A/N: Hi everybody! Here's another Ficlet written to Bucklewinner's AU. It was loads of fun to write.
ENJOY!
CHAMPAGNE WISHES AND CAVIAR DREAMS
Kasey stood alone in the scorching hot barren desert. It was just her, the cactus, and a sun bleached desert road...
It was midday and blazing hot...
She hitched up the backpack she was wearing and set to walking down that road...
Suddenly, the road which had been grey, loaded full of potholes, and missing in places, became brand new...It was now black, repainted, and smooth...
Kasey continued forward. Now she was sweaty, tired, and hot beyond compare. But she plugged on...not quite sure why...but she needed to move on...
Suddenly, a car honked from behind her. It wasn't annoying or anything just a bother...
Kasey didn't turn around...She didn't look...she had to keep going forward...
The car honked once again from behind...
Kasey nonchalantly waved it to go around her. The road was 2 lanes and there was no traffic out there but her. He could easily go around...
The car honked for the third time...
Kasey sighed and heaved the heavy backpack higher on her back...she wasn't going to give up her piece of the road...
The car honked for the fourth time...
Kasey bowed her head in defeat and then stepped into the sinking sand that was the shoulder...Unlike the cleanly paved and smooth road...This made her travel nearly impossible...Her feet sank instantly into the burning hot sand and then become very heavy...which made her backpack even heavier too...She was ready to cry but trudged on without looking at the car that had sent her there...
The car didn't pass her...Instead, it drove up so that it was even to her...the only way she saw him was the shadow that fell close to her feet...
The car still did not pass...
It honked once again...
Kasey finally looked up at it and gasped...It was dark, mysterious, and sleek...
While still moving, it opened its door to her...
Kasey jumped back and in that hot sinking sand, she nearly fell over because of the unbalanced weight of her backpack...
It paused next to her...The interior sending cool waves of cool air straight for her...
The blazing hot desert sun continued to beat down on Kasey unrelentingly...It had no intention of doing anything less than turning her into a smoldering pile of ash...
Curious, Kasey took a step forward into the cool breeze coming from the blacker than night mystery car...
The black car stood silently inviting. Its black interior showed no signs of being evil or villainous...
Kasey tentatively stepped a foot inside...It was cool inside the mystery car both physically and mentally...
The black mystery car made no movements...it stood invitingly still...
Kasey comfortably sat down inside the nice and cool car...its feeling was that of the future...It had a glow about the windshield and a ball-like thing in the center of its dash...
"That is not your seat." A smooth deep baritone voice resounded from all around her...
Kasey leapt from the car like it was on fire...she landed face-first in the soft silt sand on the shoulder of the road...
The mystery car didn't move...It stood silent and proud on the newly paved road...
Kasey tiredly picked herself up out of the scorching hot sand...She even spit out some of that sand…somehow it had found a way into her mouth...
The blacker than night mystery car then closed its passenger door and drove away...
Kasey chased after it for a second but the deep sinking sand slowed her down and soon the dark speck that was her savior was out of sight...
Kasey bowed her head and cried...She didn't know the mystery car...But already, she missed it...
Determined to find it once more, Kasey hitched up her heavy backpack, stepped lively back on the burning hot smooth asphalt, and fought both heat and exhaustion to follow the mystery car...
In the blink of an eye, it reappeared in front of her...She never saw it coming down the long heat wave molten road...It just appeared miraculously 5 feet in front of her in her lane...
Kasey leapt away from it once again...She thought for sure that it was going to run her down...
The black mystery car waited patiently for her to recover...
Kasey looked skeptically at it once more...This time, she saw a red light just below its hood line...The light moved back and forth hypnotically...
Kasey cautiously stepped back up onto the tar black asphalt in front of the silent mystery car...She then reached out and touched the red swishing light...
At her touch, the heavy back pack that she had been lugging vanished right off of her back...
Kasey didn't even acknowledge that it was gone...Her full attention was on the deep red flowing glow of the light before her...
The black mystery car then opened his driver's door...It was a silent invite and purposefully done...
Kasey curiously peeked around the dominating front of the black mystery car...she wished to see just how far open this door really was...
Not quite sure why, Kasey adventured over to the open door...
The black mystery car emanated feelings of protection, home, comfort, and family...it all seemed to bounce off of it like the reflections of the cactus around them...
This time, Kasey abandoned all caution and jumped inside the cool dark interior of the black mystery car...
The door calmly closed Kasey inside the very second that she was clear of it...It was silent and non-threatening...
Kasey curiously inspected her surroundings for the second time...It didn't even occur to her that that there was no one driving the car before she climbed in...
