Disclaimer: I don't own nothing

Revelation

By

Jaffee Leeds

Toby Williams didn't like to think he was a difficult person to get along with. In fact, He thought he was remarkably easy to get along with. He had good, solid relationships with his parents, sister, niece and friends. At a party he tended to draw a crowd and while some people said he was a glory hog, Toby skewed this idea by genuinely caring for people. He was the guy you called when you had a flat on the route "the middle of nowhere" 66 and he would come roaring down the road with a spare and take-out in a bag. He was the guy who bought the right gift every time whether it was Christmas or a birthday. Toby Williams was a very good guy, some might even say, perfect.

And yet not perfect, Toby thought ruefully as he turn down Wilhelmina St. where Sarah had made her home. Toby liked the street; it was wide and double lined with plenty of room to plant trees and place sidewalks. The trees were the old and squatty kind that brooded lovingly over the street like grandparents over grandchildren and smelled of generations of time. The houses were older, but not out of date. Whoever had constructed the area had followed classic and simple architectural lines; the kind of elegance that lasts. The value of the houses was not in the structures themselves; it was in the familiar feeling of home, the warm glow that stole over you when you slipped under the cool shade of the trees, the kind of quiet that comes in small does and that you remember forever.

Not perfect, he repeated mentally, because this year he'd forgotten Emily's birthday. It was always a little strange going to his niece's parties. The fact that only seven years separated them in age always made things little strange; especially when her girlfriends would make a pass at "Emily's hot uncle Toby." But then again, it wasn't as if he was in a serious relationship. Toby had had his share of girlfriends, older, younger and somewhere in between but they hadn't lasted very long. Sarah told him he was commitment challenged, Toby was beginning to agree.

Flipping his cell phone open, Toby speed dialed Sarah. He didn't usually announce his arrival but something was prompting him too.

JarethSarahEmilyJarethSarahEmilyJarethSarahEmilyJareth

"Do you have everything?" Sarah leaned into her daughter's room. Emily was slowly going around the room, picking things up and piling them on the bed.

"Almost, I think there are some clothes I'll want from the laundry room," Emily smiled, her eyes sparkling. The curious brown and blue lights in her eyes danced slightly, "And I'll get them myself. I don't want to change anything unless I absolutely have too."

Sarah moved aside and watched her daughter disappear down the hall to the laundry room. Emily insisted on being as human as possible, doing any task the way it would have had to be done if nothing about her had changed. Sarah knew she did it for her sake, and even that care sent a stab of annoyance through Sarah's heart. She knew she was mortal, fragile and frail beside Jareth and Emily, but she didn't like being treated like a geriatric at 55.

"I'm not you know," Emily's voice came from the end of the hall. She stood framed in the laundry room door, a blanket folded over her arms, "I'm not treating you like an old fogy."

Sarah pushed away from the wall and put her hands on her hips, "Look, Emily, I know you didn't mean to read my mind but you are still my daughter and I expect a little more privacy. You stay in your head and I'll stay in mine."

She smiled, a flash of her father coming through, and shook her head, "It doesn't work that way, Mom. I wasn't trying to do anything."

"Right, un huh," Sarah's attention was caught by the ring of the phone, "I'll get it."

Emily returned to her laundry as Sarah made her way into the kitchen and snatched up the phone from its cradle.

"Hello, this is Sarah," she said.

"This is Fred's fish market," the masculine voice on the other end announced, "Would you like to buy fish today?"

"Hey, Toby," Sarah greeted. She reached into the cabinet and pulled out two glasses. Taking ice and Diet Coke from the fridge she filled the glasses, "What's up?"

"Nothing much, I thought I'd come over today while Emily's off on break. I missed her birthday and I wanted to make up for it."

Sarah was so surprised she let the soda pop overflow the glass and fizzle its way across the counter top and onto the floor. She swore under her breath and heard Toby calling out about what was wrong.

"Nothing, I just spilled pop all over the place," she said grabbing a towel and sopping up the mess as best she could, "Look, Tob, I don't think Emily's gonna be around today." She lied, "I think she's going out with her friends and they're going to the amusement park for the day and then a movie or something."

"Oh," he said disappointed, "Do you want to do something?"

Sarah wrung out the towel in the sink and caught a reflection of Emily in the kitchen window; she was carrying a basket of clothing toward her room. Her daughter caught sight of her in the window and winked knowingly. Mind reading wasn't a totally benefit-less talent. Sarah sagged back in relief, "Yeah, sure if you want."

"Are you okay?" he said suspicious suddenly, "You don't sound so great."

"Just in a rush," she answered.

"See you in a few minutes," he said.

"Bye," she hit the off button and flung the phone onto the couch, "Emily, Uncle Toby's coming over in a few minutes and …" she entered Emily's room but it was empty. The piling of belongings and clothing was gone and so was Emily, "I thought you'd want to be gone." She finished lamely.

She should have known Emily was a step ahead of her. Switching off the light, Sarah left. She heard Toby's car come into the driveway and went to meet him. He stepped out of the car and towered over his older sister.

"How you doing?" he asked and wrapped her in a bear hug, "You look tired."

"I am a little," she confessed, "But not too bad. How about you?"

"Fine, fine. Nothing much going on in the old bachelor pad life," he admitted.

They walked into the house and through to the kitchen so Sarah could grab her purse. The over filled glass of pop still fizzed happily on the counter while the towel drooped unhappily in the sink. The empty glass glistened back as guilty evidence of another's presence. Sarah casually swept them both up and placed them in the sink before Toby could get a look at them.

"So how long is Emily off?" Toby asked, "Or is she going back to work on summer semester?"

"I think she's taking the whole time off," Sarah said easily, "But I think she's planning on a lot of travel during vacation. She won't be home very much."

"Oh," Toby studied the back of his sister's head and went on, "Well, let her know I came by will you?"

"Afraid of falling from grace in the uncle department?"

"Never," he grinned.

"Mom, I forgot…" Emily suddenly came around the corner of the kitchen door and stopped dead.

Toby stared at Emily, she stared unflinchingly back. Sarah closed her eyes and waited.

Toby didn't say a word, but studied his niece. The young woman standing before him was certainly Emily and yet not Emily is so many ways that…her eyes were bright and startled, one brown, one blue, set in a face that was made up of elegant alien features. Even the way she stood was strange and prepared to act, she was familiar and different. And then he knew, he remembered--everything.

"My God," he gasped, "My God you're his daughter. You're his daughter!"