Chapter 8: Failures and promises

Sam looked around her. She is at the edge of a pier. She looked and saw and that was around old abandoned warehouses. She sat down thinking about what she was going to do. She wanted to go back and help.

She went to touch the key when she finally decided that she was going back, but she found that it wasn't there. "No!" Sam searched around her, as she tried to find it. After a while, she stopped and watched as people walked around her. "Where am I now?" She asked herself.

She noticed that the people walking around her were dressed in clothing from the twenties. Sam thought back to the lessons she had with Basil. If she remembered correctly, she was in New Orleans. If she was, then it meant she was a long way from Victorian London, or the library for that matter, and she did not know if the others were okay.

As soon as they hopped out, the goons left. The others all regrouped again. "Is everyone all right?" Dawson asked.

"Just fine, Dawson." Mickey said.

"Minus the fact that Ratagain got away again," Basil said annoyed,

"The fact that everything is destroyed," Yensid said as he bent down and picked up a ripped book.

Merlin stared at the mess of the library. "This will take us time to fix."

"Can't you use your magic?" Dawson asked.

"No. We try not to. A books has more power then handled with care." Yensid explained as he gently runs his thumb over the spine of the book. "You see, each book carries the life of a story, or facts. Life is the most powerful of all magic."

Merlin sighed, but turned to look at Basil. "You have a lot of work to do, Basil. The fact alone that Ratagain is now working with the Mistress is the most disturbing." Merlin said. "Who knows how many more villains she got to join her side?"

"You shall have to keep a closer eye on Sam." Yensid added. "She's in more danger now and she is not ready to fight the Mistress."

"She will be taken care of." Basil promised. "Speaking of which, Dawson and I better be getting back to Baker Street."

"I'll take you." Mickey offered. "You will get there quicker."

Mickey snapped his fingers and they were outside the door. They walked inside and, they found the sitting room empty expect for Mrs. Judson. She looked up when they three mice popped in. "Ah, you're back, Mister Basil." She greeted.

Basil nodded. "Is Sam in her room?"

"Miss. Samantha, left hours ago to meet you like you told me to tell her."

"You mean she hasn't been back since?" Mickey asked.

"I haven't seen her."

"Then where is she?" Basil asked, looking at Mickey.

He shook his head. "I don't know. The key should have opened a door for her to go here. I'll go talk Merlin and Yensid, maybe they might know what happened."

"I'll go with you. Dawson, would you mind staying here in case Sam comes back?"

"Not at all." Dawson replied.

Sam sat down and let her feet dangle over the dock. She sighed and looked out the waterfront. "What am I going to do?"

"What are you doing here all alone?" A voice asked. Sam looked around and saw no one. "I'm down here."

She looked down and saw a tiny green cricket with a vest and jacket with a little top hat. "Who are you?" She asked.

"Cricket's the name Jiminy Cricket."

Sam holds out her finger "I'm Sam."

Jiminy shook her finger. "So what brings to New Orleans?" He asked her.

"My friends and I had to separate." She sighed. "It's a long story really."

"We have time."

Sam then explained to Jiminy about everything. She told him about her being the Guardian, the nightmares and about the Mistress. "Now, I'm here, but I don't have the key. I must have left it in the door."

"I see, so what are you going to do now?"

She groaned and flipped on her back. "I don't know! I don't know what to do! This shouldn't have happened." Sam looked up at the sky, which had darkened and had many stars. "I don't even know if my friends are okay, or if one of them got hurt."

Jiminy followed the girl's eyes and saw her looking up at the stars. "You know, when you wish upon a star your wish comes true."

Sam looked at Jiminy. "Really?" Jiminy nodded his head and she looked back up to the sky. What did she wish for? She thought for a long moment. She wanted her friends to be okay, but she just knew that they were. She didn't know how, but it just felt like they were okay. "Help Basil find me so I can go home." She wished.

Jiminy gave her a sad look. He hated it when he saw kids lost like this, but he knew that Sam was different. She sat up and looked out at the river. He watched as she brought her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on top of them. She closed her eyes and a few tears slipping down her cheeks. The girl really did need somewhere to stay for the night. He then knew of someone who might be able to help her better then he could.

"Wait right here." He told the girl.