Kasey comfortably placed both hands on the steering wheel...
White hot bolts of electricity shot straight through Kasey's hands and into her brain...Fire Cracker popping noises and bright flashing white lights encompassed Kasey's whole being...
Suddenly, Kasey saw herself standing next to the mystery car content...
She then saw herself soaring down the open road laughing happily within the mystery car...
Then the image of her and the black mystery car reappeared and became clearer...It showed Kasey standing proudly and possessively next to the darker than night sports car...Her content grin was even larger...
Suddenly a second later, she was hugging a group of strangers considering them as family...there had to be at least 10 of them...their faces were blurred but she knew that she loved them all...
Then the image of her and the mystery car reappeared even clearer...And this time, Kasey could feel something between them...something more than car and driver...
That still image faded this time to show Kasey and the black mystery car working as a team...She was training in martial arts and defensive driving...The black mystery car was always by her side and the blurry family stood only feet away...She could feel pride growing within her...
The high midday sun lowered to an early afternoon level...but the single occupant in the blacker than the night car was oblivious to it all...
Just as the Kasey was getting acclimated to the feelings of the defense and offense training...the image of her possessively claiming the black mystery car re-emerged...
This time, she knew exactly what she felt...And what she was wearing said it all...
This was the first time Kasey had seen this image move...It was more like a picture flip book changing silently before her...
Kasey stood glowing in a long white flowing wedding gown...It was magnificent...But what she felt was more than magnificent...
Kasey felt LOVE...True...unadulterated Love...
Quickly, the gown was replaced by a set of jeans and a t-shirt...
For a while the t-shirt changed...then the jeans changed...but the picture didn't change...
Kasey always stood possessively next to the blacker than the night mystery car grinning like she held the world's biggest secret...
Kasey felt whole and complete...It was the best feeling in the whole wide world...
Then the jean clad Kasey grew bigger around the middle right before her eyes...she blew up like there was a tire pump constantly adding more air...
Just when the balloon-sized Kasey standing next to the mystery car looked like she was going to literally pop...She was thin again and there was a new figure in the photo...
A little nude red headed baby lay grinning from ear to ear on a sheepskin pelt on top of the hood of the black mystery car...
The Kasey in the picture stood lovingly staring at the new arrival...
Kasey felt her heart jump at the implication...That baby was hers?
As soon as the red headed baby in the picture grew from laying down helplessly to standing up grinning...The Kasey in the pictures began to balloon up again...
Kasey kept her eyes on the baby...As soon as the baby was old enough...She learned that it was a girl...She couldn't stop smiling...
Then the plump Kasey once again became herself and the sheepskin was back...
This time, Kasey saw a dark haired baby much bigger than the first...It was also laying nude on the sheepskin pelt on top of the black mystery car...Both the Kasey in the pictures and the red headed toddler grinned lovingly at it...
Kasey blinked in shock...Not one baby but 2? She was the mother of 2?
The flip book style presentation marched on...
The little red headed toddler grew taller...the black haired baby grew to be a wide-eyed curious boy...
Kasey looked on totally rapt by every little detail...
The little girl grew more beautiful by the second...And the dark haired toddler grew into a mischievous little boy...with dimples none the less...
Both children went from standing and grinning in front of the Kasey in the picture to sitting proudly on the hood of the mysterious black car...
Kasey knew how they felt...she could see the cohesiveness of a tightly bonded family before her...nothing could be better...
Just when the adorable little girl looked to be about 10 years old, the Kasey in the photo began to plump up again...
This time however, she was showing her age...wrinkles were forming under her eyes...And was that a double chin?
All too quickly, the sheepskin reappeared...this time, 2 babies lay atop it and grinning at the camera...
The babies were as adorable as they were big...One had the downy red hair that the little girl had when she was that small...and the other was a toe-headed blonde...
Kasey wished that there was a way to pause this constantly progressing slide show...there was so much to see and not enough time to see it all...
The twins quickly grew into toddlers...the little red head was a grinning, happy boy...the blonde, an adorable chubby girl...
The cute red headed girl - the oldest of the clan - grew into a gorgeous teen...her beauty could only be surpassed by her mother at that age...
The dark haired boy suddenly had a growth spurt and grew taller than his older sister in 2 frames...
The Kasey in the pictures grew older as the kids grew bigger...Her beautiful bright red hair grew dull and ashen...and her wrinkles became more prominent...
All of the sudden, the beautiful girl that had been the first born disappeared...the dark haired pimply faced boy was the oldest there...
He sat confidently on the very front end of the black mystery car with a twin on each knee...He had a hand curled around each one protectively...
