Hay Lin's Christmas Carol.
"Bye!"
"Bye! Merry Christmas!"
"You too!"
Hay Lin scowled at the smiling people. They had all dined here at her family restaurant. What was worse was that she still worked as a waitress instead of owning the restaurant. She was busy washing the dishes as the restaurant started to empty steadily. Tonight was Christmas Eve, something the people didn't want to miss after not celebrating it for years. Urgh, they didn't need it. Hay-Lin still didn't see why they had missed the stupid holiday. It was meant for family and well… She didn't have any. Her parents were stolen by her grandmother, who had acted as if she was the only one who understood her.
She felt tears coming up and started to rub the dishes harder. Once she was done she tidied the kitchen and walked out. Snow was falling outside and was enwrapping Heatherfield in a blanket of whiteness. She sneered but quickly hid it when she saw Alchemy and Martin. Both were kissing under the mistletoe and Hay-Lin had to repress more tears of anger and pain. Were they meant to torture her more? She was already reduced to serving people, this was something she didn't need.
The two love birds must have noticed her because they stopped there disgustful snogging. Martin grinned goofily at her while Alchemy blushed a bit. Hay Lin repressed the urge to roll her eyes, every negative sign of attitude would be reported to the "Oracle".
"Hey Hay Lin.' Martin said. "We were just planning to go. Have a happy holidays. I think we'll see you after Christmas."
Hay Lin smiled with a fake smile and waved them out before closing the door and locking it. She scowled at all the jolly decoration she was forced to put up. She hated this season. She hated it since the moment her parents died. It reminded her of the things she was missing.
She was ready to walk up the stairs to her old room when the bell rang.
"Don't they know how to read?" Hay Lin scowled as she stomped down the stairs. "Who would dare to come and…Oh. You've got to be kidding me."
Hay Lin glared at the small group outside in the snow. Irma, Taranee, Cornelia and Will were standing outside and Will was waving happily. Was it not enough for her to use Cornelia and Irma as babysitters? Did she have to torment her today as well? Hay Lin walked to the door and opened it slightly and poked her head around it.
"What?" She snapped.
Irma and Cornelia scowled at her while Taranee looked with sympathy at her. Will only raised an eyebrow.
"Wow. Bitch alarm. Sorry to burst your happiness bubble today, Hey Hay." Irma scowled. "We just came because miss Bigwig here said that you could use some company."
Somewhere that stung deeply. Hay Lin felt the urge to bite back but saw how Will nudged Irma and looked at her as if she was scolding her.
"Well, if you don't want to be here than just go." Hay Lin bit back.
"Oh believe me, I…" Irma started before Will nudged her again.
"Hay Lin. Christmas is a time that you have to spend with your friends and family and, seeing that tonight is Christmas Eve, I was hoping that…" Will started but was rudely interrupted.
"Oh please." Hay Lin hissed. "You four hate me and I despise you. I don't need you and you have your own 'families'. So why don't you just fuck off and leave me alone?"
With that she slammed the door shut. She didn't bother to wait and walked back to her room. The window was open and the voices of her former friends were dragged in by the wind. Hay Lin went to close the window but decided to listen a bit.
"Well that was fun." She heard Irma say in her usual sarcastic tone. "Can't wait to try it again."
"And to think we could've been at home, sitting by the fire place and drink some hot chocolate." Cornelia moaned.
"Why did we even bother to come here? She hasn't changed a bit." Irma complained.
"You shall see." Will replied. "She has changed, she just hasn't caught up yet."
"I hate it that you're going Oracle on our ass." Irma complained. "I thought we got rid of it when we stopped being Guardians."
Will laughed.
"I promise that, starting next year, I'll stop talking like an Oracle while I'm on Earth with you guys."
Hay Lin rolled her eyes and closed the window. Her resolve for next year was to avoid her former friends as much as possible, not counting the forced moments with Irma and Cornelia.
That night she went early to bed, hoping to forget the whole day. Tomorrow she would make herself some food and then go back to bed. Television would be no option and the Christmas Carols would be sung everywhere. Right before she actually fell asleep she heard the sound of footsteps downstairs. She grinned. Maybe she could have some fun during the holidays.
She softly descended the stairs to find white prints on the floor. She made a detour through the kitchen and took a knife, planning to kill the fool who tried to break into her restaurant. When she rounded the corner she found no one. She looked around, trying to find the white foot prints but they had disappeared. With a rather disappointed sigh she went back to her bed, leaving the knife on one of the tables. As she opened the door to her room she heard a giggle. She kicked her door open to see Will standing next to her bed.
"You! What are you doing here?" Hay Lin demanded, glaring at Will.
Will smiled only and placed a finger against her lips while pointing at the bed.
"Shh." She said. "She's sleeping."
Hay Lin raised an eyebrow and looked at her bed. To her surprise she saw herself laying in bed. Hay Lin turned to Will, who was grinning at her.
"What?" She said annoyed. "How is this possible?"
Will shrugged.
"This is your dream. Not mine." She said. "Though I would refrain myself from conjuring up anvils. I can still block them."
Hay Lin huffed and went back to her bed, walking past Will as if she wasn't there. Just before she wanted to take the place of her real body she felt Will's hand on her shoulder. She shrugged it off but Will turned her around, looking seriously at her.
"Tonight you will be visited by six spirits." She said. "And…"
Hay Lin rolled her eyes. She wasn't stupid.
"Oh please. Let me guess? They will show me my past, present and future?" Hay Lin sneered. "Will, do you honestly believe I'll be effected by that? This is not some dumb children's story."
Will smiled sadly at her.
"You now still believe that killing is the way to show that you are alive. That it's the only way to be recognized by your friends. You shall see that things are different than you think."
"I don't have or need any friends, Will." Hay Lin hissed angrily.
Will sighed sadly and looked at Hay Lin.
"You shall see." She said.
With that Will disappeared. Hay Lin only raised her eyebrow. Will had to be crazy to think that she would be effected by something based of a stupid children's story. She stepped back in her bed and the moment she fused with her body she shot up, eyes wide open.