Meanwhile back at Baker Street, Basil was trying to think of where Sam might be. Mickey and Dawson watched as he paced up and down the living room. "She could be any where, Basil." Mickey finally said. "The key only saw that it was not safe here for her and sent her somewhere else."

"It has to be somewhere that she knows, Mickey." Basil said.

"No, remember that night when she came here? She never left the library."

"But, you were here asking for my help. There was a connection."

Dawson stared at him. He knew that Basil was concerned, but he needed to know something and he was afraid how the great detective would react. "Basil?"

"What is it Dawson?" He asked without stopping his pacing.

"You don't think she got caught do you?" Dawson asked carefully.

Basil stopped. There was a long silence for a moment. Basil shook his head trying to fee himself from images he didn't want to see. "No, Sam's a smart girl. She is safe."

"What if he's right?" Mickey asked.

"She didn't get captured." He said determined.

"Basil…"

He turned and gave Mickey a glare. "She's all right, Mickey. I know she is."

Mickey stood up. "And how do you know, Basil? How could you possibly know?"

"I just know." Basil said simply. He sighed. "But, what I don't know is where she is."

Mickey stared at his friend and saw how really worried he was. He never knew Basil to worry; he was the one that he expected not to worry. He placed his hand on his shoulder. "Like you said, Sam's smart. She'll figure something out, Basil."

He nodded his head. He wasn't sure if he really believed Mickey or not. Basil knew that he should not have let Ratagain get a hold of her in the first place. Why did he let that happen? He needed to think. What other place did she knew about?

He didn't think she would be in any of the London's, he knew they would have been too dangerous for her to go. He told her about the spaceport, but he didn't think that she would be that far away. What other places did he tell her about? France…possible…New York? Again, it was possible.

Basil sighed. Anywhere that he told her was about possible. He walked over to the window and looked out. He leaned his back against window frame. Why was this so difficult? He needed to find Sam. This should be easy; he's found lost people before, why was this so complicated? As he stared outside, he noticed a star shine brightly and then he just knew. "New Orleans." He said.

Sam was sitting at a table with a plate of uneaten food in front of her. Jiminy had found her a place to stay for the night, but she didn't want to. She wanted to find her way back, but Jiminy told her that it would be better if she wanted until morning. Until then she was staying with this woman named Tiana and her husband, whom Sam didn't meet yet.

Tiana walked past Sam. She was a slim black woman with short curly black hair. She was wearing a bright yellow sundress and Sam liked her as soon as she saw her. The woman worked hard, was kind, and had a nice sense of humor. "You don't like it?" She asked.

Sam shook her head. "No, it looks great, I just…" She sighed.

"You're homesick."

She nodded. "Yeah, I guess. I haven't been there for long, but really miss it."

"Maybe it's more of the people you miss." Tiana said as she sat across from Sam. "You want to talk about it?"

"Not really." Sam admitted.

"You really must miss them."

"Yeah."

The door opened and Sam saw a tall black man enter. He had curly dark brown hair and he took off his tan jacket, hanging it up on a peg near the door. He walked over to Tiana and kissed her cheek. "Hello, Tiana." He said in an accented voice. He noticed Sam. "And hello strange child I don't know."

Tiana rolled her eyes at him. "Naveen, I swear sometimes you take nothing seriously."

"That is because you are serous enough for both of us." Sam had a smile and giggled. Naveen winked at Tiana. "So who is your friend then?"

"Naveen, this is Sam. Sam this is my husband, Naveen."

"Hi." Sam said shyly.

He only smiled at her. "So I see that you are eating her food. Do you like it?"

Sam brushed. "Not really. Not that I don't like it! It's just…just." She sighed.

Tiana walked over to Sam and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Jiminy found her. He said that she was separated from her friends because they were attacked."

"That's horrible." Naveen said.

"She'll stay with us until she can find her friends again."

"Who are her friends?" He asked. "Maybe I know them."

"Merlin, Yensid, Mickey Mouse, Basil of Baker Street, and Dr. Dawson." Sam said as she named them off, each time she had to push down a small lump in her throat. Did she really miss them that much?

Naveen and Tiana's eyes widened. "You know a lot of people." Tina said.

She slowly nodded her head. "Yeah, guess I do. Do you know any of them?"

