Disclaimer: Nothing owned.
Chapter 1
Traffic swirled past the small central park of the town. Leaves rustled in constant motion and the delighted shrieks of children sounded over the occasional honking from passing vehicles.
Benches dotted the scene, filled with indulgent parents. Mothers laughed at the newest rumors as their husbands clustered at a distance from them, pretending to not do the same.
Throughout the play area the children swarmed in mass to be the next one on their favorite equipment, the slide. There was biting, clawing, and hair pulling in the struggle to get further 'in line' and it was only a matter of time before someone's tears would attract the attention of adults.
However, one of these children had wandered away from the crowd and lingered in the shadow of one of the many trees within the park. The child crouched at the base of the tree, hand clutching her head and tugging at her hair.
"Oh god, oh god, ohgodohgod-" her eyes were widened, enough to give clear view of her dilated pupils.
Quick, shallow breaths caught in her throat. How- why?
Michael had promised- promised her that'd she'd go to heaven once she died.
Fuck that, she would have preferred to go to Hell than- than this.
Her head snapped up, eyes scanning for a sign. Any sign that this was a dream or- or one of those flashbacks people said happened before death, but even as she stared the multitude of children, information failed to reach her brain.
Everything was just happening too fast- too loud. The children were loud- the adults were loud- the thrice damned grass was too loud. Everything felt like too much.
Her small- tiny really, so very tiny- hands moved to cup around her overly sensitive ears. Why was this happening? Whywhywhy- ?
Red caught her eye, red hair to be exact.
She stared blankly towards the source, not really processing what she was seeing.
Oh.
…oh.
A little red-headed girl, maybe five years of age- around the age she calculated her own physical body to currently be. Natalie.
She bolted to her feet. Natalie! She would know what to do, wouldn't she?! She'd been through so many crazy things- more so than herself! Of course Natalie would have been brought back here, too-
Before her first step forward could be even taken, little Natalie turned to her, eyes searching. What do you want?
She froze. Yes, this was Natalie. No, she wasn't the Natalie she had grown to admire over decades of interaction. Those sparkling, green eyes held none of the well-earned confidence that came with going through the worst that the world had to offer and come out mostly unscathed. The confident eyes that dared the world to try again.
She swallowed the bitter pill of disappointment and shifted her gaze away, shoulders slumping in defeat. Nothing, sorry.
So Natalie hadn't come back, too. She didn't remember living to her late nineties. She didn't remember lying on her deathbed, surrounded by friends both human and not. She didn't remember dying. And…
She didn't remember waking up in a younger version of her own body.
So... uh, no clue where this is headed exactly, or if it'll be continued, but I needed to get it out of my head. As some people know, I'm very into the Time Travel genre, so of course my first fanfiction would be in that category. It hasn't been beta-ed or anything so large chance of there being huge mistakes. Hope you enjoy~!