they did the morning baking, there was no way they could work at full capacity and make all of the week's orders. It took both her and Kendra, and Sara was not used to doing more than helping out. 

“Well, you should have thought about that before you broke the rules of the bake sale,” Tabitha snared.

“Surely we can work out a schedule where each of us can volunteer at different times,” Zari said.

“I’m afraid not,” Darhk said. “There is a lot of work to be done and we absolutely need all hands on deck.”

“You can’t do this! You can’t mandate us to volunteer during the workweek,” Amaya said, taking a defiance stance.

“Oh, but we can, all right here in the contract that you signed, and you signed up for the PTA at the beginning of the year. It is a public school after all, and we don’t have the resources of private education,” Darhk said, as he pulled the contract out of his desk, holding it over to them. 

Amaya took the paper rather forcefully from his hand, looking it over and flipping through the pages before finally finding the section on the bake sale.

“All parents must volunteer in the bake sale held in February. The rules of which will be sent out in an email unless parents are present at the PTA meeting during which they will be handed out to them. Failure to partake will result in additional volunteer hours administered by the administration at their discretion,” Amaya read aloud. “Yeah, it doesn’t say anything about you forcing us all to volunteer at the same time during the workweek.”

“Yes, but the workweek is the only time that the school is open. I wouldn’t want my teachers having to give up their weekend, simply because two parents failed their duties at the school, and it does specify the likes of which in index A.”

“What index A,” Amaya exclaimed, waving the paper about. “I don’t remember seeing an index A and I read this thing from front to back at the beginning of the school year.”

Darhk merely turned around and opened one of his cabinets, pulling out another section of papers, handing them over to Amaya. “I believe it’s page 4, before subsection C.”

Amaya grabbed it out of his hand and went to the page and read aloud again. “Mandatory parent volunteer work must not exceed but is not limited to 40 consecutive hours, administered at the administration’s discretion.” 

That’s illegal, you can’t force us to provide unpaid labor for a whole week!” Zari shouted.

“It’s not unpaid labor. It’s volunteer work. Work that you all agreed to do when you signed the contract joining the PTA. I thought you of all people Mis. Jiwe would have read the contract in its entirety. You are a businesswoman.”

If looks could kill their combination of hated glares would have set Darhk and Tabitha six feet under. Zari was appalled at the things this administration was pulling out of their ass just to punish them.

Amaya clenched her hands, no doubt wishing that they would be around Damien’s neck. Zari had similar thoughts of anger, but she would never risk anything that would jeopardize Behrad’s place at the school. It was the best public school in the district, and she wouldn’t risk Behrad’s education over petty revenge. She would, however, have a long prayer for Allah later today. 

Amaya turned around and opened the door, leaving. Zari gave them one dirty look before following her out.

The kids were sitting in the chairs just outside the office waiting for them. with Sara, Sin, Kendra, and Aldus, waiting with them. They all looked up with hopeful gazes as they left office, only to see their defeat and anger as they walked out.

“Time to go home,” Amaya announced.

Zari walked over to Behrad and put her arm around his shoulder as he got up, but he quickly shrugged her off. She watched as he ran ahead to stand next to Aldus, holding his hand as he left the school. He has been doing that a lot lately. After their parents died he had sought out her comfort almost hourly, but recently his behavior had changed as he rebuffed her.

They all walked out to the parking lot in silence, carrying their boxes. The bake sale was in full swing as people walked in and out of the gym. Sara and Kendra had walked out in support of them and Tabatha screamed that they would be forced to volunteer as well.

“Does anyone want to go out for brunch? Amaya asked in a clear attempt to cheer them all up.

“Not today,” Kendra said as they approached her van and she opened the door with her remote to let the ramp out.

“Yeah, it's a no from us too,” Sara said. “I think I'm just going to go home and sleep, and then maybe hit the skatepark later.”

“We’ll go with you,” Zari said.

“We will?” Behard asked, catching her words.

“Yeah,” Zari shrugged, it's not like they had anything better to do.

Amaya smiled at her and Zari’s heart did a flip flop. It seemed that Amaya had that smile just for her. It made Zari wonder if she had feelings for her as well, or if it was just a misguided attempt to read between the lines. Her greatest fear was that Amaya didn't like her back or that she would be put off by Zari's advances. Zari loved their relationship as friends too much to try and ruin them, and the thought of losing Amaya was unbearable.

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Twenty minutes later they’re both downtown and seated at a booth in one of the nicer places in town. It was a modern dinner that was cheaper than the chain franchises and twice as good. But, the coffee was not as good as the coffee Kendra makes, of course. The waitress came by to take their order and Zari ordered a whole large breakfast plate as usual. Amaya smiled at her appetite and ordered an extra round of hash browns in addition to her order that would come out before the main dishes. 

“Can we go play?” Behrad asked, looking towards the kid's table that was set up with board games and other toys. 

Amaya was reluctant to let them go as it meant letting Kuasa out of her sight.

“Yeah, go on,” Zari said, getting up so Behrad could get out of the booth.

“Thanks,” he said as Kuasa also got up and ran to the table.

Amaya watched them go, her eyes trailing after Kuasa as she and Behrad picked out a board game and started to set it up.

“Relax, they’ll be fine,” Zari said, with a gentle voice, leaning over and grabbing hold of Amaya’s hand.

Amaya looked down at Zari’s hand in hers. She tried not to let Zari see the blush on her cheek and the way her heart fluttered in her chest.

“I know,” Amaya said, looking back over at Kuasa. “But I just can’t get over the feeling that I could lose her.”

“Yeah, I felt like that too for the first year after our parents died,” Zari said, looking over to the kids as well.

“Will it get any easier?” Amaya asked, looking back at Zari. “I just feel like Kuasa is so mad all the time, at me, at the world, at everything. I’ve been trying all the anger management stuff the parenting books suggest, but nothing works.”

“I don’t know. I hope so. I just keep watching as Behard further isolates himself in his room. I brought up maybe going to see the therapist again, but it just ended with both of us yelling at each other,” Zari said, shaking her head and looking away. “He doesn’t look at me like a parent, he just sees me as his annoying big sister.”

“I used to be the cool aunt who would let her eat frosting and play at the park all day,” Amaya said with a sad smile. “Now I have to make sure she eats her vegetables and does her homework. It’s a rough transition, I get it.”

Zari looked back at her and Amaya squeezed her hand. It felt nice to be able to have someone who was going through what she was. Kendra and Sara were a great help too, but they gave birth to their kids and that parenting role was theirs from day one. They weren’t thrust into parenthood with a child that wasn’t used to seeing them in a caregiver position, like Amaya was.

“Maybe you should go see them first Zari. If Behrad sees you going, then maybe he’ll go as well.” 

“I don’t know,” Zari admitted, hesitant to talk with a stranger, even a professional. “It’s not like I can just get a babysitter or take off work.”

“Why not,” Amaya shrugged. “I’d be happy to cover for you at the bakery or babysit if you needed me to, and I’m sure Kendra and Sara would say the same thing.”

“Thanks, I’ll think about it. For now, I might as well just get around to finishing that book Eshal gave me at the mosque about raising Muslim boys.”

“That sounds like a good place to start.”

“Yeah, I don’t know. I guess reading it made me feel like I wasn’t good enough.”

“That’s not true, you are good enough,” Amaya said, reaching over and squeezing Zari’s hand. “Just think of it like this. Parenting is something you’ve never done before and you’re just learning how to do it. I know it’s hard and if you want, I have a few books I’ve used and maybe we can share.”

“That’d be great, thanks,” Zari said, giving her a small smile.

Amaya smiled back, and it’s so soft and full of love that it made Zari feel like her smile grew to match. Her heart swelled in her chest as Amaya gave Zari her love. Zari looked over at her. Everything about Amaya was soft, her demeanor, her voice, her eyes, her touch, her smile, her everything. 

Zari felt like she was always too rough around the edges. She felt that if someone got too close, they would scratch themselves. Amaya never cared about her rough shape, she took Zari’s bluntness and sarcasm and she smiled at her because of it. In return, Zari tried to be more honest and not hide the tender parts of herself from Amaya.

“Enough about the kids,” Zari said, looking down hoping to hide her pink cheeks. “Tell me about any new baking ideas you have.” 

This was her favorite question to ask Amaya because her face lit up, and Zari could see the excitement build up as Amaya sat up straighter. 

“Well, I’ve been thinking about doing this new treat of the month sort of thing. For example, in October, I was considering doing little mini pumpkin pie cakes. They wouldn’t quite be a pumpkin pie, I’m thinking I’d make it more thick and fluffy like a cake and more on the sweeter side. I haven’t quite gotten down a recipe I prefer, but I’ve been experimenting in my free time and I think I found something that would work well, but there was this one…”

Zari smiled as she watched Amaya go on and on about her idea. Her happy enthusiasm was so enjoyable, and she lit up like the sun. Zari loved watching her passion come through in everything that Amaya did. She scribbled down her brainstormed ideas for recipes on little post-it notes and enthusiastically told their customers about the masterpieces she was going to make. One that will make their special day one they would never forget.

When the waitress came over and dropped off the plate of hash browns, Amaya paused to say thank you to her before going back to describing her idea. The flowered lemon tart that Amaya wanted to make for April would have made Zari’s mouth water. If she wasn’t already stuffing it with hash browns. The next few minutes flew by, and soon the waitress was returning with their meals, placing the plates down in front of them.

Kuasa and Behrad returned, arguing over who won their game of checkers that never truly ended. They all laughed and talked and for an hour and Zari forgot about the disaster of the bake sale and about her failed parenting. After they finished eating, Zari suggested that they all go to the park. 

