Life Is Strange

Child Of Time

Part 2


Max stood in front of the hospital room door that she was told was the correct one. She stared at it amongst a whirlwind in her mind. She kept thinking of what her mother had said before she left her dorm room. We cannot control Fate, but we can negotiate with her.

Is that what her mom's tribe did? Was Chloe really alive behind this door? She also couldn't get out of her mind that she had just attended Chloe's funeral a few days ago. Did that not happen in this new timeline? Only one way to find out.

Max pushed the door open and slowly entered. The first figure she saw was that of Joyce Price. Chloe's mom turned at hearing someone coming into the room. Her eyes brightened upon seeing Max.

"Well, if it isn't Maxine Caulfield back in Arcadia Bay. So great to see you after all these years."

Or just a week ago. Max could still remember eating the delicious Belgian waffles at the Two Whales Diner. Yet, she couldn't remember how she was in possession of Rachel's bracelet. Max answered Joyce with the same pleasantries and apologies that she repeated when she first greeted her earlier in the week.

Joyce moved to give Max a hug. With that motion, Max was given a full view of the patient sitting in the bed. Her dark hat was gone and her full blue tinted hair sat to her right side. A large, thick bandage was wrapped around her left shoulder. Max let go of Joyce and stared at the figure in the bed, nearly disbelieving her existence.

When she saw Max, Chloe Price sat up to address her presence. Then she suddenly stopped to wince at the pain and she lowered herself back onto the pillow.

Joyce took over with her motherly instincts. "Now, honey, don't exert yourself. You remember what the doctor said. I know you're excited to see Max after all these years."

"Exactly," Chloe said. "Five years. No word from you. Although, I hear from various sources that you, Super Max, were in the same bathroom where I got fucking shot!"

Typical Chloe. Max could only smile back. And Chloe smiled back, but added a small wink of her eye. Wait, she called me Super Max. Before Max could process Chloe's reaction, Joyce was already into scolding mood.

"Now, Chloe, Max deserves a better greeting than that."

"Yes, she does."

Max spoke to Chloe. "Look, I have no excuse for not contacting you in the last five years."

"Or within the last week. I'm sure you didn't have the time. It's not like you could rewind time." Chloe added a flutter of winks at Max and a smile.

Now Max was confused. She raised an eyebrow at Chloe. Did she just hint at something she shouldn't know in this timeline? Before Max could speak again, Chloe acted quicker.

"Mom. Think you can give us a few? I'd like a few moments alone with my great friend." Her sarcasm was bubbling over.

"Of course. I'm sure you two have plenty to catch up on. Be nice, Chloe."

"As nice as I can be."

Joyce left the room, leaving Max and Chloe alone to stare at each other in silence. Neither of them believed they were in the same room together again. Finally, Chloe broke the silence.

"Well, I guess I won't be able to join you in a midnight swim anytime soon."

Max edged closer to the bed and looked at Chloe suspiciously. "Chloe...what exactly do you remember?"

Chloe raised her head as much as she could without pain and uttered slowly, "Every. Fucking. Thing."

Max reached for the only chair in the room and scooted it near the bed to sit. "Ok, so what is the last thing you remember?"

Chloe considered her answer and replied, "I remember us on the cliff near the lighthouse during the storm. I remember telling you to change the picture so that I would die and the storm would never happen. I remember when you did your time thingy. And then...nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Well, not exactly. I could see images like photos. It was strange, like a dream. I saw...images of my own funeral. Fuck, how many people can say that?"

"Wowser. But you also remember everything we did in that last week?"

"Yes," Chloe breathed. "I already hinted at our stolen swim moment. I remember that you saved me. Several times. I remember our CSI: Arcadia Bay moments to catch those fuckers, Jefferson and Nathan."

"You do know Mark Jefferson is dead in this timeline."

"Yes! Sweet justice. Mom told me. I was in here when the shootout happened. I know she's a bitch, but I'm glad Victoria Chase is ok. Serves that asshole right after what he and Nathan did to Rachel." Her eyes suddenly went wide. "Rachel! Is she...?"

"No," Max sadly replied. "It was too late to save her."

Chloe nodded. "I understand. You can't save everyone." She paused to say, "I also remember the choice you made. It was yours to make, like I told you. You sacrificed me to save the town. I'm not mad. I did tell you to. I was ready to face my fate. My god, I would never wish that decision on my worst enemies. But, you did it, Max. And I'm back here for some reason. I was shot in the shoulder this time. You are truly Super Max. How did you pull off this one?"

"That's the whole thing, Chloe. I didn't. My mom did."

