Ugh, everything hurts. Sophie slowly blinked her eyes open and immediately squeezed them shut as light made them burn and water. Nearly every inch of her body throbbed with a deep, pulsing ache, her head felt full of lead. She tried to move her right arm, but It was heavy and restrained. She wiggled her fingers and found a stiff material covering the palm of her hand. Cast…it's a cast. She tried opening her eyes again and lifted her head slightly, but immediately fell back and hissed as pain pulsed through her skull. What…? She tried moving her legs. Her right leg was in another cast. Her left leg was numb below the knee and felt…incomplete.

She heard movement to her right. Footsteps approached her side, and a gentle hand brushed the hair from her face. "I see that you are awake," said a soft voice.

Sophie's head spun. It sounded like... "Mom?" She squinted up at the blue blur leaning over her.

"I'm sorry, I am not. My name is Jheselbraum the Unswerving, and you are in Dimension 52."

Sophie blinked rapidly, beginning to panic. "What...I...