The kids took off the moment they got there, heading straight for the playground. Zari and Amaya spent the first half hour playing with them and chasing them around the play center. The early gray morning and light misting rain meant that there were only a few other adults and kids in the park. So Zari and Amaya weren’t too concerned when Kuasa and Behrad ran off to play hide and seek in the trees with a few of the other kids. 

Zari all but collapsed onto the park bench, sighing and slipping off her coat that had suddenly become too hot. Amaya’s laugh is clear and rich as she sat down next to her.

“See I don’t need a workout. I can just pretend to be the Lava Monster and I’ll have a six pack by the end of the week.”

Amaya grabbed her hand and laughed again, throwing her head back and letting herself laugh, loud and full. Zari smiled as her heart felt like someone had wrapped it in a warm electric blanket. Once Amaya’s laughter died down, she just stared at Zari in delight, a subtle smirk on her lips.

“What?” Zari asked. 

“Nothing.” Amaya looked down and Zari could see her cheeks flush and not because of the cold or their bout of energy. 

Zari wasn’t a fool. She knew Amaya liked her, but something was holding her back from pursuing her. Zari’s not exactly sure what it was, but she had her suspicions. Between the laughter, the smiling, the blushing, the touching. Zari was tired of trying to hide her feelings from Amaya and grasped her hand. 

Amaya turned to look at her with an open mouth, and Zari leaned in slowly enough that Amaya could catch on to what she was doing and pull away if she wanted to. Instead, Amaya tilted her head, closed her eyes, and presented her lips to Zari’s. Zari closed her eyes as well and let their lips touch. In an instant, sparks went through them. Zari pressed herself against Amaya and they truly kissed, with lips and tongue and passion. Amaya moaned into the kiss and Zari took it as a sign to keep going. She let her tongue slip in and explore Amaya’s mouth. 

When they took a break for air, Zari opened her eyes first. She looked at Amaya, who still had her eyes closed and was standing there with a blissful smile. Amaya blinked and continued to smile at Zari in a way that made her let out a sigh of content, as all of her pent up feelings became a reality.

But Amaya’s face fell. She detangled herself from Zari and scooted an inch away. A distance that was more common among friends or acquaintances. Amaya dropped Zari’s hand and her heart. 

“I’m sorry, I can’t,” Amaya explained. “Things with Kuasa are too complicated. I can’t be in a relationship right now when I’m still figuring out how to be a parent to her.”

“No, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have pushed you,” Zari said, trying to busy her hands in her jacket pockets.

“Hey,” Amaya said in a softer tone, reaching out and squeezing Zari’s knee. “I... I liked kissing you and maybe once things settle down between Kuasa and I, we give this, you and me, a go.”

“I’d like that,” Zari whispered.

Amaya smiled at her and Zari felt that familiar longing coiled inside her. She could live with it, be patient and wait for Amaya. She would wait for an eternity.

................................................................................

“Eww,” Behrad said, shaking his head and sticking his tongue, as he watched Zari and Amaya kissing. “Ugh, why do grown ups always have to do that? I'm never going to kiss anybody.”

“It’s not that bad,” Kuasa said, but wrinkled her nose anyway. 

“Yeah, well what if they get married? I don’t want to be your brother. I already have one sister, I don’t need another.”

“We’re not going to be siblings!” Kuasa exclaimed, then made up her mind. She marched towards Zari and Amaya where they were sitting apart and talking. 

“Hey Kuasa,” Amaya greeted her. 

“Can we go home? Now!” 

“Honey, what happened?” Amaya asked getting up and putting her hands on Kuasa’s shoulders. 

“I’m bored and cold.”

Kuasa watched as Amaya sighed, but took off her own hat and pulled it over Kuasa’s ears. “Alright, we can go home.”

“Yeah, we should probably get going too,” Zari said standing up from the bench.

Kuasa looked back at Behrad and Zari who both had similar looks of disappointment on their faces, but she couldn’t understand why. Once she and Amaya were settled in the car, Amaya turned around to look at her before backing out of the parking lot. “Kuasa, did anything happen that made you want to leave the park? If something did, I want to know so I can fix it, honey.”

Kuasa looked over at Zari and Behrad as they climbed into their car as well. Right now it was just her and Amaya and that’s all she wanted it to be. “No, I’m just cold.”

“Okay,” Amaya said, looking over her shoulder as she pulled out of the parking space. 

Kuasa watched as Zari gave Amaya a sad wave one Amaya quietly returned. Kuasa tightened her seat belt as the turned onto the road. She couldn't lose Amaya, she just couldn't.

[lovevalley45]

the scene with kendra n carter meeting aldus boardman and learning he was their son in a past life with the knowledge of them naming their daughter alda after him... hits different

[ao3feed-captaincanary]

the time heist

by sugarkane42

Vandal Savage is set to take over the world in 2166, and Rip Hunter's team of nobodies from 2016 are the only people between him and total world domination. Take a little time travel, a little polyamory, and plenty of panicking, and they just might save the world, becoming the Legends of Tomorrow.

This is a one-shot of a future series I am writing.

Words: 13371, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: Multi

Characters: Leonard Snart, Mick Rory, Sara Lance, Kendra Saunders, Ray Palmer, Carter Hall, Rip Hunter, Aldus Boardman, Chronos (DC's Legends of Tomorrow), Time Masters (DC's Legends of Tomorrow)

Relationships: Mick Rory/Leonard Snart, Sara Lance/Leonard Snart, Sara Lance/Kendra Saunders, Ray Palmer/Kendra Saunders, Ray Palmer/Mick Rory, Jefferson "Jax" Jackson & Martin Stein, Clarissa Stein/Martin Stein

Additional Tags: Rewrite, Polyamory, cw is a coward, Fix-It of Sorts, Rip Hunter Being an Asshole

from AO3 works tagged 'Sara Lance/Leonard Snart' https://ift.tt/A2uPKVt via IFTTT

[baristabirdgoddess]

🎄 Carter

WHO: Kendra Saunders and Carter Hall @thelegendaryhawkmanWHAT: Mistletoe Ask Meme - Went a little crazy with this one and wrote a few different kisses over their past lives and one current 😉

Victorian Era - Lizzy Saunders

“Lizzy, you know if you don’t kiss anyone under this mistletoe this year, you’ll end up alone and die an old maid.” One of Lizzy’s friends whispered in her ear at the Christmas dance. The whole town had gathered in their holiday finest and most had paired off and started dancing. Not Lizzy, she found the entire event boring and would much rather get back to writing her books. It wasn’t really the done thing for a woman of her standing to do as they would never be published or taken seriously, but Lizzy had an idea in her mind of a fantasy era where there was a priestess and a prince in a forbidden love story.

Lizzy just rolled her eyes in exasperation in reaction to her friend’s comment. “I hardly think a kiss under the mistletoe is going to dictate how I am going to be spending the rest of my life. I’m going for a walk.”

Her friend gasped, probably in horror that she would go off on her own without an escort, but Lizzy paid it no mind, leaving the hall of dancers to explore the rest of the estate. Her wanderings lead her to a large library and she stared at the shelves in wonder, fingers tracing along the spines of the books as she moved further into the room.

“You are not supposed to be in here.”

Lizzy whirled around at the voice, her eyes landing on Mr. Carter, the owner of the estate in which the gathering was held. She had only met him a handful of times, each time he was polite and had an air of familiarity about him. Had she really thought about, Lizzy might have accepted that she had a little bit of an infatuation with Mr. Carter. But she refused to believe she would ever want to be tied to any man - infatuation or no.

“Apologies, I thought the whole house was open.” Lizzy made a move to leave. As she went to exit the room, his hand brushed hers, capturing it in a gentle grasp. She could have pulled away, but instead she turned her eyes up toward him, the pair captured in a moment. Mr. Carter leaned in and Lizzy closed her eyes as he drew close, a soft sigh escaping her as a gentle kiss was placed on her cheek. Opening her eyes again, Lizzy looked at Mr. Carter in confusion before he smiled one of the most gorgeous smiles she had ever seen and pointed up. Looking up, Lizzy let out a little laugh. There, nestled above the library doorway was a single sprig of mistletoe.

‘Well, so much for becoming an old lonely maid.’ Lizzy thought, smiling to herself as she slipped away from Mr. Carter and made her way back to the gathering.

---

1924 - Edith Boardman

“... and then we danced all through the night.” Edith finished the story she was telling Aldus as she tucked him in bed for the night. The nine year old was tremendously curious about Edith and Joe’s past lives, often asking for stories about things that had happened.

With Christmas approaching, Aldus wanted to know more and more about past Christmases her and Joe had spent together. Edith was happy to comply, remembering a few that brought about some good feelings with them. Of course, she couldn’t share everything in their past lives but this was one thing she didn’t mind sharing.

Suddenly, the sound of the door unlocking had Edith look at her son with a little guilty look. “Uh no, I promised your father I wouldn’t keep you up late telling stories again,” she whispered, mirth in her eyes. Edith leaned forward and placed a kiss on Aldus’ forehead just as Joe’s silhouette stood in the doorway.

“Telling stories without me? I hope you’re not tell him lies.” Joe was more amused than angry, but he kept up the pretense that he was mad that Edith had kept Aldus up telling him stories. In all honesty, Joe couldn’t deny he would let Aldus stay up all night and answer all the questions the curious young boy had. But Aldus was only nine and therefore had to have a bed time.

“Only telling him how terrible you are at dancing,” Edith moved over to her husband after wishing her son a good night. Joe chuckled low and then offered Edith a small sprig of mistletoe, which had Edith smiling and shaking her head with a chuckle of her own. Lost in each other for a few moments, the pair didn’t see the little grin that graced their son’s face as they kissed, so happy that his parents were so in love.

