As Amelia had said, they returned to Sherwood the following day. The waited until late that night before departing.

"Did you tell Dad you were going?" Paige asked.

"I'd have to actually see him to do that," Ariel muttered. She hadn't seen him in two days and frankly, she would be happy if she didn't see him again.

Though things were still rocky between her and Paige, they had reached a level of understanding and both had promised to keep in touch; Paige so she could know how Ariel's treatment was going – and Ariel so she could make sure nothing further happened with the Smithers creep.

Lainie was the only other person there to say goodbye. "You better message me everyday," she said fiercely. "And if you have any more trouble with you know who –" she glanced at Amelia who was listening, to make sure she didn't know who she meant "– you tell me and I will be on the first flight over there to kick her ass."

Ariel promised, while mentally kicking herself once again for ever pushing her best friend out of her life. Lainie had immediately declared a disliking of Kestral after hearing of the incident when they went to town. Even though Lainie didn't know her, it was comforting to Ariel to know that she had her back.

Saying goodbye one last time, Ariel also said goodbye to her Grandpa. Her body still hurt and she didn't think it would ever heal, but every day was becoming easier to bear. Ariel felt that strange sensation as Amelia took her arm and looking at her best friend and her sister one last time, she closed her eyes.

It only took a matter of seconds. Amelia released her arm and she opened her eyes. They were standing in the kitchen back at Sherwood. Orange sunlight was streaming through the window as the day was just beginning.

"Should we have some breakfast while we wait for the Doc to get up?" Not waiting for an answer, Amelia started pulling out food from the fridge. "I know how to make pancakes, toast and cereal."

"The three basics then." All Ariel wanted to do was go to bed, but Amelia said she was going to have to stay up all day to get back into her normal routine. Stepping by Amelia, she placed her bag of cupcakes she'd made sure to bring with her on the bench and put the kettle on. She found the largest mug in the cupboard; she was going to need numerous caffeine infusions if she was going to survive today.

Footsteps sounded in the hallway and Ariel turned to see Autumn step into the kitchen.

"Morning."

"Oh!" She jumped, clutching her chest. A leaf fell from her hair, landing at her feet. "You're back!" She broke out into a big smile and gave Ariel a hug.

Ariel held her gingerly. Her body looked frailer since she'd last seen her. The leaves covering her face were pale yellows and browns, their veins contrasting starkly against her eyes.

"Yeah, we're back." She moved back to the coffee. "There's a good chance I'm going to be cranky today but I'll try to restrain myself."

"That's okay, I know the time zones must be difficult. How are you holding up?" Autumn bent over the island, watching her carefully.

"I'm okay. Not great, but it's getting easier." She offered Autumn a cup of tea and she accepted gratefully. "What about you? Are you doing okay?"

"Of course," she said into her tea. "I'm fine."

Ariel didn't believe her for a second. The kitchen got louder as Amelia started cooking the pancakes. Stepping closer, she lowered her voice. "What's going on?"

Autumn glanced at her quickly before her eyes slid away again. "There's nothing wrong with me, really. I think I've done something to upset Emily. She snapped at me a few days ago and since then she's been ignoring me. I'm not sure what I did..."

"Emily doesn't snap," Ariel murmured. "That's my role."

Autumn grinned. "Don't be silly. You don't snap, not purposefully. I just wish I knew what I had done to upset her. At least she has Kestrel to keep her company."

"Kestral?" Ariel was starting to see the situation more clearly.

"Yes, I told Kestral about Emily and she said she would try to figure out what was wrong with her."

"Right." She didn't think Kestral would try to figure anything out – maybe how to make the situation worse, but not better. "Maybe something happened at home and she just took it on you?"

"Possibly, if so I want to help."

"Autumn you want to help everyone." She took a long sip of coffee. "You should help yourself a little bit sometimes."

"That's boring, I already know how to deal with my curse so I want to help others find that same peace."

"Oh okay."

The Doc walked in at that moment and jumped twice as high as Autumn.

"You didn't tell me you were getting back this morning, Amelia," he inhaled.

"I told ya we'd be back soon and anyway, I wanted it to be a surprise." Amelia placed a plate of pancakes on the table.

"Right, well it's nice to see you both." Ariel moved out of the way so he could get to the coffee and passed him the milk and sugar. "Thank you. After breakfast Ariel would you mind meeting me in my office?"

"Sure."

