Chapter 2 - Reminders of the Past

Nati and Graeme started talking about friends they knew. Gray couldn't really follow it, although he thought he might have heard a couple of familiar sounding names. He decided to spend the drive looking out the window. They were headed back to Brooklyn, where Graeme and Nati both lived. So far, all he could figure out from listening to Graeme is that he respected his parents, his siblings all drove him crazy and his cousin drove him crazier. Gray wondered if Graeme liked anybody. That guy liked to complain a lot. Gray wondered if he also was like this? No. Okay people in his guild often drove him crazy, but that's only because a lot of them acted like idiots most of the time.

Soon they were at Graeme's house. It was on a quiet residential block with mostly single detached two story houses. The house looked homey. Not too fancy, as opposed to the house next to it which looked a lot more expensive plus oversized. Gray realized he was a bit nervous. If Graeme looked like him, then who were his father and mother? Who were his siblings? And Leon - he sounded way too much like Lyon for his comfort.

Graeme let them in and immediately there was a major ruckus as a girl who looked to be about 10 ran up to them excitedly. She had brown curly hair that was barely contained in her pony. She was followed by a 12 year old girl who was attempting to corral the younger one. She also had brown curly hair, but it was in a much neater pony, and overall had a neater appearance. "Dina, don't bug Graeme right when he gets home. Remember? We have to give him some space."

Graeme seemed unphased by all the commotion. "Wendy, it's okay. Dina, I've brought Nati and-"

"NATI! Play Uno with me!" Dini ran up to Nati and started hugging him. She didn't seem to be aware of social boundaries, but Nati didn't seem to mind. He was obviously used to her.

"Sure, Dina. This time I'm going to win!" Nati exclaimed much to Dina's delight.

"Why is there another one of you, Graeme? And why is his hair blue and all sharp?" Dina liked to get to the point. Wendy looked up and gave a little gasp, noticing him for the first time.

"This is Gray. Nati met him on Avenue M. Dina, want to say hi?"

"Hi Gray!" Dini cried out cheerfully before she went off to find Nati.

Meanwhile, Gray could hear sounds coming from farther in. The entryway led into a living room and to the right was a large kitchen where a woman was busy preparing what looked like a salad. Whatever was cooking smelled amazing. The woman was dressed in a skirt and a three-quarter length sleeved purple polo shirt. She had a kerchief covering her hair and she was facing the other way. "Wendy, Dina, can you please come back and finish setting the table? Your father will be here in half an hour."

"Sure, Mom. Dina, remember? We were setting the table. Let's finish, okay? Then you can play Uno with Nati." Wendy was leading her sister back, nicely but firmly. And it really was Wendy. She was older, and the hair was different, but it definitely was her. How fitting she was Graeme's sister here. Gray always thought of her as a little sister, especially once Wendy joined Team Natsu.

"So, Graeme, please wash up and have your friends wash up also. What's this about copy of you Dina is talking about?" Mrs. Silverstein approached the three young men and Gray suddenly felt sick. No. Freaking. Way. Mrs. Silverstein was Master Ur? She looked different as her hair was covered, except for a bit on the sides. But the voice was her.

"Oh, hey, Ma. This is Gray. Um, Gray…"

"Hi, Mrs. Silverstein. My name is Gray Fullbuster. I kind of got lost, and I ran into Nati here who thought I was Graeme. It was a bit of a mistake, but here I am." Gray was having a hard time talking to his master's counterpart. It was like talking to a ghost; like when Panther Lilly had discovered Lisanna after they returned from Edolas when eveyone thought she had been dead fo two years. A walking and talking ghost right in front of him, but it was even creepier because it was Master Ur.

Graeme meanwhile had found his voice. "It's a little weird, but Gray makes things out of ice, and he's an alien from outer space." Okay, thanks for making me sound even weirder, than I already sounded, he thought. What was up with this guy? Everyone he had met so far was nice. And Graeme was kind of a jerk.

"Okay." Ur raised an eyebrow. "I guess that can be explained later. Anyway, nice to meet you, Gray, and please call me Ora. 's my mother in law. My husband should be arriving soon and then we'll eat dinner. Hope nobody's super starving. Graeme, Yehuda is in the study. Why don't you say hi and introduce him to your new friend? I'm sure he'd like to see Nati too."