---

2019 (Present Day) - Kendra Saunders

Kendra walked back to the jump ship, hand in hand with Carter. The date couldn’t have been any better and the restaurant he had taken her too was absolutely divine. They didn’t go dancing but that was fine, save something for the next date. Honestly, though, Kendra had never felt so relaxed and herself on a date in years - especially a first date. Then again, it technically wasn’t their first date but Kendra wasn’t counting their past lives.

Suddenly, Kendra felt Carter stop, her momentum forward anchored by her hand still linked with his. Turning to him with a curious gaze, Kendra moved closer, the warmth radiating from him inviting against the chill of the night. “What’s wrong?” her voice filled with concern as her eyes turned upward, trying to follow his line of vision as he looked up at the branches above them.

“Don’t you see it?” There was amusement in his voice, like he was playing a game with her, testing her abilities again.

Kendra frowned, unable to see what had caught his attention. A gentle hand on her chin tilted her head slightly left and then she saw it, a little grin erupting on her face. “You know if you don’t get a kiss under the mistletoe, you’ll end up a lonely old maid in a house full of cats.” She teased, grin never fading as they looked at each other once more.

“That's a lie and you know it.” Carter smiled back, leaning his head close to hers, foreheads nearly touching.

“You want to take that chance?” Kendra continued to torment him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and tilting her head but still not quite meeting him halfway just yet. Carter chuckled and then closed the gap between them. Kendra kissed back, her heart rejoicing at being with it’s soulmate once more.

[ao3feed-coldatom]

Riley Palmer

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2qfIcTa

by giuly666

AU. Legends of Tomorrow with a big twist.

Words: 507, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Series: Part 1 of Riley Palmer-Snart

Fandoms: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con

Categories: F/M

Characters: Ray Palmer, Leonard Snart, Mick Rory, Sara Lance, Martin Stein, Kendra Saunders, Carter Hall, Rip Hunter, Jefferson "Jax" Jackson, Vandal Savage, Aldus Boardman, Oliver Queen, Laurel Lance, Sidney palmer, Logan Palmer, others - Character

Relationships: Ray Palmer/Leonard Snart, Sara Lance/Mick Rory, Carter Hall/Kendra Saunders, Sara Lance & Mick Rory & Leonard Snart, Ray Palmer & Sara Lance, Ray Palmer & Martin Stein, Ray Palmer & Kendra Saunders, Jefferson "Jax" Jackson & Sara Lance, Jefferson "Jax" Jackson & Ray Palmer, Rip Hunter & Ray Palmer, Rip Hunter & Martin Stein, Rip Hunter & Legends of Tomorrow Team

Additional Tags: Mr. Palmer's name is Logan, Logan was experimented on as a child, He then impregnated his wife and experimented on both her and the twins she was expecting, They feed on both human and animal meat, Logan trained them to be the perfect little soldiers, But they grew tired of his abuse and killed him, They pretended to be normal after that, Riley and Sidney are like ghouls, only better, Riley created the Palmer Tech to ensure her little brother a future, When she met Sara in school the two became best friends, Riley then became the A.T.O.M. to help protect her brother, The Palmer twins are actually Dragons, But they only found out later on, When they became 20 years old, sara knows, Oliver knows, Rip knows, He fell in love with her since she first became famous, He fell even more in love with her when he saw her in person, Sidney and Riley are immortal, Leonard admires her love for her brother, Other Additional Tags to Be Added

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2qfIcTa

[ao3feed-dctvfemslash]

Sugar and Salt

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2wmvASt

by yellow_canary

Amaya is trying to run a business and raise her newly orphaned niece; she doesn't have time for a relationship no matter how much she cares for Zari.

Sara just wants the other kids to stop bullying her kid and can't figure out why Sin’s teacher Ava is so difficult.

Zari’s trying to raise her little brother and give him the childhood she never had. All the while trying to hide her feelings for Amaya.

When unexpected circumstances force them all to admit their feelings in an attempt to form honest relationships, they find that it's not as easy as it seems.

Words: 6872, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/F

Characters: Amaya Jiwe, Zari Tomaz, Sara Lance, Kendra Saunders, Behrad Tomaz, Sin (Arrow), Kuasa (DCU), Aldus Boardman, Ava Sharpe, Damien Darhk, Mona Wu, Nate Heywood, Ray Palmer, Mick Rory, Gideon (DC's Legends of Tomorrow)

Relationships: Amaya Jiwe/Zari Tomaz, Sara Lance/Ava Sharpe

Additional Tags: Bakery and Coffee Shop, Teacher AU, School, Mutual Pining, Parent Teacher AU, parenting, Kids, Baking, Non-binary character, Trans Character, later chapters will have smut, Disabled Character

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2wmvASt

[its-the-writing-wolf]

the official timeline for my Hawkgirl is Captain Colds mom fic

1925: Edith Boardman Dies

1940: Lydia is born

1958: Lydia comes to america

1961: Lydia lives in central city

1972: Leonard Snart is born

1975: Aldus Boardman dies

1982: Lisa is born

1985: Lydia dies

1986: Kendra is born

why Lydia you might wonder? because it is my favorite girls name that begins with L.

I gotta write this down because my dumbass will forget what shit happens when.

also itty bitty spoiler for the fic about Lydia Snart and her journey.

[ao3feed-coldwave]

K9

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2mEHtc5

by Hiver_Frost_Elf

There’s no one who can summarize this chaos.

Psst. What about a flute-bustin’ Prussian?

Old Fritz! Old Fritz! Old Fritz! Old Fritz! Old Fritz! Old Fritz! Old Fritz! Old Fritz!

I'm Frederick the Great! HFE borrowed me from ERB to give you the scoop on Fauna Saga 3! It’s got creative talent and battle malice! Don’t miss Time Pirates in Agrabah Palace! Hunter's fucked up, but no wonder why! His order’s content to let his family die! All of his recruits are super fly. They’ll kick Vandal’s ass and make ‘im cry! Now, bring me my chair! I’m weary, so I’ll rest my hot derrière on this fluffy red square. Read on if you like what you hear so far. I will myself once I out-rap a tsar!

Words: 33746, Chapters: 14/14, Language: English

Series: Part 3 of Fauna Saga

Fandoms: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)

Rating: Not Rated

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: Multi

Characters: Rip Hunter, Mick Rory, Hermey Ellen, Laurel Lance, Sara Lance, Leonard Snart, Carter Hall, Kendra Saunders, Aldus Boardman, Dustin Otis, Ronnie Raymond, Martin Stein, Vandal Savage, Randolf Morgan, Caitlin Snow, Arthur Pendragon, Guinevere, Gideon (The Flash), Jasmine (Disney)

Relationships: Mick Rory/Leonard Snart, Carter Hall/Kendra Saunders, Laurel Lance & Sara Lance, Hermey Ellen & Mick Rory, Ronnie Raymond & Martin Stein, Miranda Coburn/Rip Hunter, Jonas Hunter & Rip Hunter, Miranda Coburn & Jonas Hunter, Hermey Ellen & Dustin Otis, Jonas Hunter & Dustin Otis

Additional Tags: Not Canon Compliant, Alternate Universe, POV Mick Rory, POV Rip Hunter, POV Hermey Ellen, Mick & Sara drunk off their asses, Mick's blood alcohol level is slightly more important cuz he narrates, Time Travel, probably either teen or mature, POV Alternating, Singing, Music, Shapeshifting, Siblings, Friendship, Team as Family, Whoathon, Snacks & Snack Food, Food, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Canonical Child Abuse, Alcohol, Underage Drinking, sort of, It Makes Sense In Context, it's not underage in the time period they're in, the character in question takes one sip and hates it so is it really a sin?, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Torture, Self Confidence Issues

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2mEHtc5

[avasharpe]

Sugar and Salt

Chapter: Two of ?

Summary: When Sin is bullied on the bus ride home Sara meets with their teacher Ava. The two butt heads on the best possible course of action, but later realize the other might not be so bad.

Fandom: DC’s Legends of Tomorrow.

Relationship: Sara Lance/Ava Sharpe.

Characters: Sara Lance, Ava Sharpe, Kendra Saunders, Sin, Amaya Jiwe, Zari Tomaz, Behrad Tomaz, Kuasa, Aldus Boardman, Mona Wu, Nora Darhk, Mick Rory, Quentin Lance, and Laurel Lance.

Chapter Rating: General Audiences.

Additional Tags: Bakery and Coffee Shop, Teacher AU, Mutual Pining, Parent-Teacher AU, Non-binary character, Trans Character.

Read at AO3

Read at FFN

Special thanks to @canaryatlaw for editing this for me.

……………………………………………………………………

Sara bounced from one foot to the other and rubbed her arms. It was an unusually cold day for early March in Star City, dropping below the average 40 degrees to 33 degrees. There was frost on the trees and the plants along the sidewalk of the apartment building when she saw Sin off on the school bus from the bakery that morning, although it had melted when the sun chose to shine that afternoon. 

Sara checked her watch again, yep, the bus was late. A whole ten minutes late. She’d been pacing in and out of the small foyer to the steps and the sidewalk, before deciding to just stick it out on the curb. She could wait inside the entryway for the bus to pull up, but she felt the need to sit out on the sidewalk and freeze because she missed her kid that damn much. 

It was Monday, so not her usual day off as the bakery and cafe was open on weekdays, but an entitled asshole had come in to pick up their online order of cupcakes and had insisted on a discount they didn’t have. The role of kicking them out usually fell to Amaya and Sara, and Amaya was out delivering a wedding cake leaving Sara to deal with them alone. It didn't go well. It was one of the few times that she was thankful her dad was a cop. Quentin had dropped everything to rush over to the shop after that asshole got violent and took a swing at her.