"I do know Mickey. I will send word to him that you are here." Naveen said.

"Thanks." Sam said tiredly.

"Why don't I show you to the guest room?" Tiana asked.

Sam followed Tiana upstairs. She led her into a small, but comfortable room. The room was a nice yellow color with a homemade quilt. A bed was near the big window that had a window seat under it. A dresser with a mirror hung over it was across from it. "I hope this is okay for you."

She nodded. "Thanks, Tiana."

"Let me know if you need anything, Sam. Try to get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning."

"Tiana?" Sam asked. "Naveen did leave to send the message didn't he?"

She smiled and nodded. "Don't worry, Sam. Your friends will know that you are here and that you are safe."

"I hope so."

"Good night, Sam."

"Good night."

Sam watched as Tiana left her and shut the door behind her. She sat on the small window seat and stared out. She was over looking the river and she glanced up and saw the stars shining brightly. She reached the lock of the window and swung it open. She pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them.

"Somewhere out there,
beneath the pale moonlight,
someone's thinking of me and loving me tonight"

Basil was studying over at a map of New Orleans at the round table. He glanced up and saw that both Dawson and Mickey had fallen asleep. Dawson fell asleep on couch and Mickey had at Basil's desk. He went back to looking at the map at the different places he circled that he thought she might go, which was nearly everywhere. There were just so many places that she could be.

"Somewhere out there,
someone's saying a prayer,
that we'll find one another in that big somewhere out there"

He knew that he would have to wait until morning to find her. He sighed and stood up straight. He walked over and looked out the window again. He was hoping that he would see her walking down the street. How unlikely it was yes, but he only wanted her back, to where she belonged.

"And even though I know how very far apart we are,
it helps to think we might be wishing on the same bright star"

Sam was leaning out the window looking at the sky. She overheard Tiana speaking to Naveen from the open window down stairs. "She just seems so sad. I wish there was something we could do."

"You did everything that you could do. I have sent a telegram so Mickey should get it quickly. Did she tell you want exactly happened?"

"No, she hardly said anything. I do know that she misses them a great deal."

"How is it do you think she knows Basil of Baker Street?" Naveen asked.

Sam smiled slightly at that and wiped a tear away. A gentle breeze blew against her. She pulled away and closed the window.

"And when the night wind starts to sing a lonesome lullaby,
it helps to think we're sleeping underneath the same big sky"

Both Sam and Basil leaned against the window glasses of their different locations.

"Somewhere out there,
if love can see us through,
then we'll be together, somewhere out there,
out where dreams come true"

Basil shook his head. Why did he care so much? Then the notion came to him. He loved that girl. She reminded him so much as himself at that age. He knew that she needed someone to be there for her, for someone to take care of her. He wanted to take care of her; he knew that if anything had happened to her…he needed to find Sam.

"And even though I know how very far apart we are,
it helps to think we might be wishing on the same bright star"

Sam was pulling her shoes off, as she got into bed. She was terrified about sleeping. She knew that tonight there would be no one there to comfit her. She closed her eyes tightly, fighting back tears that threatened to fall.

"And when the night wind starts to sing a lonesome lullaby,
it helps to think we're sleeping underneath the same big sky"

Both let out sighs and looked up to the ceiling in lost.

"Somewhere out there,
if love can see us through,
then we'll be together, somewhere out there,
out where dreams come true"

Basil then walked away from the window and went back to work. He needed to think of more places where Sam might have gone. Sam laid her head down and closed her eyes as sleep slowly came to her.

She was hiding behind a bookshelf as Ratagain was looking for her. She tried not to make a sound as she slowly inched away, but she was grabbed. "Got you!"

"Let go of me!" She shouted.

Ratagain only laughed and dragged her forward. The Mistress was there waiting with an evil smile. She reached her staff out and…

Sam opened her eyes and was greeted with a knock on the door. She pulled the blanket over her head. "Five more minutes, Mrs. Judson." She meekly called out.

"Sam, its Tiana."

She shot up. "Oh…uh come in."

Tiana walked inside and set a pair of clothes on the dresser. "I thought you might like a change of clothes. Sorry, but all I have is a plain blue dress that looks like to be about your size."

"That's okay." Sam said.

"I hope you slept all right."

"Yeah, it was fine."

