Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 35th cycle. Now cycle 36!

Had the idea for this cycle back in July or August where I thought it'd be interesting to do a set inspired by tarot cards. My initial research then directed me to the cards of the Major Arcana, of which there were 22, so I combined two, which got me to 21, making this a cycle-long set of stories. Then I did more research, to find out about each of those cards, and what they can represent. Now I need to point out that it's a more or less basic approach. I don't go into the reverse meaning or other things, just this part. ** If you would like the document of info I've collected and based myself on, let me know and I'll send it, since it covers the next three weeks' worth of stories. ** Lastly, in connection to the first card, 'The Fool', and the journey through those other cards, this entire cycle will feature, in lead or supporting form, one Brittany S. Pierce...

"Your Future Too"
or 'The Hermit'
Brittany & Emma

Brittany had been sitting in class, doing her very best to pay attention to what her teacher said, even though her brain was fighting her the whole way, begging for rest. Most of the time, if she had a friend nearby, especially Santana, she could at least have them to make things easier, but there would always be that one class, where she was all on her own. She'd know a lot if not all of the others, yes, but she didn't talk to them the way she did with the others. So she had nothing better to do but to try…

This was where her mind was at, within an inch of a throbbing headache, when she was startled by the sound of her name and she looked up to find the teacher informing her she was being summoned to the guidance counsellor's office. So she got up, maybe a little faster than she should have, and she went on her way. She liked Miss Pillsbury… well, now. Things had been a little bit awkward at first, with the whole bird in her locker situation, but she was good with the Glee Club, and Mr. Schue trusted her, so… At least she was getting out of that class.

"Miss Pillsbury?" she stopped at her door, finding her in the process of arranging the row of pamphlets lined near her desk. She looked up.

"Brittany! Oh, good, please come in. Sit down," she indicated the chair.

"Am I in trouble?" she asked, careful.

"No, not at all, please," she indicated the chair again. and Brittany took her seat. Emma sat down as well. "Brittany, I… I'd like to talk to you about your future." The blonde's face shrunk into suspicion.

"What do you know?" she spoke in a hush.

"I know that… you're a Senior… just barely," Emma tilted her head, and now Brittany could see her file was open on the desk.

"Yeah…" she confirmed.

"I know that maybe not a lot of people look at you like you're going anywhere…" Emma gave Brittany a kind smile. Brittany wasn't too sure what she meant. "Do you ever think about what you want to do when you grow up?" the counsellor explained.

"I don't know," she shrugged. "When I was little, I'd ask for things… A pony, ice cream, pet frog… space ship… They always said 'sure, when you're older,' so I should be getting them soon, right?" she turned a smile to the woman sitting across from her, got another small smile.

"Okay, well what about, uh… your dancing…" she latched on to that. "Yeah, I mean, you can definitely take that and run with it, there are schools out there, specifically for that," she went on, staring back into the girl's eyes. "But you know it would go a long way for your grades to improve first." Brittany didn't reply, looking very much like she didn't want to be there anymore. Emma was used to that face; she'd seen it countless times in her line of work, not that she liked it. But she'd always do her best to remedy to it. "Have you ever tried getting tutors, or…"

"They don't like me..." Brittany shrugged.

"I'm sure that's not true…" Emma told her, but she didn't stay on that. "What about… What classes do you actually like?" Brittany thought.

"Glee Club?"

"It's not a class," Emma pointed out.

"Oh… History?" she tried.

"Really?" Emma tried not to sound surprise, but with just one word she didn't have that much wiggle room. "What do you like about it?"

"Santana sits next to me, and we…" the blonde started with a smile, while Emma closed her eyes.

"No, alright, I get… I actually meant are there classes where you like what the teacher is talking about, where you're interested to find out more?"

"Oh…" Brittany replied again, then, "No… Not really," she shook her head. "I try to, I really do."

"Yeah? And then what happens?"

"People laugh," her voice grew small, and Emma could feel her sadness radiating out, like it had been needing to get out. "Call me stupid… idiot… dumb… I've heard them all." Emma didn't talk, let the girl go on. She wasn't crying. There may not have been tears running down her cheeks, but there was emotion in their place. "I wish they'd stop… It kind of hurts after a while, and then I wonder… if they say it so much, then maybe it's true…"

"Brittany…" Emma finally spoke, and the girl turned her eyes up to her, two massive pools of blue on that day especially. "Do you think it's true?" The girl shifted in her seat. "Just… forget everything they say, or do, just focus on yourself, on what you think. Can you do that?" Brittany nodded. "Do you think it's true?" Brittany's eyes wandered to the side as she thought.

"No." She looked back to the counsellor, found her smiling.

"Okay, then that's what matters. That's your truth, just hold on to it. You can't let them get to you. Those guys, they're just going to assume things about you, and we all do that, at one time or another. But so long as you know where things really stand, then… you've still got the power. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah," the blonde nodded, with a careful smile.

"And you know what?" Emma suddenly had an idea. "How about I give it a try?"

"Give what a try?" Brittany wasn't following.

"Tutoring you. I could do that," she sat up in her chair, and Brittany's smile grew.

"You would?"

"Would, and will," she gave her word.

"Mr. Schue?" Brittany looked back. "Him too?"

"Wha… Oh, no…" Emma shook her head. Brittany looked back to her. Emma had given her a vote of confidence, and she could see all over her face just how happy it made her. "I can't promise you this is going to be easy, but you can't give up, have to keep going."

"I can do that," Brittany smiled.

Leaving Miss Pillsbury's office, she couldn't help thinking about what she'd said, about the future, life after McKinley. It had always seemed like something far away or almost impossible, but now it was different. She still didn't know what to expect, or what she really wanted, at least in terms of what she would do with her life. The things she had slotted into her future were not so much things as they were… people, or continuations of things she already had, like dancing… Now Miss Pillsbury had opened her to thinking about this brave new world of things changing, and growing… and now who knew what she could be, what she would be for the world…

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!