After Amaya got back, she insisted Sara take the rest of the day off and go spend some time with Sin. Sara tried to switch with Kendra and pick up the kids, babysitting until four when they closed, but they all but pushed her out of the shop and told her to go home. Her plan was to take Sin to the skate park then, rent that new superhero movie, pop some popcorn, and settle in for a quiet night. 

Finally, the yellow, number thirteen, Glades Elementary school bus turned up the street and stopped in front of her, the doors swinging open. Sara smiled as she saw Sin’s black pants and matching converse at the top of the stairs, her little punk rocker. The bus driver Mona, stepped out of her seat behind them with her hand on Sin's shoulder. As she followed them down the stairs, Sara's smile fell when she saw Sin step off the bus.

Their usual happy face was somber, with red eyes that sparkled with tears. Their hands were straight at their sides and clenched into fists. Sara rushed to them, kneeling down to their level and placing her hands on their shoulders.

“Sin what happened?” Sara tried to keep her voice even, but her heart broke at the sight of them crying, and her mind rushed to the worst case scenario.

Sin didn't even look at her. Instead, they stared down at the ground then, they quickly brushed off Sara's hands and ran past her, up the stairs and into the apartment. 

Sara stood up in disbelief and looked at Mona with pleading eyes. “What happened?”

“Some of the other kids were bullying Sin.” Mona said, then quickly added. “I stopped it as soon as I noticed it happening and pulled the other kids to the front of the bus.” 

“Do you know what it was about?” Sara asked, still in disbelief. Nothing like this had ever happened before, not even when Sin had come out as non-binary over the summer.

“I'm not exactly sure, but the girls were calling them unintelligent. They used the R word. I radioed the school to let them know what happened and they'll probably want to meet with you tomorrow.”

“Okay,” Sara said. Still in disbelief, she started to turn away.

“Sin’s a great kid, so I don't know what they're talking about,” Mona said, giving her a small smile.

“Thank you,” Sara said nodding, with a tight lipped smile of her own.

Mona let her go and she rushed up the stairs and into the apartment building, not bothering to take the elevator to the third floor. The apartment door was left swinging open in Sin’s haste, and Sara quickly closed and locked it. She headed over to Sin's room and grabbed the tissue box along the way. The door was closed and Sara hesitated, knocked under the letters that spell out Sin’s name, painted Black with silver spikes.

“I’m coming in,” Sara announced when she heard no response and opened the door to see Sin sprawled out on their bed face down sobbing with their backpack and shoes still on.

“Oh baby,” Sara sighed, walking forward and sitting on the bed next to them. She leaned down and wrapped her arms around them, backpack and all.

“They.. they called me stupid... and… and… dumb... and...” Sin said through tears, their voice shaking.

“I’m so sorry baby. They should've never said that to you. You didn't deserve that.” Sara whispered in their ear.

“It's all her fault!” Sin yelled.

“Whose fault honey? Tell me, it's okay.”

“Ms. Sharpe.”

“What?” Sara was shocked at Sin’s revelation. Although she had only met the 4th grade teacher a few times before on orientation night, parent’s night, and stuff, she really seemed to care about her students. Sure she could be strict, but she was kind and Sin had always come home from school happy, going on about how great school was.

“Come here” Sara said, pulling Sin up. She wiped away their tears and slipped their backpack off, leaving it on the floor. “Why don’t we grab some ice cream from the freezer and you can tell me the whole story, okay?”

“It's too cold,” Sin whined.

“Then we’ll make hot chocolate, with the big marshmallows.”

“On the stove, like Papa Quentin makes?”

“Of course!”

Sin nodded and Sara pulled them up, carrying them out into the hall. Sin barely weighed 60lbs, but they weren't a toddler anymore. Sara specifically worked out just so she could still do this, even if the times she did had become few and far between. 

Sara set them on the counter, then got to work pulling out the chocolate chips and the double boiler. They made the hot chocolate with extra big marshmallows and once they got settled on the couch with their favorite mugs, Sara waited for them to start. 

“I didn’t do my math homework from this weekend,” Sin admitted with defeat. “I just don’t like it, it’s too hard!” 

“Okay,” Sara said, choosing to ignore the admission in favor of hearing the whole story.

“Well, Ms. Sharpe has this hour at the end of the day for us to work on homework and stuff, and she talked to me about it. She showed me how to do long division, but I just didn’t get it. Then she said I would have to go to the special ed class, because I’m re….”

“Sin,” Sara said softly stopping them there. “You are not the word that the kids on the school bus called you. Everyone struggles with math at some point. I know I did. You are capable of anything and we can figure this out together. I promise!”

Sin nodded, drawing strength from Sara and sitting up straighter. “Will I have to go to the special ed class?”

Sara knew her kid, and she knew that with a little extra help Sin could catch back up to her class.

“You will remain in your class with your friends and I’ll try and work things out with your teacher.” Sara assured them, “In the meantime, I’m gonna help you with your homework and we’ll get it done together.”

“Us against the world?” Sin asked with a smile.

“Us against the world,” Sara said, matching their smile and holding out her fist. Sin enthusiastically fist bumps her, making the explosion noise afterwards.

……………………………………………………………………

Sara paced back and forth in the hall, holding her phone to her ear, waiting for Kendra to pick up. She caught Sin looking over at her from their spot at the kitchen table and sent them a smile and a thumbs up, before turning back to the dark green walls. She didn't know why their landlord wouldn't let her paint, even with the extra floor lamp Sara had squeezed in by the door, the dark hallway was never lit enough.

“Hey you,” Kendra said, finally picking up and enthusiastically greeting Sara.

“Did you know that she has them doing long division with three digit numbers?” Sara whisper yelled into the phone.

“Umm,” Kendra hesitated before Sara heard her yell at Carter. “Honey, is Hector doing three digit long division?”

Sara didn't hear his reply, but a second later Kendra gave her an answer. “Yes.”

Sara sighed and rubbed her forehead. “Why didn’t I start helping her out when it was just division?”

Kendra chuckled, “If it makes you feel better I can’t do it either and I thought Laurel was helping Sin with their homework?”

“Yeah apparently they were telling Laurel that I was helping them, so they were giving both of us the runaround.”

That night Laurel was planning to head out with friends so it would be just the two of them. Sara was hesitant to move in with her sister after she and Nyssa were forced apart two years ago, but Laurel helped her out a lot. She was always there for them. Sara tried to return the favor by doing more than her fair share of the housework and making sure Laurel didn’t drown herself in work.

“Well at least you're helping them now,” Kendra said, and Sara just shook her head. 

“Not by much, It’s been an hour and we’re only halfway through this worksheet that was supposed to take twenty munites.”

“Why don’t you come over now and Carter can help you two get a hold of it?”

“Thanks, you're a lifesaver,” Sara said, grabbing her coat and Sin’s from their hooks. “We’ll be there in five and can we come over tomorrow as well? I’ll bring dinner.”

“Yeah, sounds good. So what clued you into the fact that Sin was lying about who was helping them with their homework?” 

Sara sighed, leaning up against the wall. “Sin came home in tears today after a couple of kids were bullying them on the bus. Apparently, they overheard Ms. Sharpe telling Sin they might need to go to the special ed room for math help.”

“What? She said that?” Kendra said in disbelief. 

“I know right! How dare she tell Sin that before even consulting with me!” Sara tried to keep her voice down, but she was just so angry. “I have a meeting with her tomorrow morning so I’ll let you know how it goes.”

“Okay, see you soon.”

“Yeah, thanks again.”

“No problem.”

Sara hung up and then walked back into the kitchen. “Hey so I called Auntie Kendra and she said that we could come over and Uncle Carter is gonna help us get your homework done.”

Sin nodded and gathered their papers in their backpack, Sara pulled on her coat and held out Sin’s coat for them to put on. Sin ran out the door and down the hall pressing the button on the elevator as Sara locked the door behind them.

“Mom, how come I have other aunts and uncles?” Sin asked once Sara had joined them waiting for the elevator.

“What?” Sara asked, still thinking about that last math problem.

“You know like how Auntie Laurel is your sister, and Aunt Lisa was Dad’s sister, but Auntie Kendra and Uncle Nate, they aren’t related to us?”

“Well,” Sara said, putting her arm around them and leading them onto the elevator. “Auntie Kendra, Uncle Mick, and the others became my family when I was in college and when I had you, they became your family too.”

“Were they Dad’s family too?” Sin asked.

Sara smiled, but she felt a familiar pain in her heart. Talking about Leonard, Sin’s father and her then-boyfriend had gotten easier since he had died six years ago. 

“Yes, your Dad and Uncle Mick used to get into all sorts of trouble.”

“Really?”

“Yes, like there was this one time…” 

……………………………………………………………………

Sara walked the halls of Sin’s school with Sin by her side that morning. She felt confident as she went over what she was going to say to Ms. Sharpe in her head. The night before Carter had walked her through the steps on how to do long division. They were able to get the homework done in time to be in bed at a reasonable hour. Working with Carter had solidified Sara's belief that Sin just needed a little extra help.

Now all Sara had to do was talk to Ms. Sharpe and things would be taken care of. Sin could go back to class without being bothered and Sara could spend the rest of the day knowing her kid was happy and taken care of. Sara hesitated at the door to Sin’s classroom, peering in the window to see that Ms. Sharpe was sitting at her desk. She had to be civil about this if she wanted it to go anywhere. She felt Sin squeeze her hand and looked down, so she gave them a smile and squeezed Sin’s hand in return. Then she took a deep breath, pushed open the door, and plastered her fake customer service smile on her face.

