“You sure you're alright?” Akio asks leaning in, worry lining his face.

  “The good news is I now feel up for more than two word sentences at a time.“ Alex replies, shoving Akio's face back when it gets too close.

  He teeters dangerously, and Alex has to reach for his seat to steady it. A kindness that is rewarded graciously with a scowl.

  The door opens behind them, and Jo's headmistress walks in. A burly middle aged lady whose imposing figure could cower mere men. Lucky neither Alex nor Akio were mere.

  They lift up to greet her, and she gestures them back in their seats.

  “Mr and Mrs Jordan.” she greets. Akio and Alex immediately voicing their thoughts on the platitudes.

  “--Alex, I beg of you.”

  “--She is my sister--”

  “Also, Mr Jordan is Chris.” They both finish simultaneously. And anyone would think their little fluke rehearsed, if not for the way they glower in irritation at each other at the end.

  “My name is Virginia Collymore. You can call me Mrs Collymore.” She chuckles softly. Siblings of course, how could she have missed it?

  “Mrs Collymore.” Akio starts, “You uh, wanted to see us?”

  “You are Josephine Jordan's legal guardians?” she asks.

  Alex shifts a little in her seat, looking like she was nursing the world's worst hangover. “There's Chris.”

  “Our adopted Dad. He's currently preoccupied.” Akio supplies helpfully.

  “So It's sort of a shared title.” she gestures vaguely with her hands. “Me and Akio are adopted, obviously. So we're paying it forward.”

  “As siblings.” Akio stresses, and the woman gets the feeling that they've been mistaken for a couple more times than they care for.

  She turns to Alex, “Are you alright? You look a bit pale.” If she was nonfunctional due to some sort of alcohol intake, she was going to have a long talk with Josephine's agent.

  “Not really. Food poisoning.” her face rumples. “Bad sushi restaurant.”

  Akio lets out a breath as the headmistress visibly calms.

  “I asked for you both today in regards to some of the behavior Josephine has been exhibiting.” She pulls her chair forward and relaxes into it. “Namely her particular inclination towards starting fights.“

  Alex and Akio turn and stare at each other fiercely, some sort of silent rapid fire conversation passing through them in the couple of seconds involved. And if Virginia wasn't a woman of science, she might have suspected telepathy.

  “The Last Avatar.” Alex says, turning to her finally.

  “Airbender.” Akio corrects immediately.

  “Excuse me?” Virginia is taken aback.

  “She's been infatuated with this particular cartoon with a master of all the elements or something.” Alex frowns as she recalls.

  “I'm well aware, Alex. I have kids myself.” She chuckles.

  “Expressed sudden interest in learning 'Airbending' one night. Convincing her there was no such thing was not an easy task.” Akio shakes his head as if remembering a particularly harrowing event.

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  “Chris suggested registering her for karate or something, but I said to wait and see. I mean we all had infatuations at that age. Right?” Alex turns to her in question, and Virginia finds herself nodding from the sheer intensity of the gaze.

  “There.” Alex says, and relaxes back in her seat.

  “Um.” Virginia swallows. And what the hell was wrong with her train of thought?

  “But Ginger-- sorry Giselle, she's fine?” Akio changes the subject with expert fluidity.

  “Other than a particular fondness for finger painting the teacher's clothes, she's doing splendidly.”

  Alex smiles wistfully at that particular piece of information, Akio simply rolling his eyes.

  “Is that it then?” Alex prompts.

  And Virginia could have sworn she had more input on the subject. Didn't she write some suggestions down somewhere? “I think so?”

  “Splendid.” Alex exclaims as she rises, Akio joining her. Virginia has no choice herself but to rise as well, arms outstretched for a handshake that only Akio responds to.

  “We can grab them on our way out, yes?” Akio asks, glancing briefly at his watch.

  “Of course.” Virginia replies, smoothing down her outfit to buy herself some time to better regain control of the conversation. “I'll have the Teacher's Assistant meet you with them at the car park.”