Amelia, finished cooking, took a large plate of the pancakes, and followed the Doc back to his office to give him a debriefing about her investigation in Australia.

Ariel followed Autumn into the front room. Samson was already sitting at the table with a pot of tea, reading yesterday's paper. His suit was a deep blue, and his scales were glittering in the morning sun.

"Good morning, ladies," he stood up, pulling out chairs for both of them. "Welcome back, Ariel. Please accept my sincere condolences for your loss."

"Thanks, Samson." He waited until they were both seated before sitting back down. "I've been told you finally finished the Harry Potter series."

"Yes, it was quit an engaging read!" he said enthusiastically. "I must admit I've become quite the 'Potterhead' as the internet calls us."

"Are you going to watch the movies?"

His tongue flicked sharply. "There are movies?"

"Yeah, they've been out for awhile," Ariel picked at her pancake.

"Well this is extraordinary news!" he exclaimed. "I will have to ask someone to go into town and acquire them for me."

Autumn took the center section of the paper and read the fashion and living sections. Too tired to do anything else, Ariel glanced over her shoulder quietly looking at the pictures while she waited for the Doc to summon her.

"Good morning Lucas."

Ariel jolted from her stupor at Autumn's voice. Lucas stood in the doorway, still as large and furry as ever. She looked at him carefully, praying he didn't try to start anything. His eyes were on her, but she couldn't tell what he was thinking. Not knowing what to do, she muttered a quick good morning and looked back at the pictures of the worst and best dressed of the week.

"Welcome back." His gruff voice dragged her attention away from the paper but he had already left the room.

Autumn tapped her arm. "He always asked how you were doing if he thought we'd been in touch with you."

"He just feels bad that my Grandpa died," she murmured.

"I don't think so," she turned the page. "He feels guilty about how things were handled with Peyton. I think you should talk to him about it."

"The last time I got told to talk to him after that incident he took great pleasure in crushing me."

"Something he still feels bad about."

"Who feels bad?" Samson looked up from his paper.

"No one," Ariel answered.

"Ah, excuse me," he stood up, smiling. "I've interrupted your girl talk. I shall sojourn to the library and let you chitchat in peace."

"That's okay," Ariel drifted off as he quickly glided out of the room before she could finish. "He's so strange." Autumn made a small noise in the back of her throat and Ariel quickly added. "In a good way. I'm not being mean, honest."

"Prove it," she closed the paper and turned to face her. "Talk with Lucas and resolve your issues."

Ariel was saved from answering when Amelia walked in, stating the Doc was ready to talk with her.

"Think about it," Autumn called as she left the room.

"Okay, okay," she muttered. If it meant that much to her, then she'd suck it up and talk with Lucas. Get rid of the bad feelings. That's what the Doc told her she needed to try and do. If she could find a way to start forgiving her sister, she could find a way to live peacefully with Lucas for her remaining time at Sherwood.

Amelia and the Doc were waiting patiently and she took her usual seat by the window. She glanced between them nervously.

"It's nice to see you back, Ariel," the Doc smiled. "You look more at peace."

"About my Grandpa? I mean, guess so..."

"I didn't just mean your Grandpa, but before you left there was always a defensive look in your eyes and a tension in your body. Now, you look more relaxed. Returning home, despite the awful circumstances has proven to be beneficial for you. Did you leave on good terms with your sister?"

She nodded. "We promised to keep in touch, and my friend wants me to message her everyday."

He looked pleased when she smiled. "Wonderful. Make sure you keep in contact with them then. Now, Amelia has filled me in on what's she discovered in Melbourne, which sadly to say is not much –"

"It ain't my fault!" Amelia jumped up. "The witch had bloody vanished and I know you think I'm pretty incredible but even I have limitations!"

"I never said you were pretty incredible, Amelia," he said dryly.

"Not recently," she sat back down, crossing her arms. "You used to say it all the time when you were a kid. You used to tell me at least once a day –"

"Ahem," he cleared his throat loudly, cheeks tinged red. Ariel grinned, thinking of Doc at Ben's age gazing at Amelia in her punk getup with admiration. "As I was saying, what she was able to find wasn't much, but I hope you don't feel disheartened by this."

"I did for a little bit," she admitted, "but Amelia helped me through it."

"Wonderful. Amelia is going to head off this afternoon to meet some of her sources in Norway. I've been in contact with them and they believe they might have seen a curse similar to yours once before. This may come to nothing, but let's remain hopeful that they have some substantial information."