"Can't she haunt someone else?" Hay Lin muttered. "It's bad enough I've got daymares. Does she need to add nightmares as well?"
She rubbed her eyes and looked through her room. Most of her old stuff that she'd left when she'd left the house was thrown out. The only things that remained was a stupid poster with the names of the girls on it, which she couldn't get off her wall, something she blamed Will for, and some old books. Ironically the light of a lamp post fell on one of the books on that shelf.
Hay Lin got up and walked to the shelf, taking the book out of the shelf. She sneered as she looked at the cover.
"A Christmas Carol." She said, her voice thick with spite.
She grinned softly as she walked to her window, still looking at the cover.
"Will, you've read too much fairy tales. I'm not afraid of ghosts." She muttered softly as she opened the window.
With a quick flick of her wrist, she threw the book out of the window. She closed it again and went to bed, planning on ignoring every warning those ghosts were planning to give her. The only thing that bothered her, before she went back to sleep, was that Will had spoken off six ghosts instead of three. She shrugged it off as she fell asleep once again.
[A/N] Hay Lin will refer to her younger self as well… her younger version. When Hay Lin is mentioned it is meant to be the older version.
"Wow…I'm boring!"
Hay Lin's eyes shot open. This was apparently the first appearance. She threw her blanket over her head, trying to ignore the voices that started to twitter in her room.
"Not boring, just old."
Hay Lin growled. She could easily recognize that voice.
"Oh! I think she's awake!"
Hay Lin felt how someone was poking her and she felt how her patience was wearing thin.
"WHAT?" She yelled after what felt like the hundredth poke as she threw her blanket off and stared angrily at the two teens in front of her.
Her eyes widened in shock as she not only looked at a younger version of Will but also a younger version of herself. Both were looking shocked at her and her younger version had jumped behind Will.
"No, I'm not just old. I'm cranky as well." She heard her younger version whisper to the younger Will.
Did she really had such an annoying voice when she was younger? She decided to ignore it and turned her head away from the two monsters of her past.
"So…You two are here to haunt me tonight?" Hay Lin said gruffly.
From the corner of her eye she saw how her younger version went to stand next to the younger Will. The two exchanged some looks before her younger version nudged Will forward. She rolled her eyes and turned her head.
"What? Don't you dare to face your future?" She snapped.
With some satisfaction, as well as some pain, she saw how her younger version recoiled. Will went to stand between them and glared at Hay Lin, making her glare back.
"Will, I really don't want to end like this. I'm mean." She heard her younger self mutter.
"Don't worry Hay." The younger Will said. "I will not allow that."
A snicker escaped Hay Lin. How ironic to hear this. It was maybe true that it wasn't Will's fault that she'd lost everything but Hay Lin couldn't help but feel a certain repulsion to her former leader.
"Besides, that's not why we're here." Will said, looking at Hay Lin. "We're here to bring you back to the past."
Hay Lin rolled her eyes.
"Don't waste your time." She said. "Just go back and let me sleep. Don't you have something called a bed time?"
"We can't leave until we've shown you the past." Her younger self piped up.
Had she really been that annoying? Hay Lin rolled her eyes and pulled her blanket back over her head.
"Leave me alone, you pair of twittering pests!" She said as she tried to fall asleep again, hoping to make the two disappear.
What she didn't see was that her younger version, as well as Will's younger version, went to stand on either side of her bed. They grabbed the blanket.
"One." Will counted.
"Two." Hay Lin's younger version said.
Hay Lin had the feeling the two were trying something and pulled her blanket down her head. She saw that Will and her younger copy were holding her blanket and both had a smirk on their face that predicted nothing good.
"What are you two…" Hay Lin sneered.
"Three!" The two of them yelled.
Hay Lin felt how she was being pulled away from her room and bed. She yelled as she tried to clamp herself to her blanket. The pulling feeling disappeared and she saw that she was standing outside. In her pajamas, with her blankets, on bare feet, in the snow. She heard her younger self and Will giggle and she glared at the two as she jumped on her blanket to stop the snow from freezing her feet off.
"Where are we?" She demanded through her chattering teeth.
"We're home silly." Her younger self said with a smile. "Look!"
She pointed at the window and Hay Lin looked through it. Her eyes widened and her heart stopped. Through the window she saw herself sitting with her parents and grandmother. They were all smiling and laughing while eating their dinner.
Was this meant to help her? It only made her feel worse. It was more like torture than anything else.
"Come! Let's go in!"
Before she could stop her, her younger self grabbed her hand and pulled her in. They just walked through the window, but Hay Lin had the feeling that it was because they were in a memory.
"I've got something for you Hay Lin."
"Joan, tomorrow is Christmas. Can't you wait with the presents for one more day?" Her father, Chen Lin, said.
"Don't be such a party pooper." Her grandmother said. "You never complained if you got your presents earlier."
Her father sulked as her mother gave Hay Lin's younger version a present. She opened it and out came a beautiful blue kimono. Hay Lin's breathing stopped temporarily as she could clearly remember that day.
"It's beautiful!" Her younger version exclaimed. "What is it?"
Her mother smiled as she hugged her.
"It's a Furisode. It means long sleeve in Japanese. My mother gave it to me at your age and I want you to have it."
Hay Lin recited the same sentence as her mother as tears were pushing to let be set free. That kimono should be laying somewhere on the restaurant's attic. She repressed her tears as she glared at her grandmother. The woman who had destroyed everything. She found it hard to believe that her grandmother was now enacting her evil plan as they were sitting there. Yet she had said it herself. Her plan had been running ever since she'd been a Guardian.
"Oh that looks so pretty!"
Hay Lin turned her head to see her younger self squeal in excitement as she looked at the kimono. She estimated that this version of her was about 15 years old.
"I can't wait to get it myself!" She said. "Grandma always said I looked pretty in Oriental clothing."
Hay Lin snarled.
"Yeah, don't think she loves you." She bit. "You see that? That's nothing but fake. Their love is not real. You grandmother never loved you and neither did your parents."
