AN: Hello guys! Welcome to read my new story. Finally I managed to finish the first chap. - this is hard, you know…

Shortly: this is a story about a girl, who discovers a lot of things about her past. (NOTE: This is not a romantic story between the main character and Holmes. As you know, that would be impossible and really disrespectful towards such a great character as Holmes.) I don't plan to do a romantic story at all, mostly adventures and so on, but I can't promise anything for sure. Who knows what kind of things may happen… ;)

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Happy Birthday!

A special day huh? That's what I thought while caressing my new, awesomely- cute acquaintance, which I had named to be Kisa. "Awww…you really are cute!" I said aloud, staring admiringly at the cat's soft, lightly grey-shaded fur, shockingly green eyes and strong, yet beautiful body.

"You know what, Kisa, I bet we're going to be really good friends" I said to her and smiled, for how long I've wished for a cat? For a long, long time I guess, I even can't remember it…

Anyway, this day was destinated to be the queerest day of my life as soon as I took the cat in my hands. Yeah, you got it… SHE did this to me. Sent me back to my great- great- great- greater- of- the- greatest grandparent that I've ever met.

But first, let me introduce myself.

I'm an average, 18-year-old female citizen of Helsinki. You do know where's Helsinki, right? No? Omg…let me give you a clue: does the word "Finland" ring a bell? You know, the country where Santa lives. (You know who's Santa Claus, right? OO) and no, there's no polar bears walking on the streets, nor penguins, and we definitely don't look like Eskimos. I'm just saying this because I've heard a lot of Americans asking this kind of questions in the tourist-agency, where I work part-timely.

I'm actually British. My dad is a pure- blood Britt, but my mother is from Finland. They met each other when my mom was studying there in the same University as dad. Besides my parents (John and Annika) and me, there are also my little sisters Elina and Krista. I've lived 50 of my life in London, but since my dad got a job at the Finish Embassy we moved here.

Oh, by the way, I live all by myself. No parents, no little sisters running all around the house making noises…A complete freedom… also, no regular meals, no pocket- money, practically no spare time either (It's a real wonder how much time cooking, washing and cleaning takes). 56,5m2 of my own space! Just what a space! Honestly… and for just for a 500€ ( 480£) rent per month…

That's what I call a robbery.

How do I look? I guess pretty well, thank you. Brunettes are in fashion again, so I don't have to dye my hair. (Not that I would anyway…I'm not really into all that fashion thing…I find it really annoying) Average height (170cm 5,6 ft.), stylish look, (not always à la mode, but you don't have wear top- fashion stuff to look good, right?) slightly tanned skin, brown eyes, etc. etc. Did I mention that Kisa was my birthday present? As my birthday is actually in winter (well, November is quite winter for me) and I'm all in studies and work, so, I don't have time to celebrate it. That's why, my parents decided to make a late- birthday party while I stayed with them during my summer vacations.

"Ah, It's so gooo- (yawn) oood to wake up late!" I rose, and putting aside my lovely kitty I dressed and went down to the kitchen accompanied by Kisa, who, as well as me too, was following the sweet scent of fresh baked pancakes.

"Wow mom! I haven't had your pancakes for YEARS!" I said and took a piece. Kisa sniffed the air for a while, but contented herself with a slice of a thin sardine, which my mother resolutely gave her.

" Well, since it's your so called birthday, I thought you would like some." My mother said and hugged me.

" Is dad working today?" I asked while she was serving pancakes to my younger sisters. Elina was only five and Krista had her 14th birthday few months ago, yet, still they seemed very distant to me, and as childish as they were before I left home.

Oh, and I haven't told my name yet. It's Holly. Yeah, since I was the first kid and we lived in England, my dad wanted me to have an English name, yet apparently they didn't have any trouble to give a Finnish name to the rest of my sisters… Well, it's true that Elina was born here, but… still…Everyone thinks that I'm an exchange student from England, and this people's pronunciation of names is really awful, so, it kind of starts to annoy me.