"Your mom?"

"Yes. She and her tribe. Her Native American tribe."

Chloe's mouth gaped open. "Oh my God, I forgot about her Indian ancestors. I remember those stories she used to tell us when we were kids. It totally slipped my mind. Oh my God, Max. You and your family are The Incredibles!"

"I don't think my dad has any powers. He's only Irish."

Chloe chuckled. "Then I'm sure he has drinking powers. So, that's where your powers come from. Wait, when did she tell you?"

"She just left not long ago. She came to see me in my dorm room to tell me. She didn't go into full details yet. She promised to tell me more at Christmas break. The missing piece of my puzzle solved by my own mother."

"Amazeballs! Well, we're gonna have a hella good time with your powers."

Max took Chloe's hand and told her, "Chloe, Mom told me about my powers for a reason. The storm was the cause of the abuse of my powers. I still don't understand it yet. But she instructed me that I have to restrict the use of my powers until I do understand. I have to be strong to not use them. I changed time for the first time when I saved you through pure instinct. I had no clue of what I did. Now that I know, and what the cost is for overuse, I need self discipline to control it. And I need your help to do that. And I think that's part of why Mom and her tribe changed the timeline."

Chloe nodded. "I get it. But what do you mean why they changed the timeline?"

"Chloe, the timeline where I had just been to, barely hours ago, had you shot dead. For me, I just attended your funeral just three days ago. I think they changed the timeline to one where you lived and the storm didn't exist because of us. For us, as our reward."

"A reward? Why?"

"Because of both of our sacrifices to save the town."

"Wait, wait, wait...wouldn't the storm have not happened if I died? That's why I told you change the picture. If I'm alive now, won't there be another storm again?"

"I think they changed it to where it won't and keep you alive too. Mom said the storm was Fate's way of compensating what I disrupted."

"No, fuck that! I don't believe fate or whatever would kill a thousand people just because the original plan was to kill just one."

"That may be just how it works, Chloe. I don't know. It's not fair, but who said life is? But think of this, Chloe. You were supposed to die. Fate had it down in her daily planner."

"Oh, so Fate's a she, now?"

"Actually, that's how mom addressed her."

"Figures Fate would be a beeatch." Off of Max's groan, Chloe shot back, "Sorry, couldn't resist. Ok, so I was supposed to die. Which I did. But, I'm here now. How?"

"Like I said, because of Mom's tribe. She gave me the impression that they sort of negotiated with Fate."

"How can anyone do that?"

"I don't know. Mom said her tribe has an even greater power than what she and I have. And I think I have a theory. You survived this timeline. But someone else didn't. Someone who was very much alive in the time where you died."

"Mark Jefferson," Chloe gasped.

"Right. Now, I have yet to ask Mom, but I think the tribe had Fate substitute one death for another."

"Jefferson died in my place."

"There's the Chloe deduction powers at work."

"That is the most poetic of fucking justice ever."

"Especially since he killed you in one timeline."

"Halle-fucking-lujah! Oh, I'm pumped, now. And not just with morphine!"

Max smiled at her friend, feeling the joy exuding from her. She then told her, "Look, Chloe, I know how you feel right now. And I can't be happier having you here again. But I think you should understand what this also means to you."

"What should it mean?"

"Your second chance. A gift that is rarely given."

That thought hit Chloe like a ton of bricks. Her voice broke when she asked, "Why me? Why not my dad? Why not Rachel? Why didn't they get their second chance? Why am I the Chosen One? Oh, great. I'm Anakin Skywalker."

"At least you aren't Jar Jar Binks."

"Hey, he was funny, dammit!"

"Chloe, we were five when we first saw that." They had a quick chuckle and then Max turned serious again. "Listen, Chloe, I didn't think of it until you mentioned William and Rachel. You were given this second chance because of your choice. William and Rachel both died as planned. They had no choice in the matter. I'm sure if they did they would certainly not choose to die. You chose to die for the people of Arcadia Bay."

"And you chose to sacrifice me to do the same. Then why the fuck do I feel that I don't deserve coming back?"

"You do, Chloe. Mom's tribe thought so. They changed fate for the both of us. Don't question it. Accept it." Max let out a heavy sigh. "Let me tell you something. I don't know what decisions I may have in my future. But the hardest decision I will ever make in my life is the choice to change that butterfly picture again." Max's voice started to break when she continued. "To sit in that bathroom again and hear you and Nathan and then the gunshot...I still don't know how I listened to that silence afterwards, knowing your were dying a few feet away from me. And I had to let you die." She sniffed. "When I was at your funeral, I thought I could handle your death. I knew I had friends here and they would help me through it. But it wouldn't be the same. My life would never be the same."

