Title: In a Heartbeat
Author: ShadowTacticianVI
Posted: February 12, 2011
Updated: February 12, 2011
Chapter Words: 1,233
Rating: K+ (Death… I think that's it? And being crushed by Mino statue…)
Full Summary: I don't know why my heart stopped then. I don't really have a heart anyway. But I thought Yomiel had died. The world was frozen and I didn't understand. I didn't know anything. But in these four minutes—this tiny space between fates—I remembered. And then I knew. ++Spoilers for Final Chapter++

Disclaimer: Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is an amazing game! Clearly worthy of an amazing author I'd say…*cough, cough, gets smacked in the head* Right sorry. Ghost Trick belongs to Capcom and this is just a fan's loving gift to the game after finishing it this morning…I miss you!

I don't know why my heart stopped then. I was a spirit—possessing a nozzle, may I add—and I didn't really have a heart to 'stop'. Still, there was no other explanation; I couldn't think, couldn't breathe, and it felt like my spirit was eating itself inside out. My heart must have just stopped.

Frozen.

Like the way the ghost world stood still—oh, how I wanted to freeze the time and stop the Mino from falling. But it was too late. Regardless of what Yomiel did to us all, I couldn't help but trust him. I trusted him when he said he could help; that he could save them.

And I loved Lynne. Not in a romantic sense or anything, but this night… I've been searching for my memories this whole night, but I can't pretend that that's all I'm looking for anymore. Somehow, all these people have wormed their way into this non-existential heart of mine and I care for them.

I didn't want Lynne to die. I didn't want that little girl to remember that she had ever died.

But I don't want Yomiel to die either.

Why is that? Frankly, he's made the lives of everyone I care about a living hell. I'm not saying that he's a bad person, because… he saved Lynne earlier in the submarine, didn't he? And I understand where he's coming from…

But that's no reason for this bond I feel towards him, this bond that says I've known him a lot longer than I ever knew Lynne.

The red clothed man swung Lynne out of the shadow of the Mino statue and she fell into Detective Jowd's arms. I was still staring at Yomiel as the statue fell and finally—without a pause, without any divine intervention—forced Yomiel to the ground.

I thought he died.

I'm not sure why it made me so unreasonable, so worried. It wasn't like the end of the world. We could go back in time again and fix things. I know that, now that I take the time to think things over, but at that moment in time, I wasn't thinking. I was just shocked and so sad. It was too painful to watch – in every sense…

Why?

This whole time (four long minutes) in the past, every mistake I made shocked me to my core. The meteorite, the gun, the stab in the back—and now this deadly mascot. I immediately zipped over, vaguely noticing Missile following behind me.

Then…

"Hey, mister! Is your knee okay?" I distractedly listened to Detective Jowd talk to Lynne. Already, it was clear fate had changed…but in what way? Yomiel…

"Huh? Oh, it'll be fine. It's just a scrape. I'm lucky it wasn't a fatal hit. But the main thing is that you're not hurt."

"Y-You… saved me, mister?"

The detective looked down. "I was just doing my job." A small smile appeared on his face. "The gods… They're the ones who saved you." Gods…

"What's your job, mister?"

"Me? I'm a police detective." Detective Jowd paused again, and turned his head towards the fallen Mino statue, and the man crushed beneath. Fall leaves rustled in the corner of his eyes and a slow wind breezed through. "Do you think you could go call the police for me? I think you could do it quicker than I could."

"B-But…!" The detective stopped her by taking a badge out of his coat. "What's that?" I could hear a little of Lynne's future curiosity in her voice.

"This is a detective's badge. We give them to children who've been very brave."

"A detective's badge…?" She hesitantly lifted her arms as he pinned it to her dress. "Thanks!"

"Okay, you know what to do, little detective!" As she ran off, he slowly turned and limped towards Yomiel. He paused, and gave Yomiel a careful eye. His next sentence made my eyes snap up and shook my whole body—spirit. "Are you alive…?"

"Yeah… sadly…" was the whispered reply; Yomiel was sweating, barely keeping consciousness. But to me… it was like the air just whooshed out of me and left me breathless with relief. I couldn't help but think 'Thank the gods…thank the gods my friend is still alive…' I didn't even realize the words I was whispering. I was just too relieved.

In the real world, Jowd was looking down at Yomiel with a hidden emotion. "Hang on. Help is coming." The man paused…and lowered his head. I heard the guilt in his voice. "What made you do such a reckless thing?"

"…." As the spirit of Yomiel zipped towards us—the spirit from 10 years in the future, the one that traveled back into the past with us, the one that I…I what?—we listened to the past Yomiel speak. "To be perfectly honest, I don't really know. When I came to, my body was already moving all by itself. It was as if somebody else was controlling me." Yomiel—the spirit—gave us a little wave and I let out an odd laugh. "But, you know…

"…I'm glad it happened." The words came unbidden to me as I repeated them. Yomiel…the more it became clear he wasn't the vengeful villain he thought he was, the more it became clearer to me that I knew Yomiel…

Then a high voice spoke up. "Hey! Mister…" 'Lynne!' I thought. Turning around, I saw her carrying….a black kitten. Suddenly, it was like those words were resonating within me, and I could hardly focus on what they were talking about. A black cat… Feelings of warmth….Feelings of loneliness…

"Poor little kitty…" Lynne whispered. I stiffened.

"How about if I take it to my house and look after it?" Detective Jowd leaned over and laid a gentle hand on the unconscious cat. "Would you like to come home with me, little kitten?" Lynne smiled and ran a hand through the kitten's soft, inky fur.

As spirit Yomiel spoke up, we turned from the touching scene that we had all helped to create. Yet, my mystery… Something was still waiting, just below the surface… "Well…" An odd smile lingered on Yomiel's face. He turned towards me and directed his next words to me—whoever I was.

"…it looks like HIS fate just changed in a big way." His words were wry, but solemn, as if carrying an incredibly meaningful message that he had only just managed the courage to say.

I stared at him. I don't why, but I had to choke out the words, "Whose fate?"

He gave a mysterious smile, as if knowing exactly what I was thinking, the same way I knew how to read his face. How did I? How did… "That kitten's, of course."

My thoughts were racing as Yomiel spoke. My eyes were focused on his, reading his movements and emotions as if there weren't even two pairs of sunglasses between us. I've gone to the past before, but how was it that I already knew what he was going to say next? I understood… His words reached me, not by voice, but by the movements of his mouth. I knew what he was going to say.

"Sissel's."

The world was frozen and I knew.

Sissel.

That's my real name.

"These long, lonely ten years…

…you were my one and only friend."

…

I remember…old friend.

And my heart beat again.

Author's Note: I loved this game. It had an amazing storyline, full of twists and turns. I don't think I did it quite enough justice considering I wrote this in less than an hour…But I had to write something! There's just not enough Ghost Trick fanfiction out there! Hopefully I got all the names right cuz I forgot earlier that Lynn is Lynne….and such. A lot of the dialogue is taken from the actual game. Actually, all of it I think. Again disclaimed. I just did the descriptions and thought stuff… Sissel sure seems serious, but it would just be in bad taste to throw in a joke when he's having a memory breakdown xD.

If you were curious, most italics were emphasized things and bold is things that are said by multiple people. Centered items are the thoughts Sissel has in the game when the screen is black.

Please review! You'll be making a person's day very happy and bright! Sincerely.