After breakfast, I said that I would take Kisa out, so that my mother and sisters could arrange all what it was needed to be arranged for the party. It was going to be a "surprise" party, so they refused my help, sent me out and ordered to stay away from the house till five pm.

Well, my life seems to be pretty simple. I am simple. And, I don't complain or anything, I like it living like this. But, sometimes when I feel really lonely, I keep thinking that what I'm living is no life. That there's something out there that I must experience, that only I can experience it… I thought that, maybe getting good grades and working hard I could fill that strange hole- like space in my heart, but I couldn't. So I waited. I'm not sure what exactly did I wait for. Maybe an opportunity, a chance, a hint from someone about something… I don't know. But what I know now is that something had listened to me, and made my wish come true through Kisa.

It was a remarkably warm, sunny day. Not hot, but nicely warm, with a cool breeze now and then. It's really queer that one feels rather sleepy at those kind of days, and so it was then. I walked down the road to the park and sat down in a bench holding Kisa in my arms, talking to her and wondering what kind of surprise party my parents have planned, who had been invited and so on. I remember that my last thought, before I lost my conscious, was that, in spite of a great deal of ducks in the little pond opposite us, Kisa didn't even try to reach them. I thought it was quite a weird behaviour for a cat to not show any interest at such things on which they normally would.

But then again, what did I knew about cats…

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I woke up suddenly, as if someone would have switched me on like a TV. I looked around myself and I wouldn't be honest if I said that I wasn't astonished at all. I was: more than ever before in my whole life. I was sitting in a large, old- fashioned living- room. A very old- fashioned living- room. It all seemed like a prepared stage on the theatre where a play was about to begin. Unfortunately, I saw very clearly that it wasn't a stage and there wasn't any play to begin. I jumped from my seat (a large, crimson sofa) and went to the window. The view was --- absurd!

"What on earth is going on?" I asked myself.

The sky was grey, the streets were grey, the houses were grey, even the people were grey. Only the coaches were exceptionally black and brown. "What a spectrum of colours indeed". I kept watching the people outside. They were wearing old- fashioned clothes (surprise, surprise!), very much like the style in 1900's. Wait… 1900? "This is nonsense!" I exclaimed in my mind keeping my eyes on the people on the street.

If someone has seen "The Village" of M. Night Shyamalan, (especially the end of it), I was feeling really quite the same like the girl Ivy would have felt if she hadn't been blind. "I'm in … NO. This is totally ridiculous!" I said aloud staring at the street.

"Is it? And what exactly, if I may ask."

I turned my head and saw a man seating on a big armchair. In spite that he was sitting, I could tell that he was very tall. I watched closely his face: sharp and dark deep eyes, bony cheeks, sharp nose and a high forehead with several furrows. His face was narrow and bony, his mouth merely a line in his face. "Certainly not an Apollo" I thought by myself.

"It is quite uncommon to find an unknown young lady sleeping on your sofa", the man said, "especially when no- one seems to had noticed her arrival at all".

I guessed that he was waiting for some sort of a reaction from me, but since I didn't know myself how I had ended up in that man's room I didn't say anything… and what I could have said to him, anyway?

"You don't seem to be around this place…?" He said looking at me firmly, but at the same time, kindly. "Your clothes…" He said, and I instantly understood.

The fashion of 1900's was much different than that of 2006's. I was wearing a bright- coloured summer dress, made of a slight, flowing material, sleeveless and ended just slightly below my knees.

I felt my cheeks getting warmer. "Ugh… This people gets crazy just seeing ankles under a dress…not to mention knees!" I thought while trying desperately to cover my legs somehow. I hoped that the man wouldn't turn up to be a pervert, though I was quite sure already that he wasn't… He didn't seem to be that sort of men.

"You would stand out of the crowd, even if you would wear something else". The man said to me, with a rather amused tone. "Will the young lady honour me by telling her name?"