Max breathed in and continued. "There's something you should know. Just before Mom came to visit me before the timeline was changed again...I was so close...to changing the butterfly photo again. I thought of different ways to save you. The temptation was too strong. And that's the exact moment when the photo disappeared and mom knocked on my door."

Chloe gasped. "The photo. It's gone?"

"Yes. I won't be able to change it anymore. And now I won't need to." Max was on the brink of tears when she spoke again. She so desperately wanted to tell this to Chloe on the cliff during the storm. But there wasn't time. Now because of their sacrifices, they were together again. She had to get this out to Chloe, regardless. "I was tempted, though. At the time, I didn't care what would happen. I wanted you back, Chloe. I needed you back. Because I...I realized that...I can't live in a world...without you in it."

Her emotion carried over to Chloe as she smiled with her own tears coming down her cheek. "Aw, fuck, I wish I could I could hug you now."

Max sprang up quickly from her seat to get closer to Chloe. She told her softly, "Don't you worry about that. I'll always come to you." Max reached down and kissed Chloe on the lips. And it was a welcomed kiss for the both of them. It was a kiss that wasn't a dare or a quick farewell. It was a kiss that survived time itself. Both felt the love between them that finally bloomed through time. From the beginnings of their pirate days to their struggles with death and fate. People around them may have never experienced the last week the same way they did. Chloe was right what she said on the cliff during the storm. The week to them was real. It was their week all their own. And it felt right.

Until Chloe raised her head. "Ow! Ow! Ow!"

Max pulled back quick and said, "Sorry."

Chloe sat her head back down with less pain but said, "It's all right, Max. Believe it or not, it's greatest pain I've ever felt. If that makes any hella sense." Chloe held out her hand and Max grasped it tight as she sat back down.

"It does."

"So...now what Super Max?"

"Now, you get better. I'm sure you need rest."

"Rest? Fuck if I can even sleep with all that I know now." Chloe looked like she had a sudden thought. "Hey, why did we retain all of our memories of the last week anyway? Things that didn't happen in this timeline we remember. I mean, I'm not complaining."

"I think the practical reason was so that we don't repeat the same mistake over again. If we didn't know the price of my abuse of time powers, we would keep reverting into a loop. And I would try to keep saving you again."

"I am such a burden."

"But a good burden. I don't care. I'm just glad we remember this week. Best one of my life. So far."

"Yeah, we get to be dykes now in Arcadia Bay."

"I'm sure we're not the first."

"Nope. Guess you won't be 'going ape' with Warren anymore."

"Oh, god I forgot about the drive-in."

"Well, we had a pesky storm to deal with."

"Yeah. Besides, I think we need to get him and Brooke together. I know for a fact that they're perfect for each other."

"Interesting." Chloe looked down at Max's wrist and gasped, "Hey! That's Rachel's bracelet. How did you get it?"

"That's the only mystery. I thought you might know in this timeline."

"No. Last time I remember seeing it was on Frank. Maybe he gave it to you at some point." On reading Max's raised eyebrows, Chloe said, "You're right, this is Frank we're talking about. So that would never happen."

"When the timeline changed in my dorm room, it just appeared on my wrist. Mom already told me that Rachel couldn't be saved." Max fell silent in thought a moment. "Chloe. Do you think that...somehow between realities... Rachel herself...may have..."

"Max, that's impossible."

Max chuckled. "Chloe, I do believe that after all we have been through in the last week, we can take that word out of our vocabularies. I prefer to believe that giving me this...was Rachel's way of showing her approval of us."

That made Chloe tear up again, and she smiled wide and sniffed. "I can accept that. You are definitely Super Max. My god, how many names do we have for you?"

"Plenty. But you can add another one. Mom gave it to me. It's what her tribe called her when she was young with these same powers. It's in their language, so I had Mom pronounce it correctly so I could say it. Ayoliei yu quu."

"Holy fuck, you can speak Indian. What does it mean?"

"Child of Time."

After a pause, Chloe said, "Well, it certainly fits." She then scowled. "You're not gonna make me pronounce it, are you?"

"Nah, it's more of a family name."

"Whew! Good." She stared at Max staring back at her. "Besides, out of all of your names, I still love Captain Max. And I do love her. Till the day I die. Again."

"And I love Captain Chloe."

"Pirates."

"Forever," they both said. Max then lowered her head onto Chloe's lap and Chloe's hand ran through Max's hair.

THE END.