2: There and Back Again

Christin sat on the couch, shivering badly. It wasn't particularly cold, but she always got very cold very quickly and shivered violently. Sometimes she could repress the shivering, but it would manifest as a twitch, in which case she would claim to have Tourette's. The clock on the wall read 2:37 and rain was falling steadily outside. She rubbed her numb hands together and flexed her fingers. They moved very slowly. She pressed her hands to her cheeks and jerked them away quickly. No matter how many times she touched her skin, the icy feeling always made her jump. She and her friends had given them the name "vampire hands". Reminiscing made her heart ache, so she stopped, tucking her frozen hands under her arms for warmth. The nightdress she had borrowed from Noa was a few sizes too big and constantly hung off one shoulder no matter how many times she fixed it.

"What are you doing?" a female voice asked softly. Christin jumped and turned her head. Noa stood in the doorway.

"Shivering my brains out. Why?" she replied.

"I was just wondering. It's late, you should be sleeping." Noa said.

"I could say the same to you, but it's not my place to speak. I'm a guest, however uninvited, and should show proper etiquette." She replied, another round of shivers wracking her body. She grabbed her blankets and began wrapping them firmly around her body in an attempt at warmth. The blankets were cold too and didn't help.

"Well, as a host, I should follow proper etiquette as well, but I won't. I'm only going to say this once: Don't get in my way." Noa threatened. With that remark hanging in the air, Noa turned and left. Christin blinked and sighed.

"Of all the things I've ever wished for, I never thought I'd wish I was back home." She muttered, settling down on her makeshift bed and falling into a very chilly sleep. The scent of food tickled her nose and eased her out of her dreamless slumber. She sat up and yawned, raking a numb hand through her hair. Using one of the hair bands on her wrist, she tied it back in a low ponytail. Mentally, she smiled. Her hair brushed the very upper part of her back, near her shoulders, something that she had been devoid of in the past year as she kept her hair cut so short a single ponytail was impossible. Alphonse sat at the table, reading a book. Noa stood at the stove, cooking. Christin pulled on her shoes, having changed into her clothes when she woke up around four that morning from violent shivers again, and walked silently to the table. Rain made a steady pounding on the roof and ground outside.

"Good morning." Alphonse smiled.

"Morning." She replied. "Whatcha reading?" she asked, sitting down.

"It's called 'Mein Kampf' by Adolf Hitler." Alphonse replied. He met Christin's shocked expression with a confused one.

"Are you a Nazi?" she asked in a low tone.

"What?" Alphonse asked.

"A Nazi. Y'know… the Nationalist… Socialist Worker's Compensation or something. The people who go around wearing swastikas and crying 'Heil Hitler!' and…" she cut off.

"Okay, one, slow down. I can barely understand you. Two, I'm not a Nazi." Alphonse chuckled. "And neither is Noa nor Ed." He added.

"Sorry. I get paranoid easily." She apologized. After a few seconds of staring at him, she pressed a hand to his face. He squealed and scooted away.

"Your hands are ice cold!" he cried, pressing his own hand to his face. Christin grinned and began chasing him around the table. "No! They're cold!"

"I'm going." Edward said as he walked in the room. His eyes lingered on the scene in front of him. Alphonse had grabbed Christin's wrists and was holding her at arm's length.

"Have a good day." Alphonse chirped. Edward waved and left.

"Where's he going?" Christin asked, dropping her arms. Alphonse resumed his position at the table and marked his page in the book.

"Work. Bills don't pay themselves." He answered, eating the food Noa set before him. "And those who don't work don't deserve to eat. Starting today, you're going to help Noa around the house."

"Fair enough." Christin agreed. Alphonse finished his breakfast and went off to his job as well, leaving the two girls alone.

"Oh, Ed forgot his lunch." Noa said as she put the dirty dishes in the sink.