" Holly. Holly Eve Watson". I said looking straight at him.

His eyes seemed to narrow a bit, as if he'd found out something interesting. But the expression lasted merely a second and his face returned to the previous stiffness with only a slight mark of curiosity left in his eyes.

"So you are English, after all."

" Yes, sir." I said and frowned. Why on earth had I called him "Sir"? This whole thing was obviously causing an effect on me. I was starting to feel a certain claustrophobical feeling. "Where on hell I am!" I asked again and again from myself. "Surely I can't… I can't be in 1900! Surely I can't!"

"Sir, you may find this a rather stupid question, but… what date it is?" I asked trying to sound as normal as possible.

" Sunday 19th of July 1906"

I felt like someone would have thrown a cold bucket of water on me.

"What! I mean—are you sure?" I asked him again.

"Well, I usually am." He said looking right at me.

I didn't know what to do. I was lost. I felt dizzy and my head start to ache. But a question kept stabbing my mind all the time…. "How?"

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"Ugh – what a smell!" I said in a loud voice.

"Are you all right? The man, whose name (I realized) I still didn't know, asked me.

"Yes, I guess I am – sir.."

"Sherlock Holmes".

"You must be kidding!" I said and stood up.

"No. I assure you, that I'm not joking." The man said. He was holding a tiny bottle in his hands. Smelling- salts, I guessed. So typical.

"May I sit here?" I asked pointing at the sofa. Sherlock Holmes… indeed. This was truly enough. "Please excuse me, but I can't believe that I'm actually seeing you alive right now… I always thought it to be just a story." I sat on the sofa and watched him. "Well, you really look like him, so maybe…"

" Well, you don't look ordinary either".

"Oh… yeah… I'm sorry. If I would have known, I would have chosen my outfit more wisely…"

"Surely." Holmes said and sat in the armchair opposite the sofa. "Do you want tea?"

"If it's no bother to you."

After few minutes Holmes brought a silver tray filled with two cups of dark tea and a little plate with biscuits. Seeing all that food I realized how hungry I was. "I've already told Mrs. Hubbard to prepare dinner". He said seeing my eager eyes upon the food.

"Thank You". I said with a little blush and great relief. " I guess you want to know more about me?"

"You aren't obliged to do so if you don't want."

"I haven't anyone else here, and I need--- a friend". I said and he nodded. "You know my name already. I'm coming from the year 2006".

It took two hours to explain and answer all what it was needed to him to know. His curiosity about the matter grew more and more all the time and if it hadn't been for the dinner, he would have asked much more things.

Particularly, he was interested in my family.

I found it rather odd.

" Why do you think you are here?"

"Why I what? Oh! … Oh… I see. Well, frankly, I don't know. I guess I was just somehow sent here. The last thing what I was doing, as I told you before, was that I was holding Kisa, and suddenly I felt quite sleepy, and then…Wait a minute…" I gazed at my arms.

Where was Kisa? Did she come here too? If so, what would it mean? Could Kisa be the key for all this?

"What are you thinking about?"

"Kisa"

"Do you think the cat did this?" He said and frowned.

"It's just an idea." I said and looked at him. "I am not sure about this, but this is not an ordinary matter, so I think that the possibility that it was Kisa mustn't be excluded. At least, not now."

"Watson is a pretty common name, isn't it?" He asked me suddenly. I looked at him demandingly. "What do you mean by that?"

"I think there's something that I should show you." He said rising from the chair and directed to an old bookcase from which he took an album. It was a photo- album. He flipped though it for a while and then pointed me a photograph. There was besides Holmes, a man and a woman, who apparently were just married when the picture was took. They seemed all very happy, and by the look of the man, he seemed to be very fond of her new wife. But there was something in this woman that bothered me. There certainly was something familiar about her…

"Oh my god!" I said and looked at Holmes. He just smiled at me without saying anything.

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AN: Okay, this was the first chapter. Let's move on... :) Please send reviews:)