She saw the hurt in her younger self's eyes and had to admit that, what she'd said about her parents, didn't feel right. Not that she cared. They were dead and she was sure Will wouldn't send them to make her see how her present was or how her future would have been. She saw how the younger Will placed an arm around her younger self as her younger self shed some tears. Her copy smiled appreciatively at Will and then grabbed her hand. Before Hay Lin could pull back she felt the same pulling. The image of her sitting with her parents disappeared and a new scene unfolded. She was still sitting at the table, only this time the other girls were there too.
She saw how her past self was scribbling on Irma's arm while Cornelia was in a deep discussion with Taranee. Will was just laying lazily in her chair with her eyes closed and a smile on her face.
"Hey! It's our first Christmas together!" The spirit of her younger self said happily.
How could she be so happy now while she was nearly crying a couple of minutes back? Was she really that out of reality?
Hay Lin watched as more memories came to her. She remembered what she'd written on Irma's arm and what she had given that Christmas. Right that moment her past self went away, probably getting the presents. Her friends grabbed the presents from under the table and waited patiently for her past self to arrive. Her past self arrived with a small pile of packages and used a bit of her magic to make them fly at her friends.
Hay Lin herself snorted. The looks on the faces of her "friends" were all in wonder as they unfolded the clothing she had made for them. Irma had a fancy, blue cap with turtles on them together with some ocean blue gloves with a beautiful, white "I" on them. Taranee had an orange scarf with small flames on them as well as two pair of woolen, red socks. Cornelia had a green coat, decorated with flowers and a yellow, gold "C" on the left. Will had gotten a pair of pajamas, decorated with small swirling portals and a shiny "W" on the left pocket.
"Wow Hay Lin!" Irma complimented. "They're really beautiful!"
"And warm!" Taranee added.
"You should become a clothing designer. I could show them on the catwalk for you." Cornelia said as she flipped her hair.
"Guys, stop it." Her past self said with a blush. "I just made it for fun. I'm glad you like them."
"We don't just like them, Hay Lin." Will said with a grin. "They're spacious."
Hay Lin rolled her eyes. How dense had she been to think that they would stay her friends forever. They would betray her in some years. The only thing these images were doing to her was annoy her to no grounds. She knew that the things that she was seeing were fake. They would betray her and leave her. Her grandmother would make sure of that.
Again the same sense of pulling and she appeared back in her bed, with her younger self and the younger Will standing next to her bed. Both were grinning at her.
"So?" Her younger self asked.
"So what?" Hay Lin retorted. "I only saw the things I've seen before. And believe me, those things will change. You'll end up alone and there is nothing you can do about it. So leave me be. And tell those other ghosts that they can fuck off. I don't need to see more."
"Wow…I end up to be a real kill joy." She heard her younger self mumble.
She then shrugged.
"Oh well. She told us not to have too high hopes. I really hope you'll see what we tried to show you."
Hay Lin looked at her younger self as if she was crazy. The younger Will and Hay Lin grinned at her and finger waved before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Right at that moment Hay Lin shot up in bed, panting heavily and sweating a bit. She was sitting in her bed and she felt her feet. They were not cold while she was sure that she'd been walking in snow. She sighed annoyed as she let herself fall back in her bed.
"Is this your big plan? Deprive me from sleep?" She muttered annoyed at the ceiling. "Your stupid games won't work on me. Not since that trial."
She got out of her bed and went to put some socks on. She had the weary feeling that the next ghosts were planning to pull her into the snow as well so some socks would help, even if it was just a dream.
She stepped back in bed and slowly fell back asleep. Or at least that's what she hoped she had done when two new voices rang through her room.
"Sheesh. And I thought Ilana's room was boring."
"Ehren, we're not supposed to anger her!"
"So what? She can't hurt us in this dream! Besides it's just a couple of minutes and we'll wake up, having no recollection and we can continue with our other job. By the way, do you think we can ask a reward for doing two missions at once?"
"Aren't you exaggerating? We're asleep on the job to use powers we normally don't have to show Miss Lin about the present."
Hay Lin sighed and got up. She was looking at two of the new Guardians. Both were dressed in green suits with couple of golden buttons. Elvin ears were visible and a green hat with a little bell was placed on their heads. She actually grinned at the sight. She could easily remember that day that she had to walk around in that outfit. Never had she been so embarrassed…Or excited. She pushed those thoughts away as she looked at the two Guardians. The two recoiled when they saw the creepy smirk that had formed on her lips.
"What?" The one with orange hair asked.
If memory served Hay Lin correctly she was now looking at the Water Guardian and Earth Guardian.
"Santa duty?" Hay Lin asked bored, hiding the humor she felt.
The Water Guardian groaned loudly while the Earth Guardian looked sympathetically at her.
"How come every one of those old coots know about this? It is not funny!" She groaned.
"Don't believe in Santa, huh?" Hay Lin added, recognizing the behavior.
"I swear…How do you people even know!" The Water Guardian groaned.
Hay Lin rolled her eyes while the Earth Guardian grabbed the shoulders of the Water Guardian.
"Chill Ehr. The quicker this is done the quicker we wake up. And then we can finish the other job. Besides, it's only for tonight." The Earth Guardian said.
"True." The Water Guardian muttered. "But I will file in a complain. Mark my words!"
Hay Lin sighed annoyed while the Earth Guardian snickered. This was so boring. She got up and put some shoes on while the two kids looked strangely at her.
"What are you doing?" The Earth Guardian asked.
Hay Lin ignored the question and got up, her boots tightly around her feet.
"Okay. Show me whatever you're supposed to show and let's be gone with it. I want to have some normal sleep." Hay Lin said terribly annoyed.
The slight edge in her voice made the two recoil back and she smiled. At least there were still people who knew of whom they should be afraid.
"Sure." The Water Guardian muttered. "I rather sit with Ilana doing my math than stay here too long anyway."
The Earth Guardian nudged the other, looking frightened at Hay Lin. Hay Lin had to admit it felt good that they were scared of her, but somewhere it hurt as well. It didn't feel as good as it did months ago. As if she was missing something. She shrugged it off as both girls went to stand next to her. They grabbed her sleeves as quickly as they could and Hay Lin felt the familiar tugging.
