Albert is nineteen, Sarah is eleven

Today was probably one of the worst days in her life. Ever. It was no joke. Sarah ran across the playground, feeling tears sting her eyes as the voices of her tormentors followed after her. The girl ran faster, her brown curls flying behind her as she made her way past the monkey bars and into the woods wanted to go home, and she wanted to go now. She wanted her mother, and she really had no idea where she was going. Unfortunately, that all too familiar feeling in the pit of her stomach arose and Sarah panicked. Not again! It can't happen again! Not here!

Disappearing into the woods beside the park, the little girl heard the others yelling after her as her brother called her name. It was useless, she was going. By the time her brother caught up to her, Sarah had disappeared into thin air. Johnny panicked, not seeing his sister anywhere and seeing her footprints abruptly ended, he bolted in the direction of their house, screaming for his father the entire way there.

Sarah ran and ran, deeper into the woods and finally came to a halt as she came out the other side. Weird, this place always seemed endless when she went out exploring with Johnny, why did she find the other side so quickly? The girl sniffled, rubbing her sore eye as she made her way into the sunlight and took a look around. Weird… This place did not look familiar. Instead of her lovely neighborhood with its large homes and paved streets, Sarah found herself in a field of some sort, and no paved street in sight.

Turning around to see if anyone was behind her, the girl heard a twig snap in the bushes nearby and she bolted up the field. Panting as she ran and tried to catch her breath before she passed out, the girl kept running, afraid the girls from school were ready for round two. She kept her gaze behind her, not looking where she was going until she ran into something tall, hard and warm. The little girl yelped, jumping backwards from whoever she bumped into and her hands flew to her face in embarrassment. "I am so sorry!" she squeaked, covering her mouth as she tried to get a good look at the tall person before her.

"Don't even worry about it, Sarah"

The girl blinked in surprise, tilting her head curiously as the figure kneeled down to her level and her brown eyes were met with icy blue. Raising an eyebrow, the girl stared at the teen before her, assuming he was only a few years older than her by the sound of his voice and the way he wore his hair, and blinked at him. "You know my name?"

"Of course I do!" the boy laughed, shaking his head as his brown hair fell into his eyes. He looked at her expectantly for a moment after he noticed his bangs cover his face, but soon he looked perplexed, as if he was processing something… Before she knew it, the boy blew his bangs from his face and looked her in the eye. "You don't know me, do you?" he asked, sounding disappointed.

The girl shook her head, staring up at the boy as she tried to process what was going on. Where was she? Who was the boy? What was going on? How did he know her? She was dragged out of her thoughts at the sound of his laughter, a rather musical sound, and he gave her a sheepish look.

"You know, you told me this was going to happen, and yet I ended up scaring you like you said I would. I am terribly sorry, please forgive me," he said, holding out his hand to her. "My name is Albert. Albert Narracott. It is nice to meet you, Sarah."

Sarah stared at his hand for a moment, a look of utter confusion crossing her features before she took his hand and shook it. "How do you know my name?" she asked, still holding onto his hand even after she really should have let go.

"I really don't think that's a good thing to tell yo-"

"Oh just tell me!"

"Alright, alright," he sighed, rubbing his temples as he looked back down at her and smiled. "You have always been very pushy when you don't get your way. I always liked that about you." He said, receiving yet another confused look from the eleven-year-old and laughing once again. "I am getting ahead of myself. I'm sorry. The reason why I know your name is because we have met before. At least, we met when I was younger."

"How is that even possible?" she asked, looking back up at Albert. "You are older than I am! I haven't met you before!"

"Well, I am eighteen right now, but when we met I was around your age, and you were fourteen," he answered, watching Sarah's eyes narrow at him and he felt a small smile tug at his lips. She knew what he was talking about now. "You are a time traveler. You have been since you were younger. You told me that your first travel was to your parents' wedding and you were eight years old, am I right?"

Sarah felt her jaw almost drop, staring at Albert as if he had grown another head. She had only told her father that story, but only because her father was a time traveler as well. Johnny was one, but Sarah was not inclined to tell her older brother these kinds of things. It only worried him when she traveled. Regardless, this boy knew her secret somehow, and he claimed that she told him. "How did you know that?"

"I already told you, I heard it from you."

"Don't be stupid! I've never met you before!"

"Sarah, please-"

"No!" she yelled, backing away from Albert. "You're just some creepy kid who I don't even know! I'm going home!" she declared, turning on her heel and storming towards the woods, only to come face to face with a HUGE horse. The animal stared at her for a moment, but soon whinnied in delight as he seemed to process who she was and he placed his massive head against her chest. The girl instinctively wrapped her arms around the animal's nose and stroked it. Horses' noses were so soft, it was like stroking velvet. She heard Albert come up behind her, plopping himself down beside her as the horse snorted in approval of him. So the horse was Albert's, hmm?

"This is Joey. He's rather old now, but he still remembers you. Though, I am pretty sure he may be a little perplexed as to why you are smaller than usual."

"Do I come here often?"

"Yes,"

"How often?"

"It really all depends," Albert answered, pulling a small book out of his pocket and flipping through it. "You told me that time travelers cannot master travel until they are older, so when you have a strong emotional reaction you travel until you get control of it. You usually visited me whenever something was wrong in your time or you were extremely happy about something. Last time I saw you; you were getting used to them and could control them to an extent."

"How long ago was that?"

"Two years,"

"How old was I?"