"Well, I'll leave you to change then. Breakfast will be ready in ten minutes." Tiana said.

"Okay, thanks." Sam called out as Tiana shut the door.

She quickly changed and then ran downstairs. Once she was back in the kitchen, she found both Tiana and Naveen there. Naveen was at the table eating French toast and Tiana was at the strove, making another plate. Naveen smiled when he saw Sam. "Morning," He greeted her.

Sam weakly smiled back as she sat down. "Morning."

"I hope you're hungry." Tiana said walking over to her. "I've made French toast." She said putting a plate in front of Sam.

Sam cut a piece and ate it. "It's great." She said.

Naveen laughed. "As it should be."

Tiana only smiled and took off her apron. "I'm glad you like it." She took her coat from a peg. "I need to get to the restraint for the morning shift."

"We'll come by later." Naveen said.

"You better be on time for you noon shift, mister." She said poking him in the shoulder as she passed.

He grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him placing a kiss on her cheek. "I will be. Won't we, Sam?"

Sam nodded as she giggled. "I'll make sure he's on time, Tiana."

Tiana waved her hand. "Don't worry about it. Naveen's going to show you around today. Take your time around town. If he's late, that only means he's staying after closing to clean up, like he was last night. Now I have to go, I'll see you later, Sam"

After she left Sam turned to Naveen. "You both work at a restaurant?"

He nodded. "Tina owns it. It is her place. I work there was well. I play music there and I help in the kitchen, not too much help with that I'm afraid. She is the one with the talent."

"Her food is good." Sam said.

"Just you wait until you try her gumbo. No one makes it like she does."

"You really love her don't you?"

Naveen smiled. "With all of my heart. Now, are you ready to go? We have a lot to see, and the first stop is the post office to see if Mickey sent us a reply."

Basil woke with a start. He rubbed his eyes and looked around him. "Morning." Mickey told him. "I see you were working all night."

He stood up and pulled open the map. "I've marked all of the places she might be at. But, first I thought that we might start with the mayor."

"That sounds fine, and I knew of a friend that lives there, he may be able to help. Prince Naveen,"

Basil frowned. "That spoiled boy?"

"He's changed, Basil. He got married a few months ago. I hear she really changed him, and she isn't a princess. Minnie met her and told me she really like her."

"And you think that he can help us?"

"It's worth a try."

Basil sighed. "Yes, of course. I'm sorry, Mickey. I don't really understand what has gotten into me."

"You're worried about her." He said.

"Yes, extremely."

"Watch it, Basil; you just may admit that you love the girl." Mickey teased him. There was a long silence and Mickey turned and looked at him.

Basil smiled weakly at him. "That predictable?"

"You love her?"

"In that way that a father loves his child," Basil explained quickly.

"Are you sure?" Mickey asked him, still shocked.

He sighed. "Honestly? I have only concluded it last night. Mickey, I am worried to death about her. If anything happens…"

"Nothing will."

He laughed. "I don't even know what to do when I see her. I want to tell her, but it's not the right time. I don't think she's ready for me to tell her, especially after what happened with her stepfather."

"It may be for the best." Mickey agreed. "Now, let's go find her so you can decide what to do when you do see her."

Sam and Naveen were laughing when they arrived at the restaurant. Tiana came over after she finished taking to a costumer. "What is it that has both of you in high spirits?"

"Sam was only telling me about the time when she caused a spell to backfire." He said.

"Spell? Don't tell me you are into all of that voodoo!"

"Well…" Sam bit her lip. She didn't want to tell them, but she knew that she owed them. "I'm the Guardian, I have to know magic."

"Excuse us for a minute will you, Sam?" Tiana asked.

She nodded. "Yeah." Sam walked outside. "What have I done?" She thought.

Tiana turned to Naveen. "What are we going to do?"

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"She can't stay here!"

"Why not?"

She sighed. "Naveen, don't you remember that last one? What he did?"

"Tiana, she's only a kid…I don't think she's going to be like that."

"How do you know?" She asked putting her hands on her hips. "How can you know after spending only a few hours with her?"

Naveen placed his hands on her shoulders. "Tiana, will you just listen to yourself? This is crazy. You can't believe that she could do anything like the last one." He lifted her chin. "Where is this all coming from, honey?"