In no time they were standing outside, near a big house on the cliffs of Heatherfield. Hay Lin knew they had arrived at Irma's house. She snorted softly. Really typical of her "friends" to live near their elements. Irma and Andrew lived on the cliffs of Heatherfield in a rather big house, almost the size of a mansion. Taranee and Nigel lived near the mountains, where also the volcano of Heatherfield was laying dormant. Cornelia and Angelo lived in Angelo's dojo on the opposite side of her street but they spent a lot of time in their mountain house near Taranee's. Will and Caleb lived in Will's old home, where her heart lay.
Hay Lin looked at the two kids, who were shifting uncomfortably at her gaze. Why did Will have to send these pests? She could easily sent Irma, then Hay Lin could have a good fight. These were no fun… Fun? Did she really thought fun? Challenge. That's what she meant. Fun was merely an illusion created by a good challenge.
"So? What are you two planning? Showing me how Irma decorated her house?" Hay Lin snarled.
The Earth Guardian glared at Hay Lin, but she ignored it. She had seen scarier things than a rooky Guardian glare.
"Hey, it's not our fault that we're here." The Earth Guardian growled. "Just go inside."
Hay Lin shrugged and walked straight at the wall. She was assuming that the same physics would work here as they did in her previous "adventure". She was proved to be right as she walked straight through it and entered what looked like the living room. A Christmas tree was standing in the middle of the room, decorated with angels and light blue and silver balls. Small fires were hovering in it, which Hay Lin suspected to be the work of either Taranee or her successor's. A fire was happily burning in the fireplace next to it. Two couches as well as some chairs were standing in front of the tree and Will, Taranee and Cornelia were sitting in them. Cornelia was holding a cup of warm cocoa while Taranee was laying lazily on the couch. Will was staring into space and seemed to be out of it. Hay Lin had the very nasty feeling Will could see her.
"She can't see me, right?"
She silently cursed herself for voicing her concern. These whelps were not allowed to see anymore weakness of her. She saw the very cocky smile on the Water Guardian's face.
"Why? Scared?" She snickered.
Hay Lin leveled a glare at her.
"Don't forget that I can't hurt you here, but I can do it in the real world. And I will remember all of this." She threatened, making the Water Guardian back away in fear.
She obviously hadn't thought of that and gulped loudly before answering Hay Lin's question.
"From what we've heard we are not supposed to be seen by anyone on Earth." She stammered.
Hay Lin growled softly. This meant that the Will in Kandrakar knew what she was doing and where she was and she was undoubtedly sending these things to the Will on Earth to keep her up to date.
"I hope the guys return soon." Cornelia said. "I still don't see the fun in swimming in the sea in mid winter."
Taranee shrugged sleepily.
"What I can't understand is why Cassidy, Alchemy, Elyon and Nerissa went with them, or how they talked Phobos into this."
Will blinked and grinned at her friends.
"See it like this, we got the room for ourselves, just like before." She said.
"Just wish it was more like before." Cornelia muttered softly.
Hay Lin knew of what she was talking. Not that she cared. They were just pretending. What were the chanced that Will hadn't communicated them telepathically and told them that she was watching? This was obvious an idea of Will. She sighed annoyed and watched how Irma came walking in with four bowls of damping soup. The other girls seemed to snap out of their own thoughts as they all went to sit up straight.
"Here you go. Irma's special soup." Irma said with a grin.
"Please tell me you opened a cooking book cause I'm not sure if this is safe." Cornelia said as she looked at the soup.
"Oh haha. Very clever Corny." Irma replied annoyed. "I'll have you know that Edeline eats it and she thinks it's great."
"Really?" Will asked as she took a spoon and started to stir in the soup. "Why are there brown flakes floating in my soup?"
The others looked in their soup as well but didn't find any brown flakes. Irma started to blush as she quickly took Will's bowl away.
"Whoops. That's for the dog…" She said embarrassed as she hurried to the kitchen while the others started to laugh loudly.
Hay Lin suppressed a snicker and watched how Irma returned with a bowl of normal soup. Irma grinned at them as she gave Will the bowl back, Will now cautiously stirring in her soup.
"You're not really here, are you Irma?" She said concerned.
Irma, just like Hay Lin, raised an eyebrow and looked quizzically at Will. Will stirred her soup calmly and Irma turned to look at the others. Taranee was suddenly very interested in her soup while Cornelia looked out of the window, her spoon hanging in her mouth.
"What do you mean?" Irma asked Will.
"You know, you're thoughts are not where they are supposed to be." Will said with a shrug. "I mean I'm thinking of Caleb right now and I wonder if Natasha found a couple of kids who want to prove that Santa's real."
A grin appeared on the faces of her former friends and Hay Lin couldn't help but to grin as well when the two girls next to her shuddered. She didn't know if Natasha had found those kids but the Earth and Water Guardian certainly had.
"Yeah, I think about Andrew and Edeline." Irma said softly.
Hay Lin raised an eyebrow. She had known Irma long enough to know that she was lying. Maybe she was thinking about them but it was not the real reason why her thoughts wandered.
A silence filled the room while the fire in the fireplace was burning happily.
"I still can't believe it."
All gazes went to Irma. A couple of tears were rolling over her face as she looked in her soup.
"Irma?" Cornelia asked concerned.
"Would you have thought that Yan Lin had planned all of this?" Irma said darkly. "I mean that woman was like my own grandmother!"
"It was a shock to all of us." Will said calmly.
"It just sucks that she took Hay Lin down the drain." Irma muttered. "The old hag is gone and Hay Lin still suffers. It's not fair."
"That's life I suppose." Taranee said. "One moment you're king of the world and the other…"
"You're cleaning tables at your family restaurant." Cornelia finished. "Don't you think you were a bit harsh? I mean, you could at least have given her the restaurant."
Will shrugged.
"Hey, just see it like this. If she can prove herself she'll get the restaurant back. Alchemy and Martin already accepted those terms. They just want to help her."
"You know, she's now as fun as Corny under a shower." Irma muttered. "I really miss the old Hay."
"Yeah me too…" Taranee said.