  Akio paces the short path between their car and another, Alex following with her eyes. She leans wearily on their car, trying recover some semblance of well-being.

  “She's started fighting, Alex.” Akio says, reaching the end of his path and pivoting. The repeated movement causing Alex vertigo.

  “She better have won, or she'll be in a lot of trouble.”

  Akio shoots her a stink eye mid pace, not slowing down in the slightest.

  Alex has never thrown up in her life before, if this is what the prelude to hurling feels like, she'd gladly go a thousand more years without experiencing it.

  “Akio, for the love of God, sit.” She scrunches her eyes closed and takes deep breaths.

  “What exactly is wrong with you?” She opens her eyes to see he has stopped pacing, thank God, and is now crouched in front of her.

  “You look like someone turned your insides out, beat you with a stick, and then put you back the right way.” He diagnoses. And he might not actually be far off, she thinks.

  He motions for Ezra to pass him a bottle of water, which he in turn hands to her, and orders her to finish the bottle.

  She has just done that, when Jo sprints at them--and when will she learn to not run everywhere?--TA and Ginger behind her. She barrels into Akio, thank God who lifts her up and swings her around a bit, his strength much better than before.

  “What are you doing here?” she asks.

  “Your headmistress called us. Said something about you starting fights?” Akio asks and she frowns.

  “It's not my fault! Dennis Kaplan called me a liar!” she says.

  “Did you lie?” Alex asks.

  “No.” She answers sincerely, as if it was something she never even considered. “All I said was that Airbending was real.”

  “Jo--” Akio starts, and Alex can feel a Talk? coming on.

  Alex nods amenably and says, “Dennis Kaplan got what he had coming to him, then.”

  “Alex!” Akio scolds, while Jo giggles.

  The TAbfinally arrives, and hands a suspiciously damp 2 year old over. She had gotten into the finger paint again. Akio bundles all four of them into the car, making sure to secure Ginger in her car seat before Ezra moves.

  “Can we please stop for Ice Cream?” Jo presses her little hands together in plea, and Alex can't help it.

  “Sure.”

  “No.” The funeater interrupts, eyebrows scrunched together like one of the evil school masters in those 70s shows he so loved to rewatch.

  He turns to Alex, “First of all, that's too much sugar in one week. Secondly, you realize she has to be punished for the fighting yes?“

  “Nonsense.” Alex says, “She didn't do anything wrong but defend herself from slander.”

  “Alex, Airbending isn't real.”

  “So is magic, yet here you are.” Alex counters.

  Akio grits his teeth in annoyance, wits firing for another counter. It appears he finds one.

  “She's not supposed to think these things are real.” He says.

  “And how is it her fault she does? We did adopt her after all.” She fires back. And his mouth snaps shut, eyebrows furrowing again in thought.

  Jo tugs on her sleeves, “Am I in trouble?” she asks genuinely distressed.

  And Alex's heart melts for the umpteenth time in the presence of the child, an overwhelming urge to protect her, and methodically hurt anything or anyone that would ever turn her pretty smile upside down, Dennis Kaplan included.

  “Not at all.” She replies with a smile. “Tell you what, I'll teach you how to fight like I do.”

  Akio rouses from his impromptu hibernation with a distressed noise, and Alex silences him with a hand.

  “Only,” she continues, eyes still trained on the child beside her, “if you promise to use your powers” she whispers that part, and Jo giggles eagerly, “in case of an emergency. And not on civilians like Danny Kaplan, because he would actually wet himself from the sheer force of your awesomeness.”

  “Dennis Kaplan.” She giggles again.

  “So, what do you say, are we in agreement?” She leans in towards Jo.

  “Yea!” She exclaims.

  Akio rolls his eyes and relaxes back into the seats. A glance at the car seat at the far end shows Ginger studiously asleep.

  “Now in order for this agreement to be binding, we do need to set some ground rules.” Alex says, and Jo nods solemnly, eyes wide in rapt attention.

  “Rule number 1” Alex lists “You do not talk about Fight Club …”