Tiana sighed and walked away from him. She turned away and sacked some menus. "My daddy was killed by the guardian."

She felt a hand on her shoulder. "Why didn't you tell me?"

She sighed. "I don't know, maybe because it never came up? Maybe I didn't want to remember that day. It might be because I was afraid that if I did, another one would come."

"Tiana, Sam is nothing like that old guardian. She's good. She loves the kingdom; she has talked nothing more then about it, asking all of these questions. She's also very concerned about her friends. Does that sound like the old Guardian to you?"

"No, but…"

Naveen turned her around and touched her cheek. "But, nothing. Give her a chance, Tiana. Right now, she doesn't have anything."

"You're right."

He smiled and kissed his wife's forehead. "Of course I'm right. Ain't I always?"

She playfully smacked him. "You wish you were."

Naveen chuckled. "Now, go give yourself a small break. Talk with Sam while you're out there."

Tiana walked outside and saw Sam leaning over the railing of the deck. She walked over to her and stood next to her. "Hey." She said softly.

"Hey." Sam said.

"You okay?"

"Yeah." She turned and looked at Tiana. "Do you hate me? Now that you know?"

She sighed. "It's complicated, Sam."

Sam lifted herself up on the railing. "Then explain it to me."

"It's not that I don't like you. I think that you are an okay kid. I just don't like what you stand for."

"And what is that?"

"You know. That one minute you're all for helping the Kingdom, but then you turn against us." Tiana said.

"That's not what I stand for." Sam said.

"That's what a Guardian stands for."

"But I'm not like them!" She exclaimed. "Tiana, you got to believe me. I'm not like that. I want to do good I want to help… "

"Like the last one helped?" Tiana asked. "You need to know what you are getting yourself into, girl. Do you have any idea about what he did?"

"Tiana, I…"

"He caused a fire, Sam! A fire that killed many people, innocent people."

Sam closed her eyes. "I'm sorry! I didn't know."

"Yeah, I've noticed. Don't expect people to trust you, not after what guardians have done."

"I just want to help."

Tiana sighed. "Look, if you want to help, then you need you need to prove it." She looked over at the teen, but then looked away quickly. "It might be best if you left, Sam. You…you can't stay here. I'm sorry…but I can't have you stay with us."

Sam slowly nodded her head and slid down. She walked past Tiana and walked down the street. As she kept walking, she noticed someone from the corner of her eye try to catch up. She stopped and turned around. "Jiminy?" She asked.

"Are you all right?" He asked her. "I saw what happened."

Sam sighed. "No…what do I do now? I don't have any where to go?"

"It will be alright, Sam…"

"All right? How is it all right?" She shouted. "I'm far from home…I don't even have a home, Jiminy! I'm just staying with Basil. Then I left them! I left them, they're my friends and I left them there!"

"You did the right thing."

Sam sighed softly. "I know." She cried. "I know I did. I had to go, because they didn't want me to get hurt. I just…"

"Sam!" She turned and saw Mickey.

"Mickey!" Sam ran over and hugged him. She was so happy to see her friend again.

"Are you okay, Sam?" Another voice asked.

Sam let go of Mickey and she saw Basil. She smiled and hugged him too. Basil held her to him for a moment and pulled away. He looked at her and saw that she had been crying. "Are you sure that you are all right?" He asked.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." She said. "What about you and everyone else?"

Mickey nodded his head. "We all are aright."

Sam nodded. "Come on, Sam; let's get you back to Baker Street." Basil said.

"Okay." Sam turned. "Just let me say goodbye to…"

"To who?"

Sam was looking for Jiminy but she didn't see him. "No one." She finally said.

When the three of them got back, Dawson ran and hugged her. "Sam, you're safe."

Sam hugged him back. "Yeah I guess I am." She said softly. She turned and looked at Mickey. "What happened after I left?"

He grimaced. "Do you want the bad news or the good news?"

"Bad news."

"Ratagain got away, again," Mickey said. "The goons trashed the library and Yensid is in a bad good because of it. Merlin's not in a good mood either, not with the Mistress out and about."

"And the good news?" Sam asked worried.

Basil pulled something out of his pocket and showed Sam the key. "We were able to find this for you."

"Thanks." Sam said taking it from him and linking it back around the chain.