"Me three…I just wonder if she wants to continue with designing clothes." Cornelia said. "I mean, she was terribly talented years ago."
Hay Lin was speechless. Her…friends still wanted to be with her…After all she had done. They didn't feel angry about her…Well maybe they did but it was overruled by pity. Her chest was aching, she couldn't understand. Why would they still accept her? Had she not shown that she didn't believe in friendship, trust, family? They just blamed all the bad things that had happened to her on her grandmother. But she had done those things. She had listened to her grandmother. She had followed her grandmother blindly. But they didn't blame her…They wanted for her to return to how she once was. Were they just pretending?
Hay Lin turned her head away. They were just feeling pity for her. Once the pity was gone they would abandon her again. They had done it once so why wouldn't they do it again? But there was a part of her that was denying those thoughts. That was longing to believe her old friends' words. She had hated it to see friends enter her restaurant and talk about everyday life. She had been furious to see Will or Taranee or Angelo or any of the others enter the restaurant to sit with Irma or Cornelia, having fun and laughing and smiling. But was that because she thought that those feelings were fake, that they were faking it to annoy her? Or was it something else? Because she was longing to reform the bonds she had destroyed years ago? Because she was lonely?
A shiver ran over her spine and Hay Lin walked back through the wall, no longer wanting to see or hear her former friends. Edeline and Ehren had watched her walking away and were about to follow her when Will spoke up.
"I say that we visit her tomorrow, maybe she'll have a change of heart."
The other three women looked questioningly at her but Will just grinned. Ehren could have sworn that Will had winked at her as Taranee spoke.
"You've planned something for her, haven't you?"
Will shrugged.
"Maybe I have, maybe I haven't. The most important thing is that Hay Lin regains her humanity."
Ehren and Edeline nodded at each other before walking through the wall as well. Hay Lin was standing outside, in the snow and she turned around when she had heard Ehren and Edeline walk through the wall.
"Bring me back." She demanded. "Now."
The two girls gulped. Hay Lin was still terribly intimidating and they quickly obliged the command. Within no time they were back in Hay Lin's room. Hay Lin stared at the two as they shuffled awkwardly away.
"Yeah well… I hope you've enjoyed the show." The Water Guardian said with a grin.
"But we gotta go. See ya, Bye bye!" The Earth Guardian said as she grabbed the Water Guardian's arm.
They disappeared in a puff of smoke and Hay Lin shot up again. She was still panting and sweat was again pouring down her face, though this time it was accompanied with tears.
It couldn't be true. What she'd seen couldn't be true. It had to be fake.
Hay Lin drew her legs up to her chest and she hugged her knees, tears streaming down her face. She didn't want to sleep anymore. She had seen enough. This was just torture. Everything she had believed years ago had been thrown away when her grandmother showed her the so-called "truth". Now she had seen things that were throwing that so-called "truth" out of the window. She felt so confused.
Apparently she had fallen asleep because she woke up with the sound of new voices.
"Pathetic. I still can't believe that she's this weak."
"Yan Lin behave yourself. This is part of your redemption and you will follow it."
Hay Lin opened her eyes and immediately glared at the woman who destroyed her life. Yan Lin looked coldly at her and Hay Lin jumped out of bed, launching herself at her grandmother.
"YOU!" She bellowed.
To her annoyance she flew right through her grandmother and landed on her stomach on the floor. She heard her grandmother sigh in annoyance while Halinor walked to her.
"Are you okay Hay Lin?" She asked.
Hay Lin ignored the concern ringing in the older woman's voice and got back up, glaring at her grandmother.
"What is she doing here?" She sneered. "I don't want her in my house."
Yan Lin scoffed.
"Some house. You don't even own the place."
"I swear that I would kill you if I could." Hay Lin threatened.
"Don't make promises you cannot fulfill." Yan Lin bit back.
"Yeah, as if you never made those." Hay Lin retorted.
"Why you little ungrateful…" Yan Lin muttered darkly.
"Yan Lin. We're not here so you and your granddaughter can quarrel." Halinor said sternly.
"Yeah yeah." Yan Lin said, waving away Halinor's annoyance. "Just because the big guy up there made you the leader in this little dream invasion doesn't mean that you can boss me around."
"I would watch it or I'll ask if He will give you more Guardian Angel duty." Halinor said with an evil grin.
Yan Lin's face fell and she started to mutter a string of curses. Hay Lin only raised her eyebrow, not exactly knowing what to think. She crossed her arms and stubbornly evaded her grandmother's gaze. She shot Halinor an expecting look and Halinor cleared her throat.
"Yes, well…" Halinor started. "As you know, we are here to show you the possible future. I will show you what will happen if you remain like this, showing only hard feelings towards the people around you while Yan-Lin will…"
"I'll show you what you've missed because of your stupid mistake by using that man Johnsen to kill Will's mother." Yan-Lin interrupted with a sneer, making Hay-Lin wish she could kill her grandmother again.
Halinor must have seen that Hay-Lin was getting annoyed by her grandmother because she stepped between the two, a fake broad smile plastered on her face.
"Now, shall we go? We aren't getting any younger."
Both Yan-Lin and Hay-Lin rolled their eyes at Halinor's joke before the two relatives resumed their glaring contest. A familiar feeling pulled Hay-Lin and before she knew it she was standing in the middle of a cemetery, which was covered in snow. She shot a glare at Halinor.
"I thought you said you were going to show my future? This is most likely the sight of my own grave. How's that my future?" She sneered.
Halinor shrugged.
"Don't look at me. I haven't planned to bring you to this certain point in time. All I know is that this is the future that could happen if you keep acting so cold to the people around you." she said defensively.
Hay-Lin sighed annoyed. She was not in the mood to see all of this. She knew she was going to die alone with no one at her funeral, so she didn't know why they would bother to show her that. It wouldn't surprise her anyway.
They walked for some time when suddenly something caught Hay Lin's eye. A group of people, dressed in white, were standing around a grave. Unconsciously she walked to the group, as if she wanted to know who this person was to whom people were paying their honor to. Especially in the Chinese way.