Sara would never admit it but, she kind of had the hots for Ms. Sharpe. She was tall, with soft blonde hair, dark blue eyes, and an oval face that had soft features. Not usually Sara’s type, but then again she never really considered herself to have a specific body type, she was bisexual. However, she did like people who were confident and passionate, if not a little wild. These days she just wanted someone who was kind and treated her and her child with respect.

“Hello, Ms. Sharpe, I'm Mrs. Lance, Sin’s mother.” 

Ms. Sharpe stood up and straightened her white button up shirt and buttoned her suit jacket. “Mrs. Lance, a pleasure as always. I didn't know you were bringing Sin along.”

“They are the reason we're here,” Sara said, placing her hands on Sin’s shoulders and leading them over to Ms. Sharpe’s desk. 

Ms. Sharpe gave her a tight smile, and Sara knew that most teachers prefered to have meetings without the children present, but nonetheless she gestured to the thankfully adult-sized chair in front of her desk. “Please have a seat, Mrs. Lance and then why don't you grab a chair as well Sin.”

While Sin grabbed a chair from the nearest desk, Sara took a moment to look around the classroom. The morning sun peeked in through the blinds, casting its glow over the desks. They were pushed together in groups of four at the front of the classroom, facing the projector and white board. The side of the board listed the schedule, as well as the topics for that day's lessons. There had been talk of getting smart boards, but Sara knew it wasn't in the budget; regardless, Ms. Sharpe worked well with what she had. In the back she had child sized comfy chairs with a floor lamp that looks like the one they had in their apartment hallway surrounded by wooden bookshelves. 

It wasn’t like the classrooms of Sara’s childhood, there were no bright colors or boards filled with the same kids projects, colorful maps and bright alphabets. Instead, there were lots of plants, succulents and other little house plants lined the shelves, there was one palm tree in the corner about halfway to the ceiling. 

There was a large map of the U.S. in greens and browns, and a list of words were organized with magnets on the left whiteboard that Sara had seen some of the kids use many times. The other wall was filled with artwork and each child's abstract picture was unique with different colors, styles, and shapes. The way it was displayed on the wall was more alike to a parent putting their kids pictures on the fridge than an overt display of work. The only bright and colorful things were fish in the large tank at the back of the room. All in all, the classroom looked homey. 

“Well, let's get right into it,” Ms. Sharpe began, once they were both seated. “I’ve been informed that Sin was verbally assaulted by Cassandra Savage and Freydís Eriksson on the bus ride home yesterday. I've spoken with both the girl's parents and with the principal over the phone this morning and rest assured it will not happen again. I've moved Sin’s desk away from the two girls and Mona has agreed to keep the kids separate while they're on the bus and when she’s helping in the classroom. Going forward, I will be keeping an eye on the situation and I will not let it happen again under my watch.” 

“That's good,” Sara said, letting go of some of the stress she had and partially relaxed back into the chair. “When can we expect an apology from the girls?”

“They will write an apology and present it to Sin this afternoon.”

“They’re gonna be at school today?” Sin asked, suddenly timid.

“I thought they’d get suspended?” Sara asked.

“That's not the school’s policy. We believe in having the children face up to what they have done, with more appropriate methods, such as the apology letter and a true understanding of why what they did was wrong. Not a vacation from school. Kids like Cassandra and Freydís will benefit from being here more than at home.”

“Having a tough home life doesn’t excuse their behavior,” Sara said.

“I'm not excusing it. I'm telling you why, and what I'm doing to try and help everyone.”

Sara huffed. “That makes sense, but you really shouldn't be openly talking about your student’s home life like that.”

“I never said anything about...” Ms. Sharpe started, then paused and gave Sara a look like she wanted to continue, but instead, she took a deep breath and straightened her jacket again.

Sin tugged on Sara’s arm and gave her a nervous look, “Mom do I have to go to the special ed classroom?”

Sara wrapped an arm around them and tugged their chair closer to her and whispered to them. “No, it’ll be okay.”

“You have nothing to fear Sin, this class is a safe place for you.” Ms. Sharpe said, having assumed that was what they were whispering about.

“Yeah, about that,” Sara started, taking a less than amused tone. “Yesterday Sin said that you wanted to place them in the special ed classroom after they struggled to finish the math assignment that you gave them.”

“I said that…”

“Why would you say that without talking to me first?” Sara demanded. 

“Let me explain.”

“Oh please do!”

Ms. Sharpe looked away from Sara to Sin, who still sat at Sara’s side, leaning into her and gripping her arm, while bouncing their leg.

“Sin, Miss. Nora is in the library setting up for today, I’d bet she’d love your help!” Ms. Sharpe offered.

Sin looked up at Sara, who just gave them a squeeze and turned back to Ms. Sharpe. “Anything you want to say to me you can say to Sin.”

Ms. Sharpe took a deep breath before speaking. “I believe Sin may have Dyscalculia. It’s a learning disability like Dyslexia, but it involves numbers rather than letters. It’s characterized in children who have difficulty organizing and memorizing numbers and other math concepts, even telling time can be a struggle. I had a few examples of Sin’s work that highlights these aspects if you'd like to see.” 

She held out some of the math work Sin had done and Sara took it from her and quickly glanced over. “I believe Sin would benefit from going over to the special education classroom or getting some extra math time with one of our Paraeducators like Mona, for the last hour of class and receiving some extra guidance in this area a few times a week.”

“Sin doesn't have any learning disabilities.”

“I know this is hard to hear.”

“I know for sure!” Sara said. “After their father died, I took Sin to therapy to help them. The therapists noticed something just like you did and thought it would be wise to have her tested as well. We went through the whole process and nothing came of it. The school should know about it, Sin’s teacher knew and we kept the school in the loop. What we did find was that Sin just started making more mistakes when they felt nervous. Which isn't so unusual for any kid.”

At that point, Sara was surprised that Ms. Sharpe gave her a confused look. “I never saw or heard anything like that when I went over Sin’s file at the start of the year.”

“Well I'll have the paperwork sent over to you,” Sara said, with more malice than was necessary.

“Well, I'd be happy to read it,” Ms. Sharpe said, giving Sara every ounce of sass right back to her.

“Great.”

“Great. I think we're done here,” Ms. Sharpe said standing up and offering her hand to Sara.

Sara remained seated and she could feel Sin glanced over at her but there was one more thing she wanted from Ms. Sharpe.

“I believe you owe me and my child an apology, especially since your words were the reason Cassandra and Freya were bullying them.” Sara said, raising an eyebrow at her.

Ms. Sharpe clenched her teeth, but nonetheless looked down. “I didn’t know that’s why they were bothering you Sin.”

Her words were sincere, then she looked back up, looking them in the eye. “I am sorry for what I said to you in front of the other children. It should have been discussed in private.”

“Thank you,” Sin said, standing up and offering her hand for Ms. Sharpe to shake. Sara’s eyes bugged out as they did so, they had done the mature thing and forgiven Ms. Sharpe.

“Of course,” Ms. Sharpe replied with a smile that Sin returned. 

Sara decided to do the right thing and shake Ms. Sharpe’s hand as well. She stood up and went to leave with Sin.

“You could stay if you wanted to,” Ms. Sharpe said. “I usually open up my classroom for the early kids right about now.”

“We’ve still got a half hour or so and I figured we could play on the playground. That sound fun to you kiddo?” Sara said.

“Yeah,” Sin said excitedly, grabbed her arm and raced ahead of her.

In the hallway Sara put her arm around Sin’s shoulder, giving them a side hug. 

“I'm really proud of you holding your hand out to shake your teacher’s hand and accepting her apology. That's what I mean when I ask you to be the bigger person sometimes.”

“Thanks Mom. I'm proud of you too, you stood up for me.”

“I am always on your side,” Sara said. Then she switched to her ‘monster Mom’ voice wrapping her arms around Sin and swiping them up in a hug. “Because I love you so freaking much.”

“Mom,” Sin complained, trying to sound angry at her. “You're ruining my hair.” 

“Right, sorry,” Sara said, returning to her normal voice and setting them down.

Sara grabbed the compact mirror from Sin’s backpack and held it up so they could fix their hair. Sin ran their fingers through it, styling their short black hair into a spiky swept back style. Their Uncle Nate had helped them cut it and learn to style it when they had first cut it short. Sara was grateful for friends in their lives who were there for both of them like family.

It was almost time for school and there were several kids in the hallways milling about and talking with other teachers and kids. Sara figured she could play on the playground with Sin for a few minutes before sending them back into the classroom. However, once they got outside, they hesitated instead of running towards the playground as they usually did. 

“Mom, do I have to go to school today?”

Sara followed their line of sight to where Cassandra and Freydís were playing on the playground. 

“I think we could take a mental health day and spend it at the skatepark if you wanted to?”

“Can we?” Sin asked in a way that made Sara's heartbreak as she heard the pain and need in her child's voice.

“Of course,” she said, putting her arm around them again and leading them over to the car.

……………………………………………………………………

The second the door closed behind Sin and her mother, Ava slumped back into her chair. In her ten years of teaching, she had never had a parent come after her like that, although there were several who had been particularly terrible. Parents never wanted to hear about their child's potential disability or struggles in class. She wished they were more open about it, as they were only hurting the child they were so desperate to protect. 

But maybe Ava was wrong, maybe Sin didn't have a disability like she thought. She sighed and looked over Sin’s homework again, as she looked over the little mistakes the child had made. It could have simply been because they were stressed, or there could be something more to it. Honestly it could go either way, and Ava would have preferred to have a more professional opinion, but without Mrs. Lance's approval, she knew she would never get that answer. 

