Esmeralda didn't move her gaze, but she responded, "What did you want to talk about, Charisma?"

"Huh?" trying to catch up to Esmeralda's thought process. "Oh!" just as Esmeralda opened her mouth to reply. "You mean when I pulled you away from Matilda and Ruby?" seeing Esmeralda nod. "I was wondering," feeling herself blush. "Why did you say what you did yesterday... to Brianna and me? How did you know?"

"Which do you want to know?" Esmeralda asked, her eyes never moving from the widow.

"I can't know both?" receiving silence as an answer. Charisma sighed. "All right... why?"

"Because you're both acting like jackasses and I'm tired of it."

Charisma pulled to the side of the road and turned the vehicle off. "Excuse me?" more than a little put out with Esmeralda's bluntness. She was a United States Senator - no one spoke to her with such total disregard of who she was... not even her family.

Esmeralda never moved her eyes from whatever they were focused on beyond her sight. "What part do you need me to explain to you, Charisma?" Charisma didn't respond and Esmeralda sighed. "I'm not trying to disrespect you, Senator Tagherty. You asked why - I gave you the truth. If you're completely honest with yourself, you'll see that I'm right."

Charisma sighed loudly and crossed her arms over her chest. "How did you know?" she finally asked, not refuting Esmeralda's previous words, but unwilling to acknowledge the truth of them of the either. "And why do you care... really?" Esmeralda was quiet so long, Charisma sighed again. "Es? Please?"

"I know because you both talk to me... you talk to me when you should be talking to each other." She grew quiet again, but this time Charisma waited, instinctively understanding that whatever Esmeralda had to share was harder... because it probably involved Saphira in some way. After a bit, Esmeralda took a deep breath and continued, though her voice was so low, Charisma was forced to concentrate to understand her words.

"I told you our story - Saphira's and mine," angling her head to so she could see Charisma's agreement. "Your story is similar to ours - including your reactions to the pain you're going through, and it kills me that you're choosing to be miserable."

"Do you understand what you're asking us to risk?"

"Do you understand the reward is worth the risk?"

"You're assuming everything's just going to work out... like it was some kind of freaking faery tale that always has a happy ending!"

"And you're so afraid to be happy that you won't even try!"

There was no more conversation the remainder of the ride back to Esmeralda's.

************

Charisma dropped Esmeralda at home, innately understanding that a little space would be appreciated, and still prickly over Esmeralda's accusations. Besides, it wasn't like there wouldn't be a steady influx of visitors during the day; everyone had sat down together the evening before and worked out a schedule between them to ensure that Esmeralda would have a stream of company throughout the day. So Charisma waited for Esmeralda to close the door behind her after she entered the house, then turned her vehicle towards her home, knowing no one was expecting her back so early, but unable to stay any longer with Esmeralda's words echoing in her ears.

Esmeralda wasn't surprised to find Matilda and Ruby still ensconced in the kitchen when she finally made her way into the room, but she was a bit startled by Amber's presence. Not that Amber didn't have every right to be there or that Esmeralda didn't appreciate it more than she could say, but Amber tended to shy away from interacting with mortals on the Earthly plane. She said it messed with her Guardian mojo, but Esmeralda knew it had more to do with making their punishment too real.

So she smiled slightly when she saw Amber sitting at the table, making small talk with Ruby and Matilda. She walked up behind her and slipped her arms around Amber's neck, whispering "Thank you," softly into her ear. Amber pulled away just enough to look into Esmeralda's eyes, gently cupping her cheek and studying the myriad of emotions swirling through the flat gray.

"Everything okay?" she asked, knowing Esmeralda would understand what she was really asking. Nothing was even close to okay in their lives anymore, but Amber needed to know if something more had happened, or if Esmeralda had somehow overheard Michael's news. Frankly, Amber didn't want to be anywhere near ground zero when Esmeralda made that particular discovery. No one and nothing would be safe.

"Mr. Prescott called. Charisma drove me over to say goodbye," Esmeralda answered without emotion as she slipped into her chair at the head of the table. Amber's brow furrowed.

"Why didn't you say something, Es? I'd have gone with you."

"I know, Amber, but I needed to do this by myself. I needed to say goodbye... without an audience."

"Charisma didn't go in with you?" Matilda queried.

Esmeralda shook her head. "I asked her to wait in her truck."

"Speaking of... where is the good Senator?"

Esmeralda shrugged, not willing to disclose in front of Matilda the words she and Charisma had exchanged. "I dunno - to work, I guess. The government doesn't stop just because my world came to an end, Amber."

Ruby held up a hand before Amber could open her lips. "I'll bet she headed home so someone else could visit," giving Amber a significant glance, implying knowledge of fact. "People were tripping over one another here yesterday, and she came by herself this morning. I wouldn't be surprised if we had a steady trickle of visitors all day."

As if to confirm her words, there was a quiet knock on the front door, and Ruby excused herself to answer it. Matilda turned her attention to Esmeralda. "I know you don't want to talk about Saphira and I'm going to respect that; but I would like to stay a while longer."

Esmeralda gave Matilda a sad smile. "Matilda, you're welcome to stay as long as you'd like to."

"You realize I'm gonna feed you, right?"

Esmeralda chuckled lightly. "I wouldn't expect anything less of you, Matilda. You've been feeding me almost since we met."

"Well, I have to do something, honey. You were so thin...." She gave Esmeralda the once-over, even though half of her body was hidden by the table at which she was seated. Matilda cocked an eyebrow. "You still are, despite my best efforts, but we'll just keep working at it," she continued without giving Esmeralda a chance to protest. "Joe will be here around lunchtime with a pot roast, and I expect you to make a good effort," she instructed.