As she drew nearer she felt her heart throbbing. There was a person with an unmistakable hair color, red with grey stripes, standing next to a man with his shaggy grey hair laying on top of his head. The closer she came the more people she started to recognize. Irma, Cornelia, Taranee, Will, Caleb, Angelo, Andrew, Martin, Alchemy, Elyon, Marcus, Nigel and a group of adults with little children of their own were all standing around a grave, looking sadly at the tombstone.
Hay Lin silently wondered whose funeral this was when Halinor whispered in her ear.
"It's your funeral." She said.
Hay Lin shocked up, not having noticed that Halinor had walked to her. Yan Lin was standing a little further away, sending spiteful glares at the group in white. Hay Lin looked surprised at Halinor, who smiled sadly at her and pointed at the tombstone. Angelo had moved a little and Hay Lin could see her own name, together with the names of her parents, standing on the tombstone.
"So many years she has lived in hate." Will said sadly, her voice sounding old and sad. "I hope you'll find the peace I had hoped you would find on Earth, Hay Lin."
"I still don't understand why you sent her back to Earth, mother" A woman with flowing black hair said.
"Yeah. If you ask me you could've sent her straight up, it would have spared us a lot of trouble." A woman with bright orange hair said, reminding Hay Lin to her previous ghost.
"Grandma must have had a good reason!" One of the children said, her hair being as brown as Caleb's.
"Everyone deserves a second chance, Natasha, Ehren." Taranee said tiredly. "I think you two are a few who understand that the most."
A silence ruled over the cemetery and Hay Lin felt how tears were pushing up again. She walked to Irma, who was looking sadly at the grave. Her face neared Irma's and she saw the pained look of her now older ex-friend.
"Why Irma?" Hay Lin asked pained, sobs filling her voice. "Why are you here? I thought you hated me?"
Irma didn't reply as she kept looking sadly through Hay Lin at the grave. Tears were forming on Hay Lin's face, reflecting those that were forming on Irma's face. Irma walked forward, straight through Hay Lin, and bent forward, laying down something Hay Lin couldn't quite see. When she got back up she turned around, looking up to the darkening sky.
"Hay Hay. You finally got your wish. You're flying higher than the stars." She said as she wiped some tears away.
Andrew went to stand next to her but Hay Lin had lost focus already. She looked at the thing Irma had placed on her tombstone. It was a piece of paper. Hay Lin's vision started to blur as more tears rolled down. It was a drawing, a collection of drawings she had made years ago. The drawing of Will and Mr. Huggles, Cornelia and Elyon, Irma and Cornelia, Taranee with Will and a drawing Elyon had made of the whole gang together.
She had clasped her hand in front of her mouth, trying to push her tears away but they kept falling relentlessly. Why would they do this? They hated her. She hated them. Why were they here? She thought she told them that she didn't need them, so why were they so damned stubborn? The thoughts were swarming through her mind, while even more emotions rushed through her. Guilt, shame, anger, happiness, sadness. She didn't know how to react, what to think.
She heard her grandmother scoffing on the background and a memory came back.
Flashback
Hay Lin looked pleadingly at Will. The revelations she had heard about her grandmother were bad enough. She really didn't want to know what her own grandmother, the woman who carried more trust than anyone on the world, in all of the dimensions, had done to her without her knowing. She saw that Will, even though she seemed to regret it, was planning to continue. Of course she would, why wouldn't she take this chance to humiliate her?
"Did you, or did you not use your powers to make Luba, the previous Keeper of the Aurameres, faint to tap into the Auramere of Water so you could suggest to a couple of crooks, who were stopped by the previous generation of Guardians, what the real identity of the Air Guardian was so that they could kill the parents, your son and daughter-in-law?" Will accused, again hearing a lot of gasps in the room.
Hay Lin stared at her grandmother, simply not believing what Will had said. This couldn't be true. Her grandmother had always loved her father and her mother. She would never do such a thing. With pain in her heart Hay Lin begged her grandmother silently to deny this accusation, to simply say that Will was all wrong. Yan Lin grumbled softly, not being audible for the people in the room but Hay-Lin and Will were able to pick it up.
"Yes."
Hay-Lin's eyes widened in shock and she felt how the last bit of her heart broke. The only one she thought she could trust appeared to be the one who destroyed her life. So many emotions coursed through her, though many revolved killing her, taking revenge for her parents. Her body didn't want to move and Hay Lin felt how many feelings of sadness and hatred were washing over her, making her head explode of the many emotions that had started to rage through her. And to her growing annoyance and hatred, Will just continued.
"And did you, or did you not, prevent the communication between the Guardians and your granddaughter after this incident, making her feel alone?" Will said.
Silence reigned the room. Hay Lin was silently praying, yes truly praying, that her grandmother could at least deny this accusation. She really didn't want to lose her hatred to her former friends. She needed something to keep her alive. She needed a purpose. Without a warning her grandmother started to laugh maniacally.
"So you figured all out!" She said, breaking Hay Lin's last ounce of willingness to live. "Yes! I ordered the death of my son and daughter-in-law. I prevented that you or any of the others could contact Hay-Lin! I even managed to make it seem as is you never cared! And she turned out to be the perfect pawn! There! And what are you going to do now? Lock me up in the Tower of Mists? Do your worst, I'm not afraid!"
End Flashback
"They care for me…"
She had whispered it softly, not knowing if she did that out of sheer surprise or because she didn't want to undo the spell. All she knew was that her grandmother was the reason why she thought like that. Why she believe that her friends didn't like her, hated her. But it was all a lie. They did care about her. They did… love her.
More tears leaked from her eyes, a feeling of a long forgotten happiness washing over her. Her heart was feeling warm and she smiled a real smile at her friends, even though they couldn't see her.
"Thank you for believing in me." She whispered.
She felt a hand on her shoulder and only then she noticed that she was sitting on her knees in front of her grave. She looked at the one who was holding her shoulder and she saw a smiling Halinor.
"It appears that you've finally seen what the reality is." She said softly.