Ava looked up at the clock on the wall. School wouldn't start for another hour and the majority of her early students wouldn’t be there for a couple more minutes and they probably wouldn't mind hanging around in the halls or on the playground. She grabbed her keys and locked her room but, before she headed over to the library, she peeked in the classroom of her grade neighbor and brother, Nate Heywood, to check on her son Gary. She smiled when she saw him completely absorbed in one of his adventure books. Nate saw her and waved her in, but Ava declined with a shake of her head, not wanting to disturb Gary during his favorite pastime.

She turned around and headed down to the hall, quickly finding Nora among the shelves as she put away the books that had been returned the previous day. The library was mostly empty, save for a couple of students in the reading nook around the corner.

“Hey,” Nora said when she saw Ava approach her.

“I just got the tongue lashing of a lifetime from one of my student’s mothers,” Ava whispered to her.

“Oh?” Nora said pausing. “What for?” 

Ava looked around, all of the bookshelves were no taller than her rib cage and the other kids over at the reading nook could easily overhear them.

“Let's go to my office,” Nora said, putting the book away and wheeling the cart down the aisle. 

After being seated in one of Nora's comfy chairs, Nora brought Ava a cup of tea and waited for her to start. 

“Okay, so I said something to one of my students about introducing them to Ray so they could get a little extra help understanding math. My plan was to have Ray drop by at the end of class if he had some extra time to give her a little extra tutoring, with their parent’s consent, of course, but now that's never going to happen. And just to be clear that was all I said, nothing more, but everyone knows that Ray is one of the special ed teachers. So some of the other children in my class overheard what I said and on the bus ride home yesterday they started teasing this child.”

“Oh that’s terrible,” Nora said, tilting her head. “But that's not your fault.”

“I know!” Ava said, raising her voice a little, but it felt good to talk this through with Nora and get all her emotions out. “So this child goes home in tears and tells the parent that it's my fault because they thought I wanted to have them placed in the special ed  classroom, which is something I would never do; it's much more helpful to have the kids stay in their own classrooms with their peers.” 

“Um hum,” Nora nodded, having heard both Ray and Ava discuss the benefits of such on multiple occasions.

“So I got a phone call about what happened on the bus and I set up a meeting with the parent through the online appointment system the school has and they came this morning. We all sit down and at first, it goes great. I tell them how I'm handling the bullying and everything's going great until this mother insists that I apologize to their child for what I said. She won't even let me fully explain myself, she just insists that it's all my fault. So I just tried to explain why I wanted them to get some help from Ray, and I pulled up some of the child’s work to try and show the parent that maybe their child should be tested for a learning disability. And the parent just goes off insisting that it's because the child just stressed about math, which I guess is a possibility, but I've been observing this kid for months I think they could really benefit from at least a little one-on-one time with either Ray or Mona.”

“Did you get a chance to explain to the parent about all of this?” Nora asked. 

“Oh no, she just got so defensive saying she already had her child tested, but that was years ago, things change, new things come to light. Anyway, I think what I'm going to do is just try and give this kid a little extra one-on-one time during my study hour at the end of the day. I'll just keep observing them and helping them and if things don't improve, I’ll meet with the parent again at parent-teacher conferences in April.”

Ava finally let out a breath and slumped back into her chair. “Thanks for letting me rant a little.” 

Nora giggled, “It was more like a lot, but I'm happy to listen.”

“At least none of the kids are getting bulled for being queer,” Ava said taking a sip of her tea for the first time. “I feel like I could handle that, I mean I am a trans woman and a lesbian, I’ve faced my fair share of homophobes.”

Nora giggled, “Yeah I remember that time we were at the department store, buying clothes with Gary and that lady kept flowing us around and whispering, ‘lesbians can’t raise a son.’ in that confused and angry tone and you just spun around and laid into her. I thought she’d die of embarrassment.”

“Yeah, that felt pretty good.” Ava looked up at the clock, realizing that she had fifteen minutes before school started. “I should get going.”

Just then Mona peeked in like she usually did after she had parked her bus to the depot and returned to the school for her shift as Paraeducator. “Hey, I'm glad I caught you both, are we still on for book club tonight after school? Also, the secretary told me to tell you that Sin Lance won’t be in class today. ”

“Thanks Mona,” Ava said. She should have known that Mrs. Lance would pull her out of class that morning, but she was glad that she at least had Sin’s trust back and could help her student further. 

She returned to her class after checking on Gary again to find several of her students waiting for her in the hall. They all greeted her with big smiles and happy hellos, and she gave them all hugs or high fives as she let them in the classroom, smiling as they all filtered in and went to their desks. This was why she got into teaching, because she loved watching all these little kids learn and grow, and the joy they admitted whenever they accomplished something, filling her with pride. Apart from being a mom, to her, it was the best job in the world.

……………………………………………………………………

Sara and Sin had rushed home to the apartment to grab their skateboard and head out to the skatepark. By the time they got there, all the high school students had left and they enjoyed the freedom of the empty skatepark. Sara had been riding a skateboard since middle school, and when Sin was three years old she put them on a board and her toddler had taken off. If it was up to them, they would have never gotten off. 

After spending the morning going up and down the pipes and riding along the rails they grabbed some lunch at Big Belly Burger, calling Laurel beforehand and agreeing to meet her at Quentin's precinct.

“Papa!” Sin called out the moment they stepped off the elevator, running in between the cops and detectives towards Quentin's office. Most of her dad's coworkers were used to Sin’s antics and just smiled as they ran past them.

Sara followed behind, choosing to walk through the bullpen and leaned up against the door to her Dad’s office. 

“Shouldn't you be in school, you rascal?” Quentin playfully asked as he had Sin wrapped up in a bear hug.

“Mom said I could take the day off and we went to the skatepark,” Sin answered as they pulled back.

“Oh did she now?” Quentin asked looking up at Sara. “Hey kiddo.”

“Hi Daddy,” Sara said, walking over and leaning down to give him a hug as well as depositing the bags on his desk. 

“Yeah, it's cuz Cassandra and Freydís were mean to me on the bus yesterday,” Sin said quietly, looking down at their hands.

“Oh, I'm sorry to hear that,” he said, he still had his arms around Sin and gave them an extra squeeze.

“We worked it out with their teacher this morning,” Sara said, sitting in one of the chairs across from him. “But they just didn't want to go back yet.”

“Hey, hope I didn't miss much,” Laurel said, appearing in the doorway and dropping her purse and herself into the chair next to Sara.

Sin immediately ran from her place at Quentin’s side to hug Laurel, who gave them a tight squeeze. 

“There’s my favorite Niblet,” Laurel said, using the gender-neutral nickname for Nibbling she had started using when Sin came out. 

“Auntie Laurel, I'm your only Niblet.”

“Yes, and therefore my favorite,” Laurel said bopping their nose as they both giggled.

“You know ever since I had a kid, I always feel like you guys love them more than me,” Sara said with a pout. 

“That's not true,” Quentin insisted.

“Yes it is,” Laurel said, with a sly smile.

“Rude,” Sara replied, waving her finger at Laurel.

“Be nice,” Quentin said, while Sin just giggled. “You know for Christmas I think the only thing I'm going to ask for is for a whole day where my daughters don't fight.”

“That's completely unrealistic,” Sara said.

“Yeah that's not going to happen,” Laurel added, before the two of them burst into laughter.

Quentin and Sin joined in laughing and they all dug into the burgers and fries Sara had brought. 

……………………………………………………………………

“I don't want you to go to work tomorrow!” Sin whined as they stood at their desk in their classroom. 

Sara took a deep breath, closed her eyes and counted to ten before responding to Sin. This was the argument that they had been having ever since Sara had told her yesterday that they would be opening the bakery and cafe on Saturdays. 

“Saturday is our day!” Sin insisted.

Sara opened her eyes and kneeled down so that she was at Sin’s level, putting her hands on their shoulders. “I know. I know you don't want me to go to work. I know you want me to just stay home and hang out with you all day long.”

She poked their stomach trying to get them to giggle while using an exaggerated voice, but Sin didn’t respond as they usually did. Sara tried to keep smiling, but she was at her wits end. They had been fighting all day yesterday, and this morning Sin had dug their heels in and wouldn't let the issue go. Sara thought that driving them to school and dropping them off herself would help so that they could spend some extra time together, but clearly it hadn't worked. 

Sara looked around and spotted a glitter jar on one of the shelves. She quickly ran over and grabbed two, brought it back and handed one to Sin. “I know you’re mad, so take all your anger, push it into the jar, and shake it out.” 

Sara shook up the jar as hard as she could, watching as Sin did the same. They shook the jars for a few moments and then Sin stopped to watch the glitter in the bottle spin around. After several minutes they looked up at Sara.

“Do you have to go to work Saturday?”

“I do kiddo, and I'll drop you off at Aunt Zari’s around the time you would go to school in the morning, but before I leave we can try to go to the skate park.”

Sin still looked disappointed and their face scrunched up, as they shook the jar again so hard Sara thought it would break.

“Do you know why?” Sara asked, just wishing she could take some of the hurt feelings away. 

“No,” Sin said, as they stopped shaking the bottle and continued to gaze into it. Like it held all the answers to their problems. 

“Because your aunts and I are not just making pies and cakes, we’re helping the Wedding Fairy,” Sara said in an absolutely serious voice, it was a thing they said around the bakery quite often especially as of late, as it was an epithet for over the top brides and mothers. However to the kids the wedding fairy was very real.

“Really?” Sin asked, looking over at her.

“Yeah,” Sara said with a smile on her. “You see, wedding fairy needs some extra help making some special treats for some special people, her kitchen is just too small to try and do it all this year.” 

It was partially true, they were swamped with June and May weddings and all the last minute wedding planners flooding them with orders. With the wedding season rush kicking into gear as spring approached and the bakery and cafe being so popular, they had to add an extra day to their schedule if they wanted to be able to take on the new orders. Amaya hated turning people away, especially if they were cute couples in love. It would only be until spring break and summer, and in an effort to avoid the insane cost of childcare, they were alternating Saturdays so that one of the four of them could watch the kids.  