Kasey felt the love he had for both of them and felt proud that that was her son...
All to quickly, he disappeared too...All that was left was the growing twins...Kasey...and the mysterious black car...And even then, Kasey could feel the love and devotion that that older Kasey felt for the mystery car...
Quickly, the twins began to grow into their teens...
The red headed boy was a smiler...he had freckles from ear to ear...and he was slender and handsome...
The blonde girl was close to her mother...in every shot, she could be seen standing next to Kasey hugging her middle...She was beautiful with blue eyes and a perfect smile...She looked like nothing would ever hold her back...
Then, the eldest reappeared...she looked like she had aged about 5 years but still had her mother's incredibly good looks...She wore the finest of clothes...
And on her arm...A new family member...A tall young man with honey brown hair grinned nervously from next to her...He looked like he was about to faint...but the girl had him braced...
Kasey couldn't believe what she was seeing...this was her family? Her next generation coming to be...She felt pride and love and happiness beyond what could ever be physically possible...
The next frame was the busiest one yet...
The red headed woman that was the first born was plump with child...The twins were both amazingly beautiful teens...and the eldest boy had returned...
The dark haired boy stood proud in his military blues...He grinned from ear to ear as he embraced his family in a group hug...
The Kasey in the shot was crying...Her tears belayed her true feelings of gratitude and love...She had her whole family back with her and the mysterious black car...They were whole once again...
Quickly, the pictures seem to fly by...
The pregnant belly of the oldest red head gave way to Kasey's first grandbaby...
Cradled tenderly within the red head's arms and surrounded by all of the family members...a tiny bald baby wrapped in a pink blanket peeked innocently out at the crowd...
The dark haired young man soon was no longer in uniform...Then he too was cradling a baby and looking lovingly and possessively down at it...
The twins...neither one disappeared like the older siblings...each seemed happy too...Soon, they both had an in-law hooked lovingly on their arms...
The Kasey in the pictures grew much older...She no longer maintained her long ashen locks...they had long turned white and brittle...and her perfect complexion had also seen the ravages of age...but that didn't stop her from smiling as she looked upon her ever-growing family...
The mysterious black sports car was an ever-present source of love and affection...all of the family crowded around and either sat or leaned against it familiarly...Even Kasey's hand never left his roof...not even in one shot...
Soon, more grandbabies came and the best shot of all popped up...
The two oldest sat proudly on the mystery car's roof...propped on their laps, 2 toddlers and a newborn...
On the hood of the black mystery car, the twins lay facing one another with 2 babies laying and grinning from the old sheepskin pelt...
Then, for the first time, the door to the black mystery car was open...standing inside, using the door for support...was the much older Kasey...
And as the pictures continued to flip by...the elderly Kasey continued to inch closer and closer as she seemed to grow more dependant on the black mystery car for support...
Also, the grandchildren and family members continued becoming more numerous...
Soon, there were more children gathered around the black mystery car than Kasey could count...
But, the elderly Kasey now sat inside the black mystery car...It was pretty obvious that she didn't have long for this world...
But that didn't stop the whole family from grinning ear to ear...they had gathered on all sides and looked in at Kasey lovingly...
The huge troop of grandchildren were scattered about...most looked like they were playing...some looked like they were grinning at the camera in pure innocent joy...
2 frames later...the flipbook came to a sudden stop...
The normally jubilant flock of family members who had always been grinning and laughing since the day that they were born...all now wore black...
They, including the youngest standing grand baby, all stood hand in hand in a circle around the black mystery car...they all had their heads bowed in grief...
Kasey could see the track marks of recently fallen tears staining the painful faces of her family...the older children and adults all looked like their very hearts had been ripped out painfully...
The younger children all looked devastated...some, like their parents, had obviously been crying...while others were pale in shock...their little knuckles were white from clinging so hard to the ones next to them...
The black mystery car which had always been a bright and glistening center of the family...now stood alone in the family circle...his once shiny black reflective surface was now a dull hazy grey...his once tall and confident stature gave way to a bowed look like all of the air had been sucked out of his tires...
And the spot where Kasey's beautiful hand had lain for decades...there was a perfect imprint of her palm right down to the faintest of fingerprints...
It was glaringly obvious to Kasey and to anyone else that may have looked at this final picture...the black mystery car was in considerable pain and grieving...
Kasey felt the same sadness and grief...Just seeing that once boisterous and smiling family now bowed and crying, made her cry...and this wasn't just a slight 'I'm sad because everyone else is sad' cry...Kasey really felt the deep pain and loss...
Suddenly, the red headed daughter that had strikingly looked identical to Kasey looked up at her...She let go of the hands that she had been holding while in the circle...