Hay Lin didn't feel like replying. It was obvious enough, wasn't it? She got up and nodded at Halinor, who smiled back at her. They slowly walked away from her grave, leaving her friends behind. They joined Yan Lin, who had been standing a bit further and who was looking extremely annoyed. She rolled her eyes when she saw her granddaughter's tearstained face.
"I knew you were soft." She sneered.
Hay Lin ignored the comment, though many rude remarks were filling her head. She roughly grabbed her grandmother's hand and stared coldly in her eyes.
"Bring me to your future so we will never have to see each other again." She said coldly.
"Thought you would never ask." Yan Lin said and the familiar feeling of pulling enwrapped Hay Lin.
[A/N] Hay Lin* = the alternate Hay Lin, so she is not the person who we've been following all this time.
Within seconds she was standing in what she could easily recognize as her mansion, or the one she used to own before she was stopped. Her grandmother was standing next to her with a smile.
"Now let's fill you in." She said. "Here, you've found out about Johnsen's crush on Will's mother and sent someone of the Japanese assassination squad to kill the two of them, right after Will left for Great Britain. She never found out that you were the one behind the killing and still works for you, despite the countless attempts of Taranee, Caleb, Angelo or anyone else to get her back. She gave her complete soul to you, so to speak. Also she never became Oracle, I prevented that from happening when she vowed to work for you till her death."
If she had heard this days sooner, or maybe an hour earlier, Hay Lin would have found this terribly annoying, knowing one silly mistake made her lose. Now she felt a bit bad of plunging Will into darkness with her and pity for Will's loss, something she didn't feel when she had ordered the kill. But she still couldn't help to feel a bit stupid of overlooking that little detail.
Her grandmother walked forwards, towards her personal quarters, and Hay Lin and Halinor followed, Halinor seemingly engrossed by several pieces of furniture, such as the heads of people who defied her, hanging on the wall. They passed through a door and Hay Lin saw herself sitting in the chair, with her black cat on her lap. She estimated her age to be 25. Cornelia and Irma were absent, probably doing some job.
They waited patiently for something to happen, while Hay Lin's copy was sitting relaxingly in her chair, looking through the window at the snow that was falling. Knocking disturbed the silence and Hay Lin* turned around.
"Come in."
Hay Lin had to suppress a shiver. Had she really been that cold? Could she really be that evil?
The door swung open and Irma and Cornelia were revealed. They bowed down before her before walking towards her.
"Ma'am, we have found the rebel base." Irma said, half zombie-like.
Hay Lin saw how a tear was being forced through Irma's eyes and she noticed that her other self noticed it as well. She placed her hand against Irma's cheek, a wicked grin gracing her lips.
"You're afraid we'll find Andrew, aren't you?" Hay Lin* said with evil pleasure. "Don't worry, we'll catch him. Together with that traitorous Taranee, Caleb and Angelo. The rest can rot for all I care."
"Don't listen Irma." Hay Lin whispered softly, not even knowing she was saying it.
Another knock snapped Hay Lin* out of her wicked victory. She turned to the door, an annoyed expression on her face.
"Come in."
The door swung open again, revealing Will with two kids around the age of 17 standing right behind her. One of the kids looked Japanese, fancying the same haircut as Will while the other seemed to be from Latino origins with long black hair. Both were dressed like Will, a black cloak with knives attached to their arms, black with grey top and a black tight pants with black shoes. A blade was strapped to their sides and a gun on the other side. Will had some specks of blood on her cheek and her expression was dark. She bowed, together with the two kids.
"Miss Lin. We've annihilated the rebel outpost of Arkhanta." She said coldly. "We also brought you the Heart of Arkhanta."
Will handed a small jewel which Hay Lin* accepted without even looking at it. It immediately merged with the Heart of Dreadmore and Hay Lin couldn't stop wondering how many Hearts were in her possession already. Will cleared her throat and got a nod from Hay Lin*.
"And these two seem to posses magic. Natasha is capable of something that is similar to Quintessence while Georgiana is capable of something similar to your element." Will continued, gesturing to the two kids behind her.
Hay Lin* looked interested at the two kids while Hay Lin shook her head. This was not something she wanted. Anymore. Will had cared for people, but now she seemed to be an empty shell of what she once was. She had never thought this would happen.
"Show me." Hay Lin* whispered in Georgiana's ear.
Hay Lin saw the small shiver run over Georgiana's back and she saw how Georgiana looked questioningly at Will. Will's cold eyes swept over the girl and she growled.
"You've heard the mistress. Obey." She said coldly.
Georgiana gulped and quickly obeyed. She held up her hand and a small tornado started to envelop it. She showed it Hay Lin* who merely scoffed before her eyes wandered to Natasha. Natasha got the hidden command and she quickly let her hand be enveloped with energy.
"I see." Hay Lin* said. "Then I've got the perfect mission for you."
"Mistress, are we allowed to rest before starting?" Will asked, bowing her head.
"Tired already?" Hay Lin* taunted. "I thought you had more in you."
"I will do as you ask." Will said with a bow.
Hay Lin looked disgusted. This wasn't her, was it? She finally had Will and Irma and Cornelia with her, they were at her side. Why did she continue? Wasn't that the reason why she started all of this in the first place? To recollect her friends and to keep them near her, one way or another? She saw the wicked glimmer in her copy's eyes and she knew what had happened to her. She was corrupted. Corrupted by the power she was holding and, Hay Lin finally realized, the worst of all was that she had been acting like this till today. She hadn't bothered to change. She still had the longing to achieve power and only acted submissive so that Alchemy and Martin would disappear as soon as possible, giving her the power of her restaurant with which she could probably start all over again.
"Take those two with you." Hay Lin* said as she gestured to Georgiana and Natasha. "And go to the rebel base. Kill everyone."
"Everyone?" Will questioned.
Hay Lin could see that Will still cared for Taranee, though it was maybe a small flame, a flicker of what the feeling once was.
"No. Take Taranee, Andrew, Caleb and Angelo prisoner. Kill the rest." Hay Lin* said coldly before turning her back on Will, Georgiana and Natasha.
The three bowed and started to walk away. Hay Lin couldn't longer watch and tried to stop Will.
"No Will! This isn't you! Forgive me!" She pleaded as she tried to stop Will, who merely walked through her.
