Chapter Text
"Don't bother coming home, not if you won't stay."
The phone clicked, and for a moment all Tally could hear was the dial tone echoing through her ears.
Her mother, her own mother...didn't want her home for the holidays. That hurt more than she expected.
It continued to hurt, as the last week of classes before break passed.
It hurt when her sisters, and M., and Gregorio, and Penny all left to celebrate the holiday with their families. Their invites, that she had declined with a gentle smile and shake of her head, still stood should she change her mind. Each one of them insisted. She wouldn’t though. Not when her nights were haunted by blue eyes and a history that wasn’t her own. Not when she knew she would be damn miserable. After all, why bring your misery to your friends when you could wallow in it alone on a nearly empty base?
Nearly empty, because some of the officers stayed.
Nearly empty, because they were all still here.
The biddies, six of whom she had been bound to so intimately she felt as if she knew them as well as she did her sisters and a seventh she yearned to know just as well. And, of course, her.
The General.
Sarah Alder. The reason her nights were filled with nightmares and dreams that were not her own. The woman who's office she had barged into only to be turned away after her overstep.
She hadn’t told anyone that Sarah Alder still haunted her sleep, not a single soul. As far as anyone knew, Izadora's disgusting concoction had worked. She wanted to say that she didn’t want to worry anyone. But she knew it wasn’t that. It was because she couldn’t lose this last piece of Sarah Alder. As selfish as that was, especially after the way she had acted. Even the nightmares were worth it.
The first 3 days of break moved slowly, and Tally felt herself getting antsier with every passing moment. The fact that her nights were filled with the utter violence of Sarah’s past certainly didn’t help.
She found herself taking chores across base, from rearranging the entire weapons closet in the training room to washing dishes with the cook, which did pay off in extra desserts each night. Worth it.
On the third night of break, the cook handed her a bag of gingerbread and whispered with a grin-
“Well Cadet Craven, it seems as though the first of 12 starts at midnight tonight. How will you celebrate the start of Yule?”
Tally had just grinned, and lifted the warm bag.
“Apparently eating the worlds best cookies.”
She hadn’t been expecting sleep to come as easily as it had. And she wasn’t expecting what greeted her at midnight on that first day of Yule.
Tally found herself moving upright, as a shout filled her ears.
Huh, Tally didn’t recognize this place. The small dark cabin with a warm fire cackling beside her was unfamiliar but yet...so comfortable. Safe even.
Two girls, one with light blonde hair as if a halo and the other with dark hair bolted into the room. And it was their eyes that had Tally’s own widening in surprise- both had the same shock blue eyes as they rushed into the tiny room.
“MAMA!” Sarah Alder. It had to be. Tally had never seen this far back before but those eyes were hers.
“The mistletoe, Mama! It's the first of Yule and we forgot the mistletoe!”
“Mama, Lizzie pushed me!”
“Sarie we need the Mistletoe, so that The Mother knows to protect our storms. We need it. Tell her Mama! Tell her we need it!”
“That is enough of that, the both of you. You would think I raised hellions.” Tally whipped around, finally seeing her. Oh…Goddess above, she was beautiful. Sarah’s mother, this woman had to be. Sitting in a chair near the fire, her dark hair in a loose fitting braid around her shoulder and her jawline as sharp as her daughters would be and her deep brown eyes glinting with amusement as she looked at her daughters.
“Lizzie, my little storm, if you would notice, your father is currently gone. He is looking for the mistletoe now.” The blonde girl grinned, giggled, and ran from the room once again.
“Now, Sarah, my love are you alright?”
Oh fuck, that pout. Sarah Alder was pouting as she looked at her mother. Fuck, fuck this wasn’t a battle or a meeting or anything like the other dreams… This was different.
“Why do we need mistletoe Mama?”
The woman smiled, and pulled the dark haired child onto her lap. Tally watched as she kissed the dark furrowed brow of a young Sarah Alder.