"I'll take it to him." Christin offered, the threat from the night before completely forgotten. Noa sighed and wrote down directions. She would've gone herself, but hated the taunting for being a Gypsy. So Noa set about her housework and Christin set off to find Edward and deliver his lunch. It was still raining rather hard and ten minutes of walking through town had left her all but soaked. She stopped under an awning to read over the directions Noa gave her. Edward worked as a car mechanic, fixing engines and whatnot. She mentioned something about rockets, but Christin wasn't paying much attention. The rain showed no signs of easing up, so she resumed her soggy trek.

"Excuse me, may I ask where you're going on such a rainy day?" an older man asked, his driver pulling the car up to the curb.

"Um, I'm trying to find a car repair shop. My friend forgot his lunch, see, and I guess I got kinda lost." She said. "Uh… if you would be so kind as to point me in the right direction, I'll be on my way." She showed him the directions.

"Ah! I'm going there myself. I have a friend who works there. I'll give you a ride, if you don't mind joining me." He smiled. Christin hopped in the car, combing her wet hair with her fingers. She really hoped her ipod wouldn't short circuit or something because of the rain. "My name's Fritz Lang. I make movies." He introduced himself.

"My name's Christin. I don't have a last name and I… time travel." She replied. "Just kidding." She grinned. The driver pulled up to a curb. Christin heard the different sounds of mechanics working on cars. "Thank you." She got out of the car and proceeded to inch slowly into the hubbub.

"Hey pretty lady! Whatcha doin' in a place like this?" someone taunted. Christin was followed by wolf calls, whistling and other such noises men make when they see something the like. Soon she had a small pack of greasy mechanics tailing her as she searched for Edward.

"Aw, what's the rush? Come stay a while and get to know us better." Another pleaded.

"I can't. I'm looking for someone." She replied coolly. Amidst the chaos behind her, she heard Edward's voice, though it was slightly muffled. Fritz stood nearby, chatting. He noticed her and she motioned for him to keep quiet about her arrival. He nodded, instantly understanding her reason – she wanted to scare Edward. The crowd dispersed and she waited patiently for ten minutes. Edward finally emerged from the engine he was working on and jumped.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, almost hyperventilating. He had not noticed her until that moment for she had stood very still and remained very quiet.

"Noa sent me." She said, holding out the food.

"how long have you been standing there?" he asked.

"About ten minutes." She replied, clasping her hands together behind her back. Edward shook his head dismissively and returned to his work. "I don't get a thank you? I got completely soaked and lost trying to help you. If it wasn't for him I would've died of pneumonia or something!"

Edward sighed and straightened up. "Thank you." He replied, wiping his cheek and smearing oil on it in the process. He went back to work and Christin stood where she was, feeling very awkward. "You can go home now." He said, irritation creeping into his voice.

"I don't remember how I got here." She admitted dryly.

"You can't be serious." He groaned. He sighed yet again and stopped working to think. "Alright. I have a doctor's appointment later. If you stay quiet and out of my way, I'll take you home after that."

"Okay." Christin agreed. And so she spent the next three hours watching Edward fix cars. She talked with Fritz about the movies he made, having seen nor heard of any of them. Several times she had to help Edward and was really glad for taking auto shop in her freshman year of high school. She was standing by, ready to give him the tools he needed when she noticed something.

"What?" he asked.

"Uh… your skin is um… peeling off." She said, pointing to his right arm.

"Oh. That happens a lot. It's fine." He said. Christin gave him a confused look. "It's a fake arm." He explained.

"Oh…" she muttered. "Blond hair, golden eyes and a false limb… you seem so familiar, yet I can't place you in my memories."

"You say something?" Edward asked.

"No." she replied, shaking her head. The two left shortly after walking through the wet streets. Snow began falling but the ground was too wet for it to stick so soon enough everyone out that day was slogging through slush. Christin watched her breath fog in front of her. She felt like crap. Her clothes were still wet and she was very cold. The doctor's office was warm, though.

"Will you hold this please?" Edward asked as he shrugged out of his coat. Christin obliged.

"What happened to your gypsy girl, Ed?" an officer asked.

"Officer Hughes." Edward acknowledged the man. "She's at home." The doctor poked and prodded Edward's fake arm. Christin sneezed.