She fell on her knees, new tears forming. She was a monster. People hated her. No one wanted her in this future.
'I was saved.' Hay Lin thought as she turned around to watch her alternate self. 'Will and the others saved me.'
"My. I regret it now even more that I didn't warn you about Will's mother."
Hay Lin snapped up and glared at her grandmother, who was looking impressed at her alternate version. How could she still be this cold?
"How?"
Yan Lin turned around, looking confused at her real granddaughter.
"Mmm?"
"How can you look at this and regret not having this as a future?" Hay Lin asked, anger in her voice. "This is terrible. This is…"
"The same as what you tried to protect so many people from." Halinor finished. "Hay Lin our time is up here, but I see you've seen the purpose of tonight."
A familiar pulling and Hay Lin was again in her room. Her grandmother had her arms crossed, an annoyed expression on her face while Halinor smiled at her. Halinor then turned to Yan Lin, her expression turning serious.
"Yannie, I hope you'll find the light like your granddaughter." She said.
Yan Lin rolled her eyes.
"We'll see Hallie. Now move. I've been here longer than I wanted to." She snapped.
Halinor turned one last time to Hay Lin and smiled at her.
"Live life Hay Lin and don't let it be wasted." She said. "And a Merry Christmas!"
Halinor and Yan Lin disappeared and Hay Lin shot up, wide awake in her bed. She looked outside to see snow softly falling from the skies and then turned to her alarm clock. It was already 10 A.M.
She yawned loudly and looked around her room. Her room was rather empty and boring, now that she thought about it. She let herself fall back on her bed and thought about her dreams. They all showed her one thing. That being alone was not the solution to live and that her friends would never leave her, despite how much she tried to push them away. She smiled as the warm feeling of before started to spread through her body again. She was never alone.
The doorbell rang and Hay Lin shot out of her bed. Who would ring at this time in the morning? She quickly put on her bathrobe and her flip-flops and walked down the stairs. To her surprise Will, Irma, Taranee and Cornelia were standing outside, all wearing heavy coats and Irma seemed to be holding something that looked like a book. She walked up to the door and unlocked it, trying not to smile too much. Guilt was still swarming inside her and she felt the tears pushing up again. She opened the door and saw Will smiling at her, Irma and Cornelia sending her a judgmental look and Taranee giving her a shy smile. She couldn't stop herself and grabbed Will when she was in range.
"Hey!"
"Let go!"
"I swear if you try to kill her I…!"
Hay Lin ignored the shouts, even though they were hurting, a lot. Why was she feeling so much pain? Tears filled her eyes as she clasped herself to Will, hugging her dearly. Will only smiled and placed her arms around Hay Lin, completing the hug.
"Thank you." Hay Lin whispered.
"You're hurting, aren't you?" Will whispered back.
Hay Lin opened her eyes, tears blurring her vision. She saw Cornelia, Irma and Taranee looking surprised at her.
"Is she…?" Cornelia asked.
"Crying?" Irma finished.
Hay Lin pulled away from Will and rubbed her eyes. Will kept smiling at her as she waited patiently. Hay Lin noticed that they were getting wet of the snow that was falling on them and she stepped aside.
"You…uhm…You're getting wet. Come in." She said before walking away to the kitchens.
"What have you done to her, Will?" She heard Cornelia whisper.
"I did nothing. I just showed her the truth, nothing more, nothing less." Will said simply.
"She almost looks like the old Hay." Irma said, sounding happier than yesterday.
Hay Lin couldn't help but smile as she started making some hot chocolate. When it was finished she saw the group sitting around the same table as they used to sit. A Christmas tree was standing nearby and to Hay Lin's surprise a small package was laying beneath.
She walked to the group, not showing that she'd seen the package, and placed the tray with hot chocolate on the table. They all stared at it, no one saying a word. Then Will went to take a cup and carefully placed it in her hands while the others stared at it as if it was poisoned.
"They're not poisoned if that's what you think." Hay Lin said, slightly pouting.
The other three only stared at her and Hay Lin could see the surprise on their faces. She had to admit she was acting way different than yesterday and hopefully they would accept her over some time.
"Uhm…I found this outside." Irma said as she placed the book on the table and shoved it to Hay Lin. "It was covered in snow and I thought it was yours. Your signature was standing on the cover."
Hay Lin looked at the title of the book. 'A Christmas Carol.' She smiled at the irony as she opened the book, revealing the inside of the cover. Her signature was indeed on it, as well as the signatures of the others. She closed the book and held it close, smiling at Irma. Irma backed away a little, not being used to her smiling normally.
"Thanks." Hay Lin said. "I indeed lost it."
"There's something else waiting for you." Will said dreamily as she sipped her chocolate.
Hay Lin stared at Will while the others stared at her. Will's eyes glimmered with joy as she nudged over to the Christmas tree. Hay Lin felt how her gaze was pulled to the package underneath the tree.
"I…I can't…Can I?" Hay Lin asked unsure.
"He laid one here?" Irma said surprised.
"Well if you've gotten a present than I guess you can open it." Taranee said logically.
Hay Lin slowly walked to the tree, still expecting that things would dissolve any second now, and picked up the package. It was rather light and some things shifted inside it. She walked back to the table and looked at the others. They were all looking expectantly at the package. Hay Lin slowly ripped the paper away and her mouth went dry. It were her old drawing pencils together with some paper and some new paint. She looked surprised at the others and mirrored Will's smile.
"Merry Christmas Hay." She said.
[A/N] That was one of my Christmas specials/sequels! Good or bad? Terrible of great? Or something in between? I got the idea around summer vacation while I was mowing the lawn and I thought it was a rather fun idea to do. The idea is roughly the same as "A Christmas Carol" But I guess you people noticed that already. The poll I placed was originally meant for this story but I decided to change it and therefore the poll became useless. Still thanks for voting!
Also if I can manage I will upload another one. Which will refer to this one a couple of times. And for those who haven't figured out yet. The new Guardians are helping Santa Claus and Ehren and Edeline are sleeping on duty :P
REVIEW and a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!