The business had always made just enough money for everyone to live comfortably. Amaya’s hope was that with the extra orders, everyone would be able to splurge that year. Sara agreed to it because she wanted to be able to afford a good summer vacation for Sin. Of course, Sara didn’t tell Sin any of this, as she didn't want them to worry about money.

“The wedding fairy isn't real.” 

Sara turned around to see Cassandra Savage standing next to them, but before she could say anything Ms. Sharpe approached them. “Yes she is and I'm sure she's very thankful to have Ms. Lances’ help.” 

Cassandra sneered and looked like she was about to say something else but Ms. Sharpe led her away, talking to her on the other side of the room.

“Why can't I help the wedding fairy?” Sin asked, with curiosity rather than disappointment. 

“You can! How about tonight you and I work on thank you cards for all of the orders!”

Sin thought it over and nodded. Sara sighed in relief and smiled, then leaned up and kissed Sin’s forehead. 

“Have I told you that I love you and that you're the best kid in the world?”

“Yeah, you say that every day,” Sin teased, rolling their eyes.

“Well I mean it every day,” Sara teased her back, then tucked a stray strand of hair behind their ear. “Are you going to be okay today?”

“Yeah,” Sin said, with a somber nod. 

“You want me to go or stay a little longer?” Sara asked, her eyebrows knitting together, she couldn’t help but worry, especially when it came to Sin.

Sin looked around before answering, they still had a few minutes before class started and most of the kids were already there milling around. Sara looked around as well and saw Hector wave at them from his desk. They both smiled and waved back. 

“You're picking me up today, right?”

“Yep.”

“Okay,” Sin said and then took off their backpack and walked over to talk to Hector. 

Sara smiled and watched them for another minute before heading out. She stopped in the doorway, realizing that she was still holding the glitter bottle. 

“You can take it if you want to,” Ms. Sharpe said, catching her at the door. “I'm sure Sin would love to have one at home.”

“Thanks,” Sara said.

“I keep the bottles around for situations like this and I'm glad you were able to use them. You handled that really well,” Ms. Sharpe replied.

“Thank you,” Sara said, surprised at her genuine words. The two had been exchanging petty notes and words since their meeting a week before. 

Ms. Sharpe gave her a genuine smile before turning back to her classroom. Sara took one last peek at Sin, who was laughing with Hector before leaving. She looked back over at Ms. Sharpe who was talking with one of the other students, maybe Sara had her pegged wrong, maybe she should give the teacher another chance.

[firesoulstuff]

Rewatching the first episode of Legends and I have to ask: am I the only person convinced that Aldus Boardman is not Carter/Joe’s son?

[ao3feed-captaincanary]

I'm Sick of Being Alone

by Crypticbeliever123

Requested by a guest with the username unicornsarereal.

Sara's a vampire and Leonard's a werewolf. Need I say more?

Words: 2000, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 7 of Requested Captain Canary Fics

Fandoms: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)

Rating: Not Rated

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/M

Characters: Sara Lance, Leonard Snart, Aldus Boardman, Laurel Lance, Quentin Lance, Lisa Snart, Lewis Snart

Relationships: Sara Lance/Leonard Snart

Additional Tags: Vampires, Werewolves

from AO3 works tagged 'Sara Lance/Leonard Snart' http://ift.tt/2tffSl1 via IFTTT

[baristabirdgoddess]

ooc info

name/alias: Jess

age, pronouns, & timezone: Old. She/Her. GMT+10

activity: When I am near a computer

rp experience: I play a bunch of misfits here already

best form of contact: discord, tumblr, smoke signal

ic info:

character name: Kendra Saunders (currently - also known as the Egyptian High Priestess Chay’Ara and various other reincarnations)

codename: Hawkgirl

character age: 28 (plus 4000 years, but those totally don’t count)

faceclaim: Ciara Renee

species: Human with Hawk wings (more a Cursed Human than a Meta?)

status: Hero

occupation: Legend

home earth: Earth-1

biography

past: Okay, so this is where it gets complicated because Kendra has reincarnated 206 times over 4000 years. So there is a LOT of past history there. Basic story is, in her original life, Kendra was the Egyptian High Priestess Chay’Ara who had fell in love with Prince Khufu. A Priest and Adviser to the King, Hath’Set, discovered the forbidden romance between the pair and struck them down in jealousy as he wanted Chay’Ara for himself. As they lay dying, the lovers prayed to Horus to protect them in the next life so that they may find each other again.

There was a meteor shower that night which held strange powers. It was these powers that granted Chay’Ara and Khufu the power of reincarnation as well as hawk like gifts and abilities. (They got wings. They can fly. Badass, right?). However, the meteors also cursed Hath’Set with immortality and growing stronger each time he killed a reincarnation of Chay’Ara and Khufu.

206 reincarnations later, Chay’Ara was now Kendra Saunders. She moved to Central City in 2016 and took a job at CC Jitters as a Barista, completely unaware of her past lives. There, she met Cisco, they dated briefly and he was able to vibe off her the whole Hawk Goddess thing. Just as they were getting comfortable, along came Carter Hall (Khufu’s reincarnation) in a kind of rude and demanding fashion. He seem to expect Kendra to remember their lives and drop everything and go away with him. Didn’t exactly go that way, except it kind of did when she ended up saying goodbye to Cisco and leaving for St. Roch with Carter.

Carter tried to push along the memories of their past selves but Kendra was stubborn and insisted she remember in her own time. It was complicated but Kendra knew she loved him - just wasn’t going to admit it. Then Rip Hunter came along and offered them the chance to get rid of Vandal Savage (the name Hath’Set was calling himself these days) for good. Kendra didn’t want to go but Carter made her a bet that if she could beat him in a fight, they wouldn’t take Rip up on his offer. 

She lost. So aboard the Waverider they went along with other “Legends”.

One of the first trips they took was back to 1975, where they met Aldus Boardman. Aldus turned out to be Kendra and Carter’s son from a previous reincarnation, who grew up orphaned and became a professor and expert in the mysterious events that occurred around Chay’Ara and Khufu’s first death.

Suddenly, Rip got notice that the Waverider was under attack and Aldus was asked to continue sharing his information aboard the ship. Sadly, Aldus was mortally wounded in the crossfire when making his way to the ship. Kendra was devastated at the death of her son and would only face more heartache when two days after Aldus’ death, Carter was killed by Vandal Savage when the Legends tried to attack him head on. Father and son were buried next to each other in a small funeral attended only by the Legends, and Kendra slipped into a wild depression and had to be sedated.

After some time, Kendra came around and while she still mourned the loss of her loved ones, she knew that the mission to stop Vandal Savage was more important. She trained with Sara and the two formed a friendship, teaching each other things. Kendra also remembered her previous life as a welder and helped Jax and Ray with repairs on the ship. Jax was sweet and developed a crush on her but it was Ray that Kendra slowly began to develop deeper feelings for. Those feelings came to a head when they were stuck in the past for two years and eventually Ray proposed. Kendra said yes but she later began wondering if she was allowed to love someone other than Carter. 

After a visit to the town of Salvation, Kendra heard word that a past reincarnation of herself lived outside the town. She rode out and talked with her and learned that her and Carter were destiny and terrible things happened to anyone that came between them - therefore Ray was in danger. Kendra kind of didn’t listen to the warning at first but eventually destiny won out and she called off the engagement.

Then Savage found Carter’s next reincarnation - Scythian Torvil - and manipulated and used him against the Legends. Kendra somehow managed to awaken some memories in Scythian, who then turned on Savage just in time to assist the Legends in achieving their goal and ridding the world of the evil dictator for good.

present: With Savage gone, Kendra decided to leave the Legends and help Scythian - who had adopted his past life’s name, Carter Hall - regain more of his memories. They headed back to St. Roch and it was hard for Kendra having their roles reversed but she was determined to help Carter. Unfortunately, Carter had a lot of fears to overcome and took off without word to Central City. 

Kendra gave him some time but soon followed and while she still was insistent she help Carter, the pair decided to live separately to avoid the awkwardness of St. Roch. It took a little bit more time, but eventually feelings and memories resurfaced. Not everything, and it was by no means perfect, but the pair decided to take things slow and began dating. 

The quiet life was kind of nice, but Kendra had had the taste of adventure and decided to rejoin the Legends along with Carter. She always had the instinct to help and protect and being a Legend was the best way she could think of to do just that.

positive traits:

Strong-Willed

Protective

Heart of a Warrior

negative traits:

Self Doubts

Stubborn

Resistant to Big Changes

para sample:

The smell of brewing coffee hit her senses along with the clashing of dishes and general chatter of the coffee shop’s patrons. Despite the low pay and being hit on at least twice a shift, Kendra missed CC Jitters. Not exactly enough to go and beg for her barista job back, but just the welcoming atmosphere felt a little like coming home to a place she belonged.

Going up to the counter, Kendra didn’t recognize the new barista - not that it surprised her, turnover in staff was always high in these sorts of places - and looked at the menu board. “I don’t even know where to begin with those new items.” She mused to herself before placing her order. “I’ll have just a chocolate malt shake with a tomato and cheese bagel, thanks.”

After the barista took her order, Kendra moved to the end of the counter and waited for it to be ready. Her eyes looked around the room, wondering if she’d spot a familiar face in the crowd.