The rest of the people in the frame were still lifelessly frozen in time...and still the picture of grief...
She walked confidently over to the Real Kasey that had silently watched this slide show of herself...
She looked Kasey dead in the eyes and asked..."Why did you have to die? Can't you see that we need you?"
Kasey Tanner sat up bolt-right out of a dead sleep. She was panting breathlessly, sweaty, and confused. She could still see the last devastating picture in her head. And the woman's words were still ringing in her head.
'Why did you have to die? Can't you see that we need you?'
Kasey blinked groggily and remembered little by little just where she was. She was still at the orphanage. It was obviously nighttime because it was pitch black all around save for the glow-in-the-dark clock clear across the room from her.
"Kasey?" A very familiar voice whispered almost silently from next to her. "You okay?"
Kasey looked over at her best friend for the last 5 years, which is a long time considering that she was 12, and barely recognized her. Kasey's mind was still playing catch-up from that very vivid dream.
"Yeah Anna...I guess." She replied slowly as reality began to make sense once more. Kasey remembered that she was just 12 years old. She was an orphan. And until she made lemonade out of life, she was stuck with just the sour lemons.
"You were crying in your sleep Kasey." Anna whispered to her worriedly. "You woke me up. Are you okay?"
Kasey sighed releasing some of the pent up tension she still had left. She then noiselessly slid off of her stiff cot in one fluid motion and sat at the end of Anna's. She gave her best friend a sad and distant look.
Anna sat up in her cot and hugged Kasey. "You're not okay, are you? You know that if Miss Matthews catches us, we will have dish duty for a week."
Kasey hugged Anna tighter and then cried.
"Wow. That must have been some nightmare. Need to talk about it?" Anna asked truly concerned.
"No. If you tell about your dream out loud before breakfast it might not come true." Kasey whispered with a grin, the first one that Anna had seen since Kasey woke up.
"I don't get it." Anna whispered confused. "You were crying but you want it to come true?"
"Yeah, I didn't want it to end."
"Wow." Anna whispered. "You're gonna have to tell us after breakfast then."
Kasey grinned knowingly at Anna. She knew that Anna was definitely going to tell their 'sisters'. So yeah, she was stuck for sure.
Kasey then suddenly turned serious again. "Do you think that there is a family out there that wants us?"
Anna hugged Kasey again. She then whispered in her ear, "Don't do this Kasey. Don't beat yourself up over something you have no control over. WE are family. You, me, Kelsey, and Renee. We're sisters. And if anyone tries anything stupid against one of my family, then they have to answer to me. And I bet ya, the rest of the family too."
"KASEY! ANNA!" yelled a very firm and high-pitched voice. "You have dish duty for a week!"
They both sighed defeatedly, "Awe Man."
"And Kasey?" The mean woman began.
Kasey stood up off of Anna's cot. She bowed her head in submission and whispered, "Yes, Miss Matthews?"
"For leaving your bed," Miss Matthews sternly chastised. "You have laundry duty for a week starting tomorrow. Now go to bed before you get diaper duty in the toddler unit!"
"Yes Ma'am." Kasey nodded quickly and then jumped into her stiff cot.
"And that goes for the rest of you too!" Miss Matthews growled warningly. "I hear even a peep out of any of you or catch you out of your assigned cot, you have diaper duty for a week! Lights Out means LIGHTS OUT! Now, go to sleep!"
"Yes Miss Matthews." The whole room replied in unison.
Kasey silently flopped down on her stiff cot. Her mind still couldn't let go of that vivid dream. Could she really have a family out there thinking about her? Was there a black car out there somewhere that was going to change her life?
Kasey shook her head to try to chase away her musings. Only the weak ones dream of the possibilities.
"Psst...Kasey?" Anna whispered from the next cot over. "You asleep yet?"
Kasey rolled over to face Anna as silently as she could in her tiny cot. Once she was still, she whispered, "Yeah?"
"Good." Anna grinned. "I wanted to tell you. Don't wash my red shirt with all of the whites. I don't wanna go to school tomorrow in pink underwear."
Kasey snorted a laugh. Then both girls laughed out loud uncontrollably.
"KASEY TANNER! ANNA STRIVER! YOU HAVE DIAPER DUTY FOR A WEEK!"
Both girls laughed harder.
"MAKE THAT TWO WEEKS! Wanna go for three?"
Kasey somehow finally contained her laughter. 2 weeks of diaper duty was more than enough. And now she felt soo much better.
Within 5 minutes, she was fast asleep content in the knowledge that Anna was stuck doing all of that with her too.