"Salúd." the man behind the screen said, his Latino accent thick.

"Gracias." Christin replied. Edward looked at her. "What?" she asked.

"You speak Spanish?" he asked. She nodded and sneezed again.

"Maybe while you're here I should look at her too." The doctor offered.

"I'm fine." Christin protested, sniffling. "It's just a cold." The doctor resumed examining Edward and she let her eyes wander. They fell on the Latino man who was behind the screen. He looked exactly like the father she hated so much. A Small sound escaped her throat.

"Christin, my coat." Edward said, rolling down his shirt sleeves. She handed him the garment, her eyes still locked on her father's doppelganger. In the hallway, she saw someone who looked exactly like her best friend. She shook her head and approached the man.

"Perdón, pero cual es tú nombre?" she asked.

"Estaban Luego. ¿Porque, señorita?" he replied.

"Oh… gracias señor." She said. The girl who looked like her friend walked by again.

"Christin?" Edward asked as she bolted down the hall. He quickly donned his coat and followed her.

'Why are people from my world here? I thought I left them all when I came here!' she thought angrily. 'The one thing I thought I was free from was seeing all those people!' she stopped the girl and looked at her. Only her face was the same, because she talked in a language Christin could not understand. "Sorry…" she muttered. She looked around. She had gotten completely lost. Several men were staring at her. Several more had grouped around her.

"Christin!" Edward called. "That girl is more trouble than she looks!" he mumbled to himself.

"Ed!" she called back, sounding not so far away. He spotted the group of men and recognized her voice, though her words were indistinct. "What are you doing? Hey! Let go of me!" A man screamed in pain and she burst through the crowd, running at top speed. She felt her body take on that warped feeling and saw that she was glowing white slightly. She collided with Edward and they both were engulfed in a bright light. When the light faded, they hit the ground. Christin sat up and rubbed her head. She looked around and instantly recognized her surroundings.

"Where are we?" Edward asked. He looked around at the metal lockers lining a wall, the green doors with numbers on them. "Stay here, I'm going to ask someone where we are." He got up and went through a door with an "11" on it.

"Wait, Edward, I know where we are! Don't g—"she stopped and grabbed his arm, trying to haul him back out the door.

"Cool beans! We have guests." A teacher said. Christin looked around at the history posters lining the wall and the confused students staring at them. Her eyes locked on two.

"Who are they?" the one with black hair asked.

"Why are they dressed so old fashioned?" the one with puffy brown hair asked.

"Katie. Kelsie." Christin breathed. Again, she felt her body warp and saw the glow, but she didn't notice.

"This is weird," Katie said.

"What? I don't understand. Don't you recognize me…"she saw the date on the whiteboard. It read June 2, 2010. With that, both she and Edward disappeared into the white light.

"Weird…" Kelsie said.

"What's weird?" Katie asked.

"I… don't know. What are we talking about?" Kelsie replied.

"Dunno." Katie shrugged.

Edward and Christin materialized in the apartment, landing hard on the ground. "What was that?" he asked.

"I went back… I was able to go back. That was my world. From your perspective the future, of sorts." She replied softly. She was trembling slightly and looked like she was going to cry. "They forgot me. I really am worthless, so much so that my own friends don't remember me." Christin sat up slowly. Then she did something she almost never did – she cried. Edward left her alone and motioned for a slightly stunned Noa to follow him.

"I want you to find out about her. Use your powers like you did with me." He said.

"Why?" Noa asked.

"I think that the more we know about her, the easer it'll be to keep her under control." Edward explained.

"But she's been very docile since she showed up. What makes you think she'd be out of control?" Noa questioned.

"You didn't see her this afternoon. Look, just do it, okay?" he sighed. Noa nodded.

A/N: Okay, finally updating one of my stories. I'll update CMAIF soon, i promise. I'm still working on chapter 13, but i'm running out of ideas so if you hae a suggestion, PLEASE LET ME KNOW!!! i'M DESPERATE FOR AN IDEA!! okay, sorry 'bout that.