"eighteen. Like I was."

"Was I pretty?"

Albert blinked in surprise, seeing Sarah's expression darken as she hugged Joey's head and looked across the field. Something was wrong, he could sense it. Taking one of her curls into his hand, the boy gave one particularly springy curl a gentle tug, watching it slingshot back into place as he watched her. "You have always been beautiful, Sarah. Do not let anyone tell you otherwise."

Feeling her eyes sting once again, Sarah sniffled and rubbed her sore face, feeling it start to throb as she turned to face Albert. If he knew so much about her, that had to mean they were friends… Right? So he might be able to make her feel better. Without a moment's notice, Sarah immediately launched herself into the boy's arms and she allowed herself to cry. The other girls were nowhere near them, so they could not hear her even if they tried. Burying her face in Albert's chest, Sarah released months of sadness as she cried. She hated the fact that her parents moved her to England. She missed America. The girls in England are mean and cruel, and she hated being here.

As she sobbed, Sarah felt a pair of strong arms encircle her, pulling her into a tight embrace as Albert placed his head on hers. Stroking her hair as she cried, Albert kept Sarah close until she calmed down. Joey snorted in concern, the horse trotting in place nervously as he tried to comprehend why his favorite person was crying, and Albert gave him a reassuring pat on the nose. She was going to be fine. Albert flinched lightly as he felt her small arms squeeze him tight, her breathing finally evening out as she attempted to calm down. Sarah eventually pulled away, sniffling and rubbing her eye once again but wincing as she felt it finally start to hurt. Albert blinked, not used to seeing Sarah hurt, and he leaned in for closer inspection. Her eye was swollen, and red, but it looked as if someone had given her a shiner. The boy felt his blood boil; who would do this to her? What kind of monster would hit a little girl? Albert took a deep breath, trying to collect his thoughts before he addressed her once again-only to be cut off when Sarah piped up.

"Albert… We're friends… Right?" she asked, looking up at him with watery eyes.

Albert couldn't help but smile, remembering all the times that Sarah came to visit him over the years. She was there for him when he really needed her, and vice versa, but for her this would be the first time he was there for her, so he needed to do this right. Clearing his throat, Albert nodded and he flashed a crooked smile. "Of course we are… You are probably the only person I talk to about anything these days."

Sarah smiled, wondering what it was she would talk to Albert about, and soon she nodded, accepting his answer. Avoiding his gaze, Sarah felt Albert staring at her injury and she sighed, placing her head on his chest and snuggling into him to make it harder for him to see. She really did not feel like going into detail on this story.

"Sarah?"

"Hmm?"

"You can talk to me… If you want…"

The girl shrugged, ignoring his statement as she basked in the warmth he gave off. It was weird, the fact that she got attached to him so easily, but she had a feeling deep down inside of her that she knew him and he knew her and everything was going to be alright. Unfortunately, once that feeling of peace made itself known, Sarah felt that familiar tug at the very core of her being and she sat up, staring in the direction of the woods from where she came. She blinked and turned to Albert, knowing what was going to happen next, and the boy gave her a small smile. "You have to go, don't you?"

Sarah nodded, frowning as Albert's expression looked almost pained, but he nodded.

"I understand."

Sitting there, watching the pain that flashed before his eyes, Sarah immediately wanted to stay-to see what was wrong and why he was so sad-but before she knew it, she felt herself fading away. Taking one last look at Albert, Sarah reached out to give him one last goodbye, only to have him disappear and the world she stumbled upon morphed back into the woods. She sat there, arm extended, for at least five minutes as she tried to get her bearings. She felt her eyes start to well up as she sensed a hole start to form in her heart. She missed him already, and yet she left him there. Was that why he was so sad? He said he hadn't seen her in two years… Maybe he was upset because she was leaving him again.

Biting her lip, Sarah let out a cry of despair and she crumpled to the ground, the tears escaping her eyes once again as she tried to get herself emotionally distressed enough to go back. Once she felt herself starting to slip away, a pair of arms scooped her up and she started, her travel cut off now that her distress had stopped, and she looked up into the eyes of her father. Scott sighed, pressing his lips to his daughter's forehead as Sarah clung to him, crying once more. "I know little one, I know… It's hard."

"But-! I don't understand! Why does it hurt so much if I haven't met him before?"

"There's something you need to know about Time Travelers, my child," Scott answered quietly, smiling as he moved a strand of Sarah's hair behind her ear. "Our kind falls in love only once, and once we find that love we do anything to keep it. A time traveler only truly loves someone once, and if they are lucky they will find that person early on and in their own time, but it seems the travelers in our family do not have that sort of luck. You know about your mother, and now it seems you have followed in my footsteps. I am sorry, Sarah."

"So… Does this mean I can't go back?"

"No," Scott smiled, shaking his head with a chuckle. "It means that you will go to him every single time you travel from this point on. You will no longer go back to a time in my life or your mother's; you will always go back to him. Until you can control it, your traveling instincts will immediately take you to him. Trust me, I know from experience."

Sarah blinked, taking in all the information her father had just revealed as she turned to the spot where Albert had been. Smiling lightly at the thought of going back to him, the girl snuggled back into her father and sighed, feeling him give her a comforting squeeze and a kiss to the temple as he carried her back home. Her face still hurt from the craziness of today, but she did not really think about it. All she thought about was the boy she met in the field, and his majestic horse that accompanied him.