Title: Dreaming of Memories
Set: After the series has ended.
Summery: "Charlene's dorm room is empty and cold… There is no magic here." Her first night at college, Charlene finds herself struggling to let go of her past as a Keeper. Oneshot.
A/N: To be honest, I never meant to post this. But the idea came to the forefront of my mind again this week, so I went ahead and made some revisions. We'll call it a celebration of KK5 coming out in 18 days. ;) I can't wait! (And just a quick note: I have no idea what college dorms look like, beyond what I've seen in movies. I've probably taken some artistic license with this. So… just bear that in mind, I guess.)
Disclaimer: I do not own Charlene Turner. The Kingdom Keepers and all characters belong to Ridley Pearson. The Magic Kingdom and Cinderella Castle belong to Disney. ;)
Charlene's dorm room is empty and cold. There is no magic here, she realizes, and a deep shudder runs through her. She feels like she's in a fog as she hugs her mother goodbye, amid promises to call, text, or email at least once a day. Finally, she's alone, standing in the middle of a tiny room with white walls, an uncovered mattress, and a pile of luggage.
She's tired from driving so far, and thinks maybe it would be a good idea to get out some sheets. She digs through the suitcases one by one, until her new cream-colored set come to light. She stretches them out over the mattress and adds two fluffy pink blankets to the top. Her pillow is just below the sheets in the suitcase, and she pulls it out with a grateful sigh.
Now the dorm is white with a random splash of pink.
For some reason, this is sadder.
Charlene shuts the suitcase her sheets were in and returns to the largest of the bags. Fingers trembling, she unzips the front pocket and pulls out two pieces of cardboard stuck together. A small box of tacks tumbles out, as well.
With a yawn, Charlene stumbles to the bed and sits down. She peels the pieces of cardboard apart tenderly, until she can see the picture they were protecting. Seven kids in graduation robes.
Finn smiles up at her from the center. He has an arm around Amanda's shoulder, and she's laughing good-naturedly. Did whoever was holding the camera tell a joke? Charlene can't recall. Philby is on Finn's other side, holding his diploma up proudly, just in case anyone doubted that he graduated. Willa is shaking her head and grinning at him affectionately, holding his other hand with her own free one. She hasn't put down her diploma either, Charlene notices now, though it's less prominently displayed. Jess is on Amanda's left, smirking at her sister and looking for all the world like Maybeck's arm isn't around her own shoulders. Maybeck's eyebrows are raised at the camera, like "Can you believe these dorks?" And on Willa's other side, Charlene is beaming at the camera with both thumbs pointing skyward.
Her friends.
Her Kingdom Keepers.
Mentally, Charlene draws thin blue lines around each person in the picture. The sky behind them darkens, and the spires of a castle rise from the ground. That is who they are. That is what this picture should show.
Finally, slowly, Charlene pulls two tacks out of her box. The sky in the picture returns to normal, and the Castle fades away. The blue lines are gone. She kneels on her pillow and pins the photo very carefully to the wall above the bed, struggling to swallow around the lump in her throat.
She's so cold that she's shivering, and she reaches for the light pink hoodie she tossed on her purse earlier. She tugs it over her head, and smoothes out the white letters spelling "Disney's Magic Kingdom" across her chest before pulling the sleeves down over her palms and looking back at the picture.
There are still no blue lines.
Something falls in the hallway, and there is a started curse. It belongs in another world. Not Charlene's.
She blinks slowly, exhaustion tugging at her. She gives in and crawls under the covers, still fully dressed and wearing her shoes. There is a switch near her head, and when she flips it the room is plunged into darkness. There are no windows.
The picture is now directly above Charlene's head. Is it her imagination, or is it glowing faintly?
She dutifully closes her eyes. Part of magic is believing in what you pretend, she knows. That's what she's going to do.
Charlene is going to pretend that there aren't hundreds of thousands of miles separating her from her friends.
She's going to pretend that she's still in Orlando.
She's going to pretend that in just a few moments, she'll wake up glowing under a magnificent Castle in the happiest place on earth.
Charlene is going to pretend that she still has a Kingdom to Keep.
A/N: Yes. Short and slightly depressing. =/ I was in a rather bad mood and not looking forward to getting older when I wrote it. Also not much of a celebration fic… But hopefully you liked it. Please leave me a review! It would mean so much. :) Thanks for reading!
-Dovewings