“Well my love, mistletoe shows the goddess that witches live in the home. It tells her that we ask protection for the upcoming year. Reminds her that our storms need her protection, as do our souls.”
The pout returned, this time more thoughtful than pitiful.
“We really need it then Mama. We need mistletoe. Lizzie is right. We need to be safe.”
Oh Goddess-
She shouldn’t be here, she shouldn’t be intruding. She needed to-
Tally blinked awake slowly, the sight of the mother and daughter still burned into her brain. Her skin felt warm, her eyes damp. She glanced at the clock to her left, barely 0600 hours.
And it was the first day of Yule. This was the day her mother had always hung up the decorations, some civilian ornaments on a Christmas tree, holly and-
And mistletoe.
'We need mistletoe.'
The words of that tiny child echoed in her ear as she went about her day. From helping in the kitchen, to her run, all the way until she found herself walking through Salem Town after escaping base. It was there in town, with a warm glass of mulled wine that she saw it. And she knew she needed it.
'Lizzie is right.'
The dream was haunting her, more than any other had. Even the most violent of dreams that caused her to wake up bleeding and in pain didn’t torture her thoughts like this one did. Echoes of the family followed she walked back to Fort Salem, and she found herself zoning out even more than usual. She simply let her feet guide her home. Except her feet guided her not to her door room but straight into the arms of-
“Oh shit, Florence! I mean ma’am- I mean- shit fuck sorry hi- I’ve missed- I mean I am so sorry are you alright?”
The giggles of six other women sounded behind her. Meanwhile the woman, elderly in looks alone, grinned at her, her scarred eye crinkling in amusement. Goddess Tally hadn’t realized just how much she had missed them.
“Oh, I’m fine Cadet Craven. Now, what are you doing in the admin halls during dinner?” Shit.
Shit shit shit shit.
She hadn’t realized where her feet had been taking her. Or the time. She was missing dinner. That was a damn tragedy.
“I- I was just walking, I am so sorry I didn’t realize where I was.”
“Sure kid.”
“Totally believe ya there Tals.”
“Shut it the lot of ya.” Chloe. The oldest of the seven.
“Tally, you’ve missed dinner in the mess but we are heading to eat. Would you like to join us?”
Whelp, wasn’t like she had much of a choice, considering Devon grabbed one arm and Janine the other- sandwiching her between them with her hand still clutching the small bag.
“Are you sure I am allowed to eat with you?” Tally asked, her dimples deeply indented on her face as she grinned at the women.
“Meh, c’mon Tally lets be real- who’s gonna argue?”
Well Tally could think of one person. Who, the last time she had spoken personally to Tally, was to throw Tally out of her office.
“She won’t argue, for what it’s worth. She misses you. We all do.” It was whispered in her ear, Janine leaning into her as she spoke.
That should honestly have been the indicatory that it wouldn’t just be the 8 of them.
It wasn’t.
Nope.
Because her DUMBASS didn’t even put it together, because her idiotic self was too focused on the words. ‘She misses you.’
“Hope ya like lamb Red.”
“Yeah, Sarah makes the cook go all out over Yule.
“Well, at least for us.”
“And Ana.”
“Oh yeah, Ana eats like a damn queen.”
“Bitch she gets the same meal we do.”
"Yeah but I feel like she gets more!"
"She has the metabolism of a hot as fuck, active 29 year old, of course she's gonna eat more than your wrinkly ass!"
"Hey, my ass is thirty flirty and thriving bitch."
"It's your face that's the problem then?"
Tally could feel the smile spreading across her face, a real one. A dimpled grin that was followed by a giggle, probably the first since- goddess since her mother had hung up on her. She let the women lead her into the greenhouse dining room, the laugh still on her lips.
“Ta-Cadet Craven?”
The laugh died faster than a fuckin fruit fly.
“General Alder, ma’am-”
Shit.