The bench had been taken away. The Judges have gone home. The crowd that had been spectating the very anticlimactic trial dispersed. There were no shouts of congratulations or anything else of that nature. Tulip hovered in the air beside my head. Looking around as if she would never see this place again. 

I had a small, much less important, problem of my own. You know that feeling you get when someone is staring at you, the feeling of holes being burned into the back of your head. That was my problem.

Every time I turned my head to see who was there they ducked behind a tree branch or the rooftop. I got enough glimpses of them to conclude that they were children. I was likely the first human they ever laid eyes on. So I couldn't blame them for being curious.

Otherwise, it was quiet, and I was about to suggest heading back, but before I could say anything a noise happened. Two noises both voices and both loud. I couldn't understand the first voice because it spoke a language that I did not. The second voice was understandable regardless of what language you spoke. 

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Despite not actually being a word.

Looking over in the direction of the voice, which I noticed was coming closer, I saw a small Pixie flying at Tulip at mach speed. 

"Oh no," Tulip said bracing for impact. And tackle! "Umph! The Pixie girl embraced Tulip so hard it nearly knocked her out of the air. I even prepared myself to catch her, but somehow she stayed airborne.

Now that the smaller Pixie wasn't in motion, I could get a good look at her. She looked like a younger version of Tulip, maybe 13 in human years. This left me wondering, little sister or daughter. She had to be a little sister. Tulip told me that being at 100 years old put her at like 18/19 in human years. But a daughter was still possible. No way, stop jumping to conclusions. 

The little Pixie still embracing Tulip, was chatting her ear off and crying. I didn't know what she was saying, but she sounded glad to see her...Sister? Mother? ... Girlfriend?

OK STOP IT! Not being able to understand what was being said was starting to get to my imagination a little.

Tulip finally broke free the younger Pixies embrace and said something that sounded reassuring. She then looked my way. "You are probably wondering who this is, Yes?"

"Yeah, I kind of am." 

"This is my sister, Daisi." 

"Nice to meet you." Tulip translated. Daisi stared daggers at me. What the hell?

Tulip noticed this and bopped her sister on the head, and scolded her. Daisi began to complain, Tulip just rolled her eyes. "She thinks it's your fault I was on trial today." Tulip explained.

"Why does she think that?" 

"I've tried explaining things to her, but it would seem she still just too young." A new voice had joined us. I recognized this voice. I looked and saw that I was right, the jet black hair braided down to her hip, and the resting bitch face. It was the Judge who had verbally fried that professor. There was also a man with her who in appearance was a male version of Tulip. But who cares about him. What was she doing here? If she had to explain things then... wouldn't that mean... 

"Hello, Mother." Yep, Mom. "Daddy!" Tulip not only used a much more cheerful and upbeat tone of voice with her father but unlike with her mother, who was given a simple but respectful nod. Tulip full-on bear-hugged him with a tackle not dissimilar to how her little sister greeted her not but a minute ago.

"Oh, there's my little girl, I'd ask how you are, but you kind of became a criminal today so..." Her father gave a forced chuckle.

"I for one don't find it funny in the least." Bitch face or no, mama was not happy. "I hope you never have to make one of your children seem incompetent in front of a court to make them drop a conspiracy charge. It didn't even work! If it wasn't for your friend here setting us straight on her actual age you would likely have been beheaded!"

Tulip opened her mouth likely to try and apologize but the pissed off mama bear just kept going. "Really Tulip, all you had to do was report back and everything could have been fixed without you shortening your life. An Elder, for example, could have been chosen, if anything his or her life would have been extended, but you had to be reckless!" She then turned on her husband, "She gets this from you, you know!"

"Sorry." Said Tulip

"Sorry?" Asked Tulip's father. He scratched the back of his head, confused as to how he became a target in his wife's scolding.

Tulips Mother then gave an apology of her own. To me. "I am so very sorry for my daughter's brainlessness, I can only imagine the horror living life as a helpless child again."

Meanwhile...

I felt a pinch on my ankle. Looking down I saw a Fey child, at ground level, flying away from me as fast as he could. Not too far away his friends stood in an ally at the base of the dollhouse-sized buildings, cheering him on.

Did I just get used as a test of courage?

Tulip's Mother was having none of that. She started yelling at the poor kids, who ran in terror while yelling things back.

Tulip who had moved by my ear as this went on, was a having a laughing fit, as was her sister, and Father who was doing a much better job at hiding it than his daughters were.

"What's so funny?" I mean I did get it the test of courage, kids being kids and all that, was very amusing, but she and her relatives were laughing way too hard.

"To loosely translate what those children just said. They called my mother an evil witch, lets just put it that way." Tulip explained between giggles.

"Right." I guess it was kind of funny, but I suppose it would have been funnier in, its original tongue. It might have helped if I could understand Tulip's mom's end of the exchange.

After the laughing had stopped, the family get together continued but was thankfully brief. I had a sleepover to get back to, and with assurances from Tulip parents that while three whole days had passed inside the Time Out Box, only a half-hour had passed in the real world. 

And with the trial and the family reunion, I calculated that only two or so hours had passed in total.  

"Well, see you back at the Pink Room." I tolled Tulip

Tulip then sat on my shoulder. "Actually I think I'll come with you." 

"Really?"

"Yeah, I could use the break."

Alright then. I a little concentration I warped us back into the dark night of Liz's bedroom.

Megel454

Honesty, if I had thought about it and wasn't JUST TOTALLY DONE with that last chapter, this chapter could just have gone and the end of that. Oh well.