"You don't get to rest?" Ariel asked Amelia. "You only just got back too."

She waved her hand. "I don't need rest. Rest is for the weak. I'll head to Norway then back to Italy to keep in touch with the CC's."

"CC's?" Ariel asked, thinking of the corn chips she used to eat as a child.

"Cursed Crosses, a mob syndicate. I've infiltrated their England base of operations and now I need I'm going to work on the head of the snake, so to speak after getting Michael's help –"

"Amelia," the Doc said sharply and she jumped, checking herself.

"Bugger, sorry about that." She grinned weakly. "You can pretend you didn't hear that, Ariel."

"Okay...how did he help you though?"

"Ariel," the Doc warned.

"Okay, okay, I'm forgetting now." If they wouldn't tell her maybe she could worm it out of Michael."My first appointment starts in ten minutes, so I will just ask you one last question, Ariel – have you considered my offer of tutoring Ben?"

She sat taller. "I have, and I think I'd like to try. I should warn you I've never had a proper job before so I'm not sure I'm the right person..."

"We have seen the way you handle Ben when he comes to you for help with his Math's and I believe you will handle the position quite well. It is also only for a few months until we can finalise some paperwork to get him into public school so you won't be burdened with too much work."

"Okay, when do I start, I guess?" She shrugged her shoulders in acceptance.

"Next Wednesday," he said pleasantly. "Harriet will give his school work to look through so you'll be prepared for next week."

A knock sounded at the door and the Doc checked his watch. "Ah, she's early. Well if you'll both excuse me."

Ariel followed Amelia out, nearly running into Kestral. She immediately raised her guard.

"Welcome back, Ariel," Kestral said sweetly, she waited until Amelia had entered the kitchen before adding quietly. "You know Lucas and I thought for sure you were going to give up and not come back. I guess we lost that bet."

Ariel rolled her eyes, stepping away from her. "I hope you lost all your money," she muttered.

Before, she would have just believed whatever Kestral said, but she knew better now. She liked to stir the pot and cause chaos, feeling power over manipulating others. Ariel wasn't going to fall for that ever again. Her problems with the others had been somewhat caused by Kestral's venomous words. She would not allow it to happen once more.

"She's lying, you know." Ariel spun around. Lucas was standing by the back door, watching her. "I never said you wouldn't come back and I didn't bet –"

"I know," she interrupted. "Trust me, I've learned my lesson when it comes to listening to Kestral."

Awkward silence fell about them like a heavy blanket. Ariel didn't know how to get away from it without looking like she was buffing his attempts at being cordial.

"D-did the funeral go...okay?" he stammered.

She nodded, shifting slowly towards the kitchen door. "Yeah, it was good." She winced. "That's not the best word to describe a funeral, is it? It was.. it just was, I guess."

He nodded. "Sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up –"

"It's fine."

Just as escape was finally within reach, the back door slammed open, smashing into Lucas, who caught unawares, stumbled forward. Ariel quickly stepped back, but not fast enough and Lucas crashed into her. Quick as lightning, his left arm wrapped around her waist, holding her up and with his other he grabbed for the wall, steadying them both.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

She nodded and quickly detangled herself. Stepping away, she was just in time to see Emily walk past as the back door slammed shut. "You could at least apologise," she said to her, wondering why she didn't even stop to say hello.

Emily paused, and turned to Ariel who felt her insides freeze. A stranger was looking back at her, with cold hard eyes. She looked at Lucas and her pretty face curled into a sneer. "He shouldn't have been standing there, the big oaf."

She kept walking and Ariel started after her. "Hey -!"

Lucas grabbed her arm. "Let her go."

"What the hell?" Ariel snapped. "When did that happen?"

"A few days ago, she went to town with Michael to get some mail from the Post Office, and when she came back she was different." he explained. "We think something must have happened back home, but she won't open up to us. Not even to Autumn."

Ariel remembered Autumn's pain and her annoyance grew. "It had better be something serious for her to be acting like that. That is not the same Emily I left here."

"Damn straight it ain't." Amelia was leaning against the kitchen door, munching on an apple. "Something ain't quite cricket with that girl. Let's go pry a little bit."

Not waiting for an answer, Amelia brushed past them and headed for the library where Emily had gone. Ariel made to follow but Lucas still had a hold of her arm. He quickly released it, muttering sorry and followed her into the library.