"Oh, great. Let's meet Yeh-hoo-da." Graeme purposefully emphasized the name in a sarcastic tone. "What a pretentious idiot." He mumbled under his breath.

"I heard that, Graeme. Be nice." Gray couldn't help but smile. Even the tone was just so Master Ur.

"Okay, okay. Sorry." Gray didn't think Graeme looked all that sorry. He followed Graeme and Nati to the back where a tall, slim young man in a conservative dark suit and a fedora with the brim turned up was sitting at a desk and studying a book with words in a character set Gray had never seen before. The man looked up and, just as he had suspected, the familiar face he really could have done without looked up at them. When he saw Gray, he looked extremely confused.

"Hi, Graeme. Nati. Nice to see you." He looked over at Gray with a puzzled look, but only politely said, "My name is Yehuda, Graeme's cousin. What's your name? I'm assuming everyone has told you you look exactly like Graeme, so apologies, but the resemblance is uncanny."

"His name is Gray Fallbuster, and he's from a different world. Like an alien from another planet." Crap. Graeme seriously needed to cut this out.

"Actually, it's Gray Fullbuster. My situation is a little complicated. I'mnot from New York. I happened to meet Nati, who introduced me to Graeme, who very kindly invited me here. I'm a little confused, because Nati told me your name was Leon?"

The two men shook hands. "Ah, well, I have an English name, which I grew up using, which is Leon. Lately, I've been using my Jewish name, Yehuda. Sorry for the confusion."

"No problem. Nice to meet you," Gray said, a little annoyed that Yehuda who was this world's version of Lyon for freak's sake, was a lot more interesting and friendly than Graeme. Graeme needed a serious slap to the face. It didn't help that Gray hadn't eaten anything in hours, which didn't help his mood.

Ora called from the kitchen that it was time for dinner. Everyone went to the kitchen to wash, which involved using a special type of cup and incantation. Graeme was told he could skip it so he just washed his hands regularly and went to the table.

"Hi, you must be Gray? I'm Graeme's father, Joseph Silverstein, but everyone calls me Silver."

Gray's eyes widened in shock. This man looked so much like his father, it was too much. He felt nauseous.. He had to calm down and get it together. It was too much. He tried repeating to himself 'this guy is some other person. He's not my father. He's not the same person." This couldn't be happening. Okay, it made sense, but no, it couldn't be happening. NO.

"Is something wrong? You look a little troubled?" Silver was looking at Gray with a worried expression.

"Sorry. Uh, it's nothing. I haven't eaten in awhile, so I'm a little light headed." Right. Like they were going to believe that. He obviously looked upset, but what was he going to say? You look like my father who has been dead for almost two decades?

"Oh, I wish you'd said something earlier," Ora spoke up. "I would have been happy to give you a snack."

"It's fine. The food looks really delicious." The spread on the table did look good. A platter full of what looked like chicken, and a bowl of mashed potatoes were in the middle of the table, and individual bowls of steaming hot soup were by everyone's places.

"Yeah, thanks Mrs. S. Everything looks amazing as usual," Nati added, and smiled, with what Gray thought was a Natsu worthy smile. Weird. He was gone for how long and a Natsu smile was already comforting him.

"Thank you, Nati. You know you're always welcome," Ora replied.

Silver started asking his son how his practice had gone and Gray kept on looking from one person to the other. He tried to concentrate on eating, but this was difficult. Ur. Father. Lyon. Wendy. Natsu. Yes. None of them were the same people, but it was especially unnerving to see someone who had the same form as his father and Master Ur. Like living ghosts. He needed time alone, soon. He tried to concentrate on eating. Meanwhile Wendy was speaking.

"Ma, can Shuli come over for Shabbos because Bubby's staying at Aunt Leah's? We have to practice our part for the school tea."

"As long as it's okay with her mother."

"Shuli asked already and she told me her mom says it's okay. Yey! I can't wait. We'll spend all Shabbos practicing our solos!"