Before Esmeralda could response, Patrick crossed the threshold and walked directly to Esmeralda, kneeling in front of her and taking her hands in his. He didn't speak, having been instructed by Ruby about Saphira being off-limits - instead, he simply gazed at her, conveying all the love and sorrow he felt. Esmeralda loosened a hand and cupped his cheek, giving him a small smile.

"Thank you, Patrick," she offered softly.

He nodded. "Anything we can do to help," he stated unequivocally. He squeezed the hand he still held before releasing it. Then he stood and took a seat between Esmeralda and Amber and began to fill her in on when the boys and their families would be arriving in town.

Before he was done, there was another knock on the front door, and once more Ruby excused herself to answer it. And so it went throughout the day - as she had predicted, there was a steady stream of visitors that came to offer their condolences, and though no one stayed long, Esmeralda was exhausted by the time the last one was ushered out hours later.

Amber had long since given up and Esmeralda had nodded her blessing - she understood only too well how overwhelmed Amber felt having to maintain her mortal, human state for so long... especially around so many Earth-born humans.

Ruby, on the other hand, had been a rock. She'd been in the business for longer than Esmeralda, and was well used to dealing with all types of humanity while in her corporeal form. Still, she was more than a little happy to be ushering Okasa out and locking the door behind her. She returned to the kitchen to find Esmeralda with her head resting on the arms she'd folded on top of the table.

"Es? Sweetheart?" frowning when Esmeralda visibly flinched.

"Please don't call me that, Ruby," she asked in a hushed tone. "It hurts."

"Oh Es..." Ruby said, shaking her head. "I'm so sorry. I didn't even think...."

Esmeralda gave her a weak smile. "It's okay, Ruby. I didn't either... until I heard it." She sat up slightly and ran her hands through messy hair. "I'm so tired, Ruby, and we haven't even gotten to the hard part yet."

"I know, Es, but we'll all be here for you, and we'll support you as long as you need us," leaving unspoken the fact that they could already see Esmeralda withering away from them. "I wonder where Brianna was?" she mentioned, changing the subject.

"Kay said something about her trying to put out some kind of fire on the Hill. I think she's still angry because I called her and Charisma out yesterday," Esmeralda added casually.

"So you think Kay was lying?"

"Not at all. I'm sure that's what Brianna told her. Whether Brianna was telling Kay the truth, though...." Esmeralda shrugged. "I'm sure if something really did go down on Capitol Hill we'll hear about it in the news... or one of the others will tell us about it," she added, scrubbing her face with hands that ached from the tension in them. "Where is everyone, by the way? I know they're not all watching now."

"Mal is watching Charisma and Kent, and Jade is watching Brianna. Mal is going to watch through the night and Coral will be taking her regular shift with Brianna. Opal and Indi will be with us tomorrow. After that...? It will depend on our needs."

Ruby watched as Esmeralda ran her hands over her face again, and reached out a tentative hand to offer support. "Es, why don't you go on to bed? It's already been such a long day, and tomorrow is going to be another just like it."

"Only worse," Esmeralda muttered. Ruby nodded her agreement.

"Only worse. Jade will be in soon, and we'll know if Brianna was telling Kay the truth or if she's still put out with you. But somehow, I don't think that would have kept her away from you. She's never struck me as petty like that."

Esmeralda sighed. "Me either, but you didn't see how angry she was yesterday. It may have been too much." She pushed her hair from her face once more, and leaned her shaking arms on the table to help her to rise from her chair. When she was certain that the floor was going to remain beneath her like it was supposed to, she turned to Ruby. "You'll let me know...?"

"If it's something important, Es, you'll be the first. But I'm inclined to let you sleep - you need the rest, and I don't think anything is gonna happen between them tonight or tomorrow at any rate. They love and respect you too much for that. However," Ruby hastened on before Esmeralda could speak, "if it's important, I'll wake you, all right? Trust me... I've been doing this a long time, kiddo."

That address got Ruby the barest sliver of a smile, but it was enough for her to feel a measure of success. She gave Esmeralda a tiny smirk in return and offered her an arm of support. Esmeralda grabbed it and squeezed lightly, then leaned forward and brushed a light kiss over Ruby's cheek.

"Thanks, Ruby. I don't know what I'd do without you."

Ruby patted Esmeralda's hand and opened the door to the bedroom before nudging Esmeralda inside. No words were necessary between them, and Esmeralda was tucked into bed in minutes. Ruby swept the blonde hair off Esmeralda's face, carding her hands through it gently in an effort to relax the tension she could see and feel. Only when Esmeralda's eyes remained closed and her breathing evened out did Ruby halt her ministrations and return to the kitchen. She hoped Jade would report in soon... with news.

************

Brianna had spent the day at the office - part of it anyway - but it wasn't for something that was going to make the news or be read about in the papers. And if Laura Maxwell had her way, none of what had transpired would ever see the light of day.

Brianna's phone had rung early - not that it was an issue. She'd been up for a while thinking about a lot of things... Esmeralda's words rolling round and round again in her head, until Brianna had decided that sleep was an elusive commodity she wasn't going to see that night. Instead, she slid from the bed she was sharing with Kay and pulled on her thick robe before leaving the room. Once the door was closed behind her, Brianna moved straight to the kitchen and heated up water for tea, letting it steep a good long time before she took it to the living room.