Emily was browsing the shelves by the front of the room. Samson looked up from his book as they all entered.

"What a gathering! I can't recall the last time I saw this many people in the library at once!"

"Sorry to disturb ya, Sammy," Amelia put her apple core in his empty tea cup. "Just checking something out."

Samson frowned at the apple core. "You know I don't appreciate you using that nick name, Amelia."

"You'll live, Faery Boy." She stepped closer to Emily. "What's the deal, Emma?"

"Emily," Lucas and Ariel immediately corrected.

"Right, Emily. Why are your knickers in a bunch this morning?"

She glared at Amelia. Ariel didn't like the way she looked at Amelia; like she was trying to murder her with her eyes. "The only thing wrong is you standing next to me. Piss off."

Ariel jumped at the vulgar word. She had said it numerous times herself but to hear it coming out of Emily's mouth – Emily who was shy and innocent – it was unnatural.

"Sorry, hun. Don't think I can do that." She reached out to touch Emily's head. In a flash, Emily slapped her hand away, her eyes burning with a strange rage.

"Don't touch me!"

Not bothering to reply, Amelia kicked out her leg, tripping the young girl. With a cry, she fell to the floor and Amelia sat atop her chest, pinning her down.

"Amelia, what the hell?" Lucas started forward to intercept, but Ariel and Samson pulled him back.

"Wait a moment," Samson said.

Emily started screeching more vulgar profanities and Ariel watched, frightened. It was like watching a wild animal trying to break free of its cage. Autumn came rushing in at the noise, Michael close behind.

"Oh shut up!" Amelia waved her hand over Emily's face and her voice cut out. She still continued to cry out, but Amelia had essentially muted her. Placing a hand on either side of her head, she closed her eyes.

A few seconds passed before she opened them. "There's new magic in her system."

Samson stepped closer, bending down to look into her eyes. "You're right," he said softly. "I cannot believe I missed this. It looks to be a glamour of sorts. Very roughly done though."

"You think everything is done by the bloody Faeries, but I recon you're right," Amelia said grimly. "Though I don't think a faery would have done such a sloppy job as this."

"What do you mean?" Autumn cried. "A faery cursed her?"

"No," Samson said. "Amelia is correct. A faery uses their power precisely. They don't do things with such a lack of finesse. It is beneath them."

"Something else did this," Amelia stretched her fingers over Emily's face. Leaning down, she blew into her face and Autumn made a noise as Emily's body fell limp.

"Don't worry, Audrey –"

"Autumn," they all corrected.

"- I ain't hurting her," Amelia finished. "I'm just going to remove that magic."

"You can?" Michael asked sharply. "I thought you couldn't remove curses?"

"I can't, but this ain't a curse. It's a shoddy bit of magic that's been wreaking havoc on her body. Whatever witch or warlock pulled this off is obviously still Noob."

She looked at Ariel and winked, pleased with herself at using the word correctly. Ariel shooed her, wanting to her to remain focused on the task at hand.

Small points of light formed at Amelia's fingertips and slowly, she started to draw them away from Emily's head. A thin wisp of brown magic trailed along, slowly being pulled out of her head and forming into a small ball above her nose

It seemed to take forever, but eventually the ebb of magic faded until there was no more. Snapping her fingers, a small glass jar appeared around the ball of magic and she grabbed it, tucking it into her jacket. Standing up, she touched Emily's temple once more before moving away.

"She should be alright now. I got it all out. I'll drop it off with a friend of mine in London to analyse. I'd do it me self but I got other things to do."

Emily's eyes fluttered and Autumn and Ariel rushed to her side. She looked up at them, and Ariel was relieved to see someone familiar looking back at her. "Where am I?" she whispered.

"In the library," Autumn stroked her hair. "It's okay."

"Make sure to give her something sugary to eat. Magic leaving her system like that is going to cause her body to go into shock slowly over the course of the day. Make sure she eats and drinks and she'll be fine. Now I got to go and have a word with that damn Doc for not picking up on it in the first place." 

Ariel glanced up as she left, in time to see her looking suspiciously at Michael. Her eyes narrowed. Why would she be looking at Michael like that?

"We need to get some sugary food for you," Autumn said anxiously to Emily. "I don't think we have any sweets left."

"I have some," Ariel piped up. "I brought some cupcakes back with me for everyone. Hang on."