[wesonerdy]

RECAP: DC's 'Legends of Tomorrow' 1x1 "Pilot, Part 1" + 1x2 "Pilot, Part 2"

Legends of Tomorrow , whilst yet to be legendary, still has the chance of being forgiven for its freshman ways. (more…)

[revius]

DC's Legends of Tomorrow S01E01: "Pilot, Part One"

Comentamos el estreno de #LegendsofTomorrow

Hablar del estreno de Legends of Tomorrow -la nueva serie del “Flarrowverse”- es hablar de un “evento” propiamente tal. No sólo por el acontecimiento que marca un nuevo spin-off que habita el mismo universo que “Arrow”, “The Flash”, “Vixen” y “Constantine”; sino además porque bien podemos hablar de un evento en la forma en que usualmente usamos la expresión en el mundo de los comics. Para quienes…

[hedgiwithapen]

It’s been so long, Darling

Spoilers for Legends of Tomorrow episode 1. For Cross on TVTropes.

Edith’s feet ached, but then, they always did, a consequence of cramming her feet into too small shoes all her life. And maybe, she thought, a few lives before that, too. She was only 32, but her body felt as old as her spirit some days, centuries and centuries old, and worn, and tired. She was tired of so many things, the hard labor that was all anyone’d pay her to do, the way her roughened hands caught on fabric, the fear, the running. But she and Khufu--Joe--had learned from their memories and mistakes, two hundred lives worth of them. They couldn’t stay still, couldn’t stay in one place, or the Nothing Man with the empty eyes, the savage monster that ripped them from each other time and again, would find them. And as hard as it was, at times, to keep living, as easy as it might have been simply to die again, and again, and be someone knew in a world hopefully a little less torn apart by violence and prejudice... she couldn’t. Not this time. This time, she and her winged prince, they had to live.

They’d been traveling since she Emerged--she was first, this time, but he’d followed soon after she showed up in his town, drawn there by memories and something more--God, gods, or fate she didn’t know. When her wings had unfurled, the light in his eyes was more than wonder. Three days later, as memories filtered in, they’d found a preacher, gotten married, and fled, never staying in one place for long. Travel was easier in this life, scraping together pennies, than it had been a few earlier,  looking over their shoulders for more than just Hath-Set. In the throes of the War, it was a little easier to hide, just a few more brown faces in a sea of those searching out work and a place to call home. And it helped, some, Edith figured, that their enemy searched for two, not three. Joe had worried that a child might slow them down, but the first time that tiny baby had opened his eyes--so wide and dark like his mama’s, Joe’d known that he loved this little one as much as any being who’d ever walked or flown.

It was Edith who’d named him, wings wrapped like a blanket around him one winter night. “Aldus,” she’d said, soft. “His name’s Aldus.” Joe’d frowned, but couldn’t deny her that. “What’s it mean?” “Who says it means anything? I like the sound of it.” Joe’d had the last laugh, though, a few years later when he’d gotten nightwork at a public library. One dusty book claimed the name meant “of the old house.” He’d woken them all with that, and as Edith put the chipped plates on the table, Aldus had asked why it was funny, he wasn’t a house, they’d never had a house. “Chay,” Joe’d said, a sudden shake to his head. But Edith had met his clear eyes. “Aldus, it means that you’re from an old family,” she started. He was only four, but Joe and Edith had raised no fool, he was bright as the stars he liked to watch, when they were out of cities. “It’s just you and Poppa, though.” “Joe, he needs to know,” Edith said. “Aldus, your Poppa and I are very old. We look young, but we’ve been alive--in a way-- for a very, very long time. And that’s why we keep moving, why we don’t have a house or nothin like that. No pictures, no letters, it’s why we don’t go to church like the Walkers downstairs do. There’s a very bad man who’s been chasing us.” There was no need, then, to tell him the worst of it. That would be later.

He was eight when they told him all the truth, and that they all shared a bed wasn’t because they were poor for once, but because he was scared. long into that night, over his shut-tight eyes and dark curls, Edith and Joe had talked, wondering if telling the worst of it, that it wasn’t that they never got old but that they’d died, had been wise. But this was their life, a hard one, a scared one, and Joe said, if he was to stay safe, he needed to know.

~~*~~ * ~~

Never again did Aldus complain about moving, and never, ever again did he brag to his class about his Mama who had been to egypt a long, long time ago. If there was more fear in him, if he searched shadows more diligently, he didn’t say, but Edith and Joe saw, and worried. “He won’t get you,” Joe promised one night when Aldus was nearing ten. “I promise, my little fledgeling. I’ll keep you and your Mama safe.” “Will I ever grow wings like you?” Aldus asked. “So I can fly away, too, if he tries?” “I don’t know,” Joe said. “Maybe. Maybe not. But we’ll keep you safe.” He didn’t say that he hoped Aldus never grew wings, so that if Savage ever caught them again, the child could hide away somewhere, live a normal life, safe. If he had power like Chay-ara and Khufu--Edith and Joe--what was to stop the man Savage from discovering him? And though Joe knew Edith was dead certain that this time things would be different, deep in his gut he wondered if it would be. Ten years since Emerging they’d run and hid, and that was the longest he could remember them making it.

Edith told Aldus stories, all the little things she remembered, all the lives she could recall, which was around 200 of them. Aldus wrote some down, before Joe had warned him such things were dangerous, might lead Savage to them if anyone ever found it. Edith had nodded, a dim flash of memory catching at her, a town in flames, a library burning. Joe filled in the gaps though,  stories shared out over dinners or breakfasts, depending when he got home from work. If nothing else, knowing might keep their child safe. And it was as much his right as theirs, to know the history.

~~ *~~ *~~ *

Aldus was ten years old when all those stories stopped being just whispered words. They were moving again, on up to the Canadian border, about as far from their Carolina home as possible. Edith’s feet ached, and Joe’s back muscles cramped, but they were together, sharing out a birthday treat--spice cake and cola drinks-- on a cloth spread out across a motel room floor. And despite all of it, how tired they all were of running and hiding and the sneers of rich folk and the fear that lay as close to bones and feathers as love did--Edith knew that this was what she wanted from a life. This was worth trading silks and statues and respect, which had never brought any of them safety.

She knew the feeling as well as any mother, as well as any who had been hunted-- sometimes Edith felt more kinship with hares and deer than with hawks, the feeling of a world about to shatter, danger coming on like a summer storm. Glancing at Joe, she knew he felt it too, the warning signs they’d spent the last decade fleeing from. There could be no flight that would save them this time.

“Aldus,” she whispered, reaching out a hand. “I need you to be very brave for Mama and Poppa. Remember everything we’ve taught you, all the stories, can you do that?” He nodded, uncertain, trembling, his hand so small. His eyes were huge and dark and scared, mirroring her own. “I...I think so, but why--” “There’s no time, baby.” Edith scanned the room, spotting a closet. She flung the door open and took the quilt from the floor, bundling it around him. “Stay in here, don’t come out for anything, no matter what. No matter what you hear, don’t you come out.” Joe was there, wings already full under the dim light. “Mind your Mama, my little hawk. You mustn’t make a sound. Chay-ara, I’ll lead him off, buy you and--”

“No. Khufu, it’s too late.” It was, and all three of them and the man on the stairs knew it. Edith pressed her hand to her child’s face, wet with salt-tears. “I’ll come to you. If something--if something happens, I’ll find you just as soon as I can. It may be a long time, so remember how much we love you.”

She let her own wings unfurl and closed the door with her face angel bright with that love and protection. With one hand, she reached for Joe--Khufu. It had been a hard life, but long compared to others, and good. One way or another, tonight the running would stop.

The thin motel room door burst open.

~~ *~~ * ~~

Aldus’s belly growled and his arm ached where he’d crammed his own wrist into his mouth to stop from crying aloud. But for all that, the stiffness in his back, the numbness in his legs, he did not move. Mama would come back. Poppa would come back. This time, things would have to be different, this time, they’d win, because this time they were his parents.

Hours and hours later, the door opened, but it was not Mama or Poppa, just a sad looking man in a uniform, who bent down close and lifted him. “No, I gotta wait, I gotta--” Aldus stopped. He could see the figures on the ground, sheets like ghosts draped over them. He had known, distantly, from the sounds his hands and the quilt couldn’t block out. Somehow, it hadn’t seemed real.

When questioned, Aldus Remembered his Poppa’s Lessons, his Mama’s Stories. he couldn’t talk about a man who walked through time, killing his parents again and again, couldn’t tell anyone what he’d heard--they’d call him crazy, send him away like a goat set out for slaughter. No, he’d have to wait for Mama and Poppa to come back. They would. He knew they would. He held to Mama’s wedding band and the one family photo, from the Fair, he hummed Poppa’s favorite songs and waited. They didn’t come. They didn’t come. They didn’t come.

Anyone else might have left memory blur, called it trauma and hide away from the mystery. But Aldus had seen his parent’s wings, his mother’s smile, his father’s calloused hands. the Nothing man had taken them from him, but Aldus could not let their memory be stolen, too, not when the last things they’d asked was to remember. So he waited, remembering and remembering and remembering. They didn’t come back --

--until they did.

She was younger than he’d ever seen her, his mother. Still, Aldus knew her. He could not forget her eyes, so very like his, full of things unremembered: past lives, old dreams...him. But she’d come back. They were both here, looking confused and hesitant, and it was all he could do not to rocket to his feet and embrace them both as he had done as a child. “You,” he said, and there was nothing else for it. “Both of you.” “You know who we are?” the question nearly broke his heart, but Aldus was old, now, and had heard so much more than screams from beyond a closet door. They had told him their stories. Perhaps this was why, so he could tell his parents the stories back. He had remembered, and they would too. If not in this life...

~fin~

[nowitallbegins]

That's us, at the world's fair. You're just as beautiful as I remember you, Mother.

Dr. Aldus Boardman dropping a huge bombshell on Kendra Saunders