Disclaimer: I don't own W.I.T.C.H. or any of its characters.

The Will to Live
Chapter 1: It Begins
By: Kadeana

Will Vandom dragged herself out of bed. She looked at her clock; her eyes vacantly locked on the numbers. It was seven on the dot, past time to get ready for school. She groggily looked at her calendar. It read, July 28.

Oh great, she thought. Every year on this very date, Will found herself in a serious funk. She had no explanation for it and didn't want one.

Her mother seemed to float in her room. "Will, you are going to be late for school," she declared in an accusatory tone.

"Yeah, so?" Will muttered.

"I foresee grounding and detention in your future if you don't pick up the pace!"

"Yes Mom," Will replied.

What is wrong with her? Her mother thought. She had been anticipating a verbal battle, but instead Will complied without a fuss.


Her companions, fellow guardians, and best friends noticed her mood while they sat in the Lin's restaurant. She sat at their usual table with her head resting against it.

"Um, Will," Irma Lair said suddenly.

"Hmm," Will replied. She did not bother to look up.

"Are you okay?"

"Because you seem kind of out of it," Taranee Cook explained.

"You've barely touched your soda," Hay Lin said brightly.

"And you look like Blunk picked out that awful assemble," Cornelia Hale declared frowning in distaste.

"I'm fine . . . I'm not out of it . . . I'm not thirsty . . . I'm wearing what's clean," she mumbled still not looking up. What's clean meant nothing she had on matched with anything else.

"I'm not out of it, doesn't solve the riddle of why you ignored Matt today in study hall," Taranee persisted.

"He was being a pest."

"But you like Matt," Irma reminded her.

Not today I don't, Will thought. You guys aren't too hott today either.

"And he's this close," Hay Lin held her index finger and thumb an inch apart, "to asking you to the dance," she finished happily.

"I doubt Mom will let me go anyway."

"She shouldn't have let you out of the house looking like that," Cornelia mumbled. Her blue eyes widened. "Did I say that aloud?"

"Will you continue pretending not to flirt with Caleb and leave me alone," Will mumbled back.

"Fine," Cornelia huffed. "And I don't flirt with Caleb." She blushed prettily.

"Please," Irma muttered sarcastically.

"Will, tell us what's bothering you," Hay Lin commanded sweetly.

"I'm just having a very bad day," Will relented softly. "Look, practice is off. I gotta go." She stood up to leave.

"What!" Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, and Hay Lin exclaimed.

"See ya when I see ya," Will replied. She picked up her backpack and hurried off. Caleb, who had just walked in, moved aside before he was stepped on.

He rushed to the other Guardians. "What's wrong with her?" He asked.

"Bad outfit . . . bad hair . . . bad attitude, where do I start?" Cornelia replied.

"She's just having a bad day," Hay Lin replied.

"How can a day be bad?" Caleb asked.

"It's an expression, Cave Man," Cornelia said.

"She's not feeling like herself?" Irma explained patiently.

"Oh, then whom is she feeling like?" Caleb inquired. The four guardians hit their heads in impatience.

Will stood on the Old Williams Bridge looking down at the huge body of water below her. Nine hours left. Anything horrible could happen in the hours to come. Now that she was the Guardian of the Veil, her feelings were intensified. Dread crept through her blood stream. "I'll just have to be on my guard," she said determined.

"Hey!"

Will almost had a heart attack as Blunk climbed up beside her. "Would Will be interested in this?" he asked grinning. He offered her a Ukulele. "Good bug catcher."

"No."

"It also makes horrible sounds when provoked," Blunk revealed smiling.

"Wow . . . but no," Will said in boredom. "Go away."

"Blunk hungry."

"Will doesn't care if Blunk starves!" She snapped. The ugly little passling actually looked hurt. No need to take out your feelings on him, she thought. "Sorry, so sorry," she said sucking in a long breath. She fished her now flattened lunch out of her backpack. She gave it to him smiling. "It's not much but it's food."

She watched almost amused as Blunk opened the bag and found the goodies. "My mom made that tuna sandwich," she said. "It's disgusting, but you'll probably like it." Blunk ate the sandwich like it was the best thing he'd ever eaten. "You're weird and you smell but you're not all that bad." Blunk grinned.

A tracker appeared at the end of the bridge and Blunk smelled him. He dropped the lunch bag, screaming.

"What is," her eyes widened in shock when she saw the tracker, "wrong?" she finished lamely. "Blunk you better get out of here."

She pulled the Heart of Kandrakar out of her pocket. As quick as lightening, the Tracker hit her hand with his whip. "Oww!" She exclaimed dropping the Heart.

The tracker's dog ran toward them, as Blunk picked up the Heart. His intent was to give it back to Will. The huge dog snapped at them. They both jumped back colliding with the railing. The rotting wood railing snapped against their weight. They both fell.

While falling, Will reached out her hand for the Heart. Blunk threw it to her. As she caught it, a weird red portal opened up under her. She fell inside it.

The Tracker, rubbing the dog's head, waited until he heard the two loud splashes before disappearing back from whence they came.