Standing up, she quickly walked back towards the kitchen. She heard the office door open and Kestral leaving the office. Not sure why, she waited until Kestral's feet sounded on the stairs and then crept quietly to the Doc's door. Kestral hadn't closed the door completely and for the first and what she hoped was the last time, she thanked Kestral.

"- girl had obviously been messed with, Doc. I don't know how you could damn well miss it."

"I don't know either," he sighed. "You know how anxious I am right now, with the time getting so close. I'm afraid it's distracted me from my work."

"Look, Doc I get that, but don't let it cloud your judgment. That magic was poorly used and it could have been a lot worse for that girl."

He didn't say anything,. Ariel pressed closer to the open gap. "You said Lucas mentioned it started after she went to town with Michael? Should we be investigating the towns? It's abnormal for any witches to be this close to the institute."

"I agree with ya, but I don't trust that Michael."

"Amelia..." he sounded as though they had argued over this many times before.

"He helped me get a footing into the Cursed Crosses, but agreeing to treat him when you knew what syndicate he belonged to. It was only a matter of time before his comrades started tracking him down. Once a mobster always a mobster in my opinion."

Ariel covered her mouth in shock. Michael was part of the syndicate? She remembered him telling her he was in with some bad people, but she just thought he meant like drug dealers or something.

"We can't know for sure that it was one of the Crosses that tried to manipulate Emily."

"We can't but we can keep a closer eye on Michael. He's always going into town, you say and I don't like it."

"You're right," he answered quietly and Ariel strained to hear. "We need to keep a closer eye on him. I'll ask Zeke to go through the closest towns tomorrow and see if he can find any sources of magic."

A floorboard creaked and Ariel quickly moved away. Grabbing her cupcakes, she headed back to the library and bumped into Michael near the stairs.

"Easy there, Bella." He smiled. She took a step back. His smile faltered. "What's the problem, Ariel. You look like you've seen a ghost?"

Shaking her head, she edged past him. "You just scared me, that's all. I better get these to Emily."

It took a lot of restraint to stop her self from running into the library. Emily was sitting up on the couch now, Autumn by her side. Samson was gathering his teacup and pot, declaring that a pot of tea would rejuvenate her in no time. Lucas sat on the floor beside them.

Ariel put her bag on the table and started pulling out boxes of cupcakes. "These are from my favourite shop in Melbourne. I know it's a bit early for cupcakes, but I'm still on Melbourne time, so technically I count it as cupcake time."

Opening the first box, she held on out to Emily. She looked at Ariel with apologetic eyes. "Welcome back," she whispered. "I'm sorry about before."

"Don't worry about it. Have a cupcake and we'll be good. But if you ever swear in front of me again, I'll wash your mouth out with soap."

Smiling nervously, she took a white chocolate and raspberry one. Autumn took a chocolate one gratefully and Ariel passed the box to Lucas.

"That's okay," he said. "I don't need one."

"Of course you do," she argued. "Everyone needs cupcakes."

Not waiting for him to refuse again, she grabbed a vanilla one and put it in his hand.

"I prefer lemon," he blurted out.

Sighing, she opened another box and found a lemon one. "Here."

Putting it in his hand, she saw Autumn looking at them both with a smug expression. Sticking out her tongue, she grabbed a white chocolate one for herself and bit the raspberry off the top.

Eating cupcakes, they started asking Emily about what she remembered from the last few days, but it had all been a blur. There were only flashes of clear memory and it was nothing she could make sense of.

As Lucas and Autumn relayed some of the things she had said and done, much to her horror, Ariel's mind drifted away to what she had learned earlier. The thought of Michael doing something like that to Emily seemed impossible to her. He was always so gentle with everyone and she couldn't picture him being part of a mob syndicate. Autumn said her name and she jolted from her daze and tried to join back in the conversation.

She hadn't been back for even three hours and already things were becoming complicated. 

Hey guys! Another chapter and it hasn't been months of waiting! :p 

Thank you to those who shared this story last week, I was so happy to see it floating about on some other sites. I was hoping this week that perhaps you could share your favourite moments of Heart of Glass so far? It would be awesome if you could use the teaser cards and post it to my FB page ( I know a lot of people read on their phones so it should be easier to do on the app :P ). I would love for you to post your favourite moments on my FB page so I can see them there <3 Are we glad Ariel is back at Sherwood? See you all next week!