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Yesterday, Bridgette made a snowman by the pond of the Cooper farm. Button eyes, scarf, carrot nose, branches for arms. Nothing terribly exciting about that.

Today, she's gotten tired of looking at it. She's outside, with a short sword in hand, glaring at the snowman intensely.

With a cry of 'en garde!' she hacks at her snowman's lower torso. Marie, sitting a few feet from the snowman, watches with interest.

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"You need a smoother arc," Dinah remarks.

Uh. She means, she really disapproves! Yes!

Bridgette stops.

"Oh?" she asks curiously, eyeing the sword because she has no real idea what an arc means.

"Yeah," says Dinah, and she crouches by Bridgette, to put her hands on the sword over the girl's. Then she slowly moves the sword in a gentle movement that sweeps around.

"How does that feel?"

"Slow," Bridgette remarks.

"How come it matters so much?" she asks - not complaining (well, not much), but curious.

"It means you'll be able to hold the sword for longer without getting tired," Dinah says. "And if you swing, not thrust, you're more likely to incapacitate and less likely to kill straight away."

"So, thrust to kill, swing to hurt," Bridgette says.

Bridgette glances to her left then rolls her eyes. "Not like you have to know this stuff, Marie."

"Not really," Dinah says. "You'll never get a clean kill going for the stomach, and I am not teaching you to kill, Bridgette. Not ever."

Bridgette frowns, displeased.

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want you becoming a killer," she answers simply. "I'll teach you to defend yourself, and to help other people, but not to kill."

Bridgette is silent for a moment.

"You don't have to worry 'bout me becoming a killer," she says quietly.

Oh.

Oh.

Dinah tilts her head, not moving away from Bridgette and still as compassionate as she's always been around the girl.

"What happened, sweetie?"

Um. She wants details? Bridgette hadn't planned for this. Technically she's never actually killed anyone.

But she can imagine it. A lot more, ever since Katara's ghost told her that there might be away to bring Marie back.

Bridgette avoids Dinah's gaze, eventually finding herself looking at the house. "Let's go inside. I don't wanna-- it's cold. Out here. Please?"

"OK," says Dinah, all heart and entirely convinced by the little girl.

But she's still not going to teach her to kill.

She stands, hand moving to Bridgette's head. "Do you want cocoa?"

Bridgette holds a hand out, saying, "C'mere Marie. We'll kill Frosty later, 'kay?"

Bridgette's fingers close over thin air a few moments later.

"Sure. Cocoa's cool," Bridge replies, without any real enthusiasm.

"Or hot," Dinah says. "It'll warm you up."

Oh no! Fight between human girl and... some kind of ice pokemon, maybe!

Crobat will save you, little human!

"Crobat!" It swoops down and bites the snowman on the head.

HOLY CRAP AUGH COLD COLD COLD

You know, Bridgette was attacked by pterodactyls. Some kids would still have issues about that.

These kids haven't lived at the farm and seen Crobat around, of course. Bridge flinches at the purple thing's surprise attack, blinks, then grins.

Bridgette glances to her left, putting the sword down. "Calm down, Marie," she soothes, holding a hand out to stroke thin air at waist height.

Bridgette nods, not caring whether cocoa is hot or cold one way or the other.

Once inside, Bridgette will sit down on a couch in the living room - fortunately empty despite all the people here - without drying off her sword, which she puts on the couch next to her. Bridgette puts an arm around thin air.

She doesn't make a move to get cocoa for herself. That's what grownups are for.

Crobat cannot see Marie, of course. And at any rate, it is currently flapping wildly and spitting out snow. COLD COLD COLD!

It is not doing a very good job of looking threatening or really competent.

"baaaat..." Pleh! "crobat."

Oh yeah, let's make sure the human is OK!

"Batcro?"

With a mouth quirk at the insistence of Marie, Dinah spends a minute in the kitchen before bringing two cups through, observing the sword lying wet.

She decides to let it rust, and sits on the arm of the couch, leaving room for Bridge's imaginary friend.

"How are you doing, Bridge?"

Automatically, "I'm okay."

A moment of silence produces a muttered, "Sometimes."

Bridgette takes a moment from her sister to giggle. At Crobat's inquiry, she gives him a thumbs up, then turns back to talking to thin air.

"See, Marie? He's friendly. He was playing with me. Or she," she adds diplomatically.

Pokemon gender does not matter except in the day care and in a few isolated evolution-related cases!

"Cro!" Yes it is totally friendly! See how nice and harmless it is, little... um, invisible someone!

...where is this "Marie," anyway? "Cro cro?" Peer peer!

IT DOES NOT UNDERSTAND!

Bridgette gestures to thin air beside her.

"I'm Bridgette Dubois. This is my sister, Marie. Say hi, Marie."

Bridgette opens her mouth to reprimand her, only to stop. It's not like Crobat can hear what she said anyway. "She says hello," Bridgette translates.

"Crobat," it replies, smiling and hovering. Yay new friends! One of whom is confusingly not-there, but Bridgette seems to be pretty sure Marie is there, and that is good enough for Crobat!

"Bat bat?" It gestures to the decimated snowman. Was it a mean wild pokemon? Are there more?

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