"Oh that reminds me," Graeme smirked. "Dad, got any ear plugs I can borrow?"

"You are so MEAN, Graeme!" Wendy glowered at her brother.

Graeme started singing in a artificially high voice, obviously imitating his sister, "Forever One! We will go far! It's not I am but who we are!"

"Graeme Noah Silverstein. Enough. We do not make fun of other people. What are you, ten years old?" Silver said this in a firm but calm voice.

Before Graeme could say anything Dina cried out, "Graeme sounds like Wendy!" She started giggling and also singing the same song.

Everyone laughed and smiled. Dina seemed to be one of those family members who could keep everyone together; and stop arguments all with the power of her cuteness.

Gray got up and went to the adjoining room and sat on the couch. So many familiar strangers. Ghosts. And he was starting to lose it again after seeing Silver in action. What would it have been like if his life had been Graeme's. Would he be just as clueless disrespectful and immature? And Ora. She radiated a calm contentment but with a strength that was so similar to Master Ur. He had to stop thinking of them as his father and Master Ur. It's Joseph and Ora Silverstein. Put that way they didn't sound anything like-

"Hey. You okay?" A soft but concerned voice interrupted his thoughts. It was Yehuda. "Mind if I sit down?"

"Yeah. Sure. I'm okay. I'm just thinking."

"I couldn't help noticing you seemed a little uncomfortable around my uncle. He reminds you of someone you know?"

"Yeah."

"Nati was kind of telling me about your situation earlier. I hope I'm not being intrusive, but are you an orphan?"

"Yeah." It was hard to talk, but at the same time Gray found the soft way Yehuda spoke comforting. The guy didn't know him at all, had no reason to believe his story, and yet seemed genuinely care about him and what he was going through, and he was intuitive and observant.

"Both my mother and father were brutally murdered when I was really young. They were killed by a monster right in front of my eyes. My entire village was destroyed and I was the only survivor."

"That sounds horrifying. And my uncle reminds you of your father?" Yehuda asked.

Gray nodded. "He even sounds like him."

"I can't even imagine. This must be so traumatic. I lost both my parents in a car accident when I was five. It's not the same as what you went through, but if something like this happened to me I would be traumatised. I know we're strangers really, but if you ever need to talk, I'm available." With that, Yehuda left Gray to his thoughts. He looked around. He was surrounded by large built in bookshelves which went from floor to ceiling and seemed to be stuffed with books, mostly in a language he couldn't recognize. He found a book he could read and sat down.

Gray wondered why he was understanding any of the languages here; maybe he was able to understand the dominant language of the country, but not other languages? He wasn't going to complain. It would have been a lot worse if everything was gibberish.

He started reading the book. It was a children's book about a girl named Malky getting ready for something called Shabbos. Wendy had mentioned Shabbos earlier and Nati had mentioned it being a major challenge for Graeme who was wanting to pursue a career as a pro ice skater. It was obviously an important day of the week, which involved cooking, shopping and cleaning. In the book, the Malky character, who is about about 4 years old, asks her mother repeatedly if it's Shabbos yet, but is always told no, until the end of the book, where it's finally Shabbos, the father finally appears on the scene and Malky gets to snuggle with her mother. Snuggling sounded pretty good. The couch was soft and comfortable, and the hot soup and meat made him drowsy. Gray found himself closing his eyes.

And that's Chapter 2. So far, Graeme is turning out to be a real jerk isn't he.

The plan so far is to have the story from Gray's point of view.

Wendy is singing a song called "Forever One" which was composed by Yossi Green and sung by Avraham Fried. It's a classic song in the Orthodox Jewish world. I picked it because it was around in 1996 and because Gray will eventually hear the song and connect with the words, although the song is really about the Jewish people. Here's a link to the song if anyone's interested. If links don't work, I'll try and remember to edit this. Chances are there'll be typos and I'll have to update it anyway.

watch?v=kbiSK9dqvOk

Bubby is grandmother in Yiddish.

The book Gray reads is real. It's called "Is it Shabbos Yet?" and it's by Ellen Emerman. I got a kick having Gray read a picture book.