Twenty minutes later, a drenched Blunk hurried in the back room of the Lin restaurant. He'd made it to shore, holding on to a piece of the railing. The Guardians, Caleb, and Yan Lin were there. "Hurry, follow Blunk!" He commanded out of breath.

"How about, no," Cornelia replied.

"Will and Blunk attacked by Tracker," Blunk revealed. "We fall off bridge before Will change." The others gasped. "Blunk can't find Will."

Under Blunk's direction, the others, including Yan Lin, made it to the bridge at record timing. They looked frantically over the railing for Will.

"We fall right there," Blunk pointed out where a section of the railing was now gone.

"She has to be alright!" Hay Lin wailed. "Will!" She heard no answering call. She yelled her name again.

"Irma, can you part the water?!" Yan Lin demanded.

"Not out of my guardian form," Irma whispered.

"I'm going down there!" Caleb declared.

"No, Caleb," Cornelia whispered frantically.

"She could drown," Caleb argued.

"Odds are, if she didn't make it to shore like Blunk, she has already," Taranee said in tears.

"No, we just have to get down there and search the shoreline," Hay Lin commanded. "I know she's somewhere down there."

"If Blunk made it, of course she did too," Cornelia said hopefully. "We just have to find her."

"Powerless Guardians." They all looked over to see Cedric. The big reptile had a wicked grin decorating his face.

"Cedric," Caleb spat.

"Where's Will?!" Taranee demanded angrily.

"If evil is willing, dead," he replied.

"You're going to pay for this!" Cornelia threatened.

"What are four powerless little girls, one passling, a wannabe rebel, and one old bat going to do?" He asked smirking.

"Kick your scaly butt," a familiar voice said from above. Will's voice. They all looked up. A guardian levitated in the air high above them, her long red hair whipping in the breeze. "Guardians Unite!" She held out the Heart.

"That's not Will," Caleb declared as the girls transformed.

"Hay Lin, Taranee get Mrs. Lin to safety!" The unknown guardian commanded after the girls had transformed. "We'll take care of Cedric."

"Okay." Hay Lin gently grabbed one of Yan Lin's arms. Taranee grabbed the other. They took to the air holding on to her gently.

"Earth!" Cornelia called. Cedric stood just at the end of the bridge. A large plant grew between him in the two guardians as they made their retreat.

"Thanks Corny!" They called.

"Water!" Irma called. A blast of water shot from her extended hands hitting Cedric. Cedric just gaped at the new guardian. He did nothing to dodge Irma's blast.

"Who are you?" He asked in horror. They watched the girl fall. They watched the passling's desperate search and then dash to find her help. Without their leader the other Guardians should be powerless. This was an unexpected development.

"Will, the Guardian of the Heart of Kandrakar," she replied smirking. "And you are about to be an a whole lot of pain." She extended her right hand forward. A pink energy beam formed at her command. A beam their Will could not possibly have made. She threw it at him.

Cedric went through the portal, before the beam hit him. Will extended her arm to the left. The beam changed course and flew harmlessly down in the water below. She flew over and closed the portal. She landed on the ground gracefully where Cedric once stood.

Hay Lin and Taranee came zipping back at this time. They landed by Irma, Cornelia, and Caleb. She held out the heart. They all changed back into their normal clothes. The girl was drenched. Her blue sweater and pants clung to her.

"Um, who is that?" Taranee asked.

"Me," she replied.

"Me who?" Hay Lin asked happily.

"Will," she replied as if Hay Lin had lost it. "Who else?"

"Okay, the Will we know is about so high," Irma demonstrated Will's height with her hands, "She has chin length red hair, and she can't throw energy beams to save her life."

"I assure you, I'm Will," she replied. "This is the weirdest thing that ever happened to me."

"I'd say," Cornelia muttered. It's not an everyday thing for a fourteen-year old girl to suddenly have the body of a twenty-year-older. A very proportioned twenty year older with long red locks. The world was so unfair. Why couldn't something cool like this happen to her?

"Did something happen to make you age rapidly?" Taranee asked.

"I'm from the future . . . I think," Will replied. "Judging from Irma's statement about me not knowing how to form energy beams, I'd say I jumped back about four years."

"Four years?" Hay Lin asked shocked. "You're like eighteen."

"How cool is that?" Irma demanded in awe.

"What's it like to be the ultimate age?" Cornelia asked brightening.

"Cool," Will answered lamely. Being eighteen sucked, in her honest opinion.

Caleb could only gape at Will and her news. In four years, Will will look like that?! He could not look down on her anymore; she was his height.

"Where's our Will?" Taranee asked softly.

"Ahhh, I'm guessing my time," Will replied thoughtfully.

"How could this happen?" Cornelia wondered.

"I don't know," Will replied. She walked passed her younger friends. She walked to the broken bridge railing where she'd jumped to end it all. Fate had brought her here instead.


A/N: That's the first chapter. For the life of me, I couldn't remember the name of the Lyn's restaurant. More will be revealed soon. The rating is T because of what Will tried to do but failed, causing the weird events of this story, and for other situations.

A/N 2: I changed a few things. I also just dropped the Wilma. I had no idea it was the wrong name. Every site I went to for info called her Wilma, and only one was different. Sorry . . . .

A/N 3: I am editing this story.