Sam watched as a fire roared on, destroying the kingdom. She was helpless to try to stop it and she watched as people screamed.

"They think that you will give them pain." The Mistress said appearing next to her.

"You're not trying to kill me this time?" Sam asked. "That's a new one."

"You can not stop them from hating you."

"I can help them." Sam said. "This won't happen."

"How can you be so sure of that? Why can't you help them now?" The Mistress asked. "You can't protect them, Guardian. The Kingdom will fall apart at your feet."

The grounds under Sam gave away and she fell, screaming.

Sam shot up. Not another nightmare. She thought. She sighed and got out of bed. She slipped her slippers on and pulled her blue robe over her pajamas. She walked down the stairs and curled up in a chair. She closed her eyes tightly, trying to get her voice out of her head.

"Couldn't sleep?"

Sam looked up and saw Basil walk over trying the slash around his maroon colored robe. "How did you …?"

"The last step creaks when you step on it, you have been having nightmares, and I check on you at night."

"Thanks."

Basil sat down across from her. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah…no." She admitted.

"How bad was the nightmare?"

"Compared to the others? I wasn't killed unless you call the ground giving out and falling." He winced. Now he was the one going to have nightmares. "She talked to me, Basil." Sam said. "She just stood there as destruction surrounded us and talked."

"Destruction?"

"I tried to stop it!" She cried. "I really did."

"Calm down, Sam." Basil told her gently.

"I can't! What if it happens again?"

"What if what happens again?"

"You know the fire? The fire that the last Guardian caused."

"Sam, did the Mistress tell you that?" He asked.

She sighed. "Not exactly."

"Start from the beginning and leave nothing out." Basil told her in a serous tone.

"Back in New Orleans…I was staying with this couple. Tiana and Naveen…They took me in for the night. They found out…well I told them…Tiana freaked out, yelled at me, and told me about this fire. A fire that the last Guardian caused."

He sighed. "She shouldn't have…"

"So it's true? And you knew? You were going to keep it from me?"

Basil shook his head as he moved his chair closer to Sam. "I wasn't going to keep it from you, Sam. I wanted to tell you, and I wanted to be the one who told you."

"But, they did cause the fire didn't they?"

"Other things caused it, Sam." He told her gently.

"But he didn't stop it."

"No, he didn't. He provoked both sides and then they both reacted he did nothing about it."

"Innocent people died." She said softly.

"Yes, they did."

Sam closed her eyes. "People hate me, Basil. They hate me."

He shook his head. "Sam…"

"I'm going to be the same." She said worried.

"Sam…"

"I'm going to fail. I'm horrible, I…."

"Enough, Samantha!" Basil nearly shouted at her. Sam winced at his tone and lifted her eyes up. "No one talks about the Guardian like that, especially the Guardian, is that understood?"

"Yes, Basil."

He sighed and looked at her gently. "Listen to me, Sam. You are none of those things. You are also not reasonable for what happened. The Mistress is trying to get into your head to defeat you easier."

"Well, it's working." Sam said. She looked at Basil. "I'm scared, Basil. I'm really scared. She won't leave me alone."

He rested a hand on her shoulder. "I know, Sam. It is going to be all right."

"What am I going to do about the nightmares?"

"We'll figure something out." Basil said. "Until then…I'm right here, Sam. I'm not going anywhere, I promise you."

Sam stared at him for a moment before she launched her self at him and hugged him tightly. "You promise you're not going anywhere?"

"I promise." He said.

She closed her eyes and cried. She buried her head on his chest. "I don't want to go

sleep."

"It's okay for you to sleep, Sam." Basil said.

"You'll wake me if I have another nightmare?"

"Yes, I wake you." He promised. "Now, try to go to sleep."

He softly started to sing her the lullaby. Sam curled up next to him and closed her eyes. She just felt so safe with him. She knew that Basil wouldn't hurt her. She knew that he would protect her. She only rested her head on his chest as he finished singing.

Basil stroked her hair as he finished singing and then he noticed that she was in a deep sleep. He knew that even though she was back and safe, that the danger she was facing was far from gone. They still needed to stop the nightmares; he could see what the Mistress was trying to do. He knew that she was trying to destroy Sam from her mind. He watched her for a few more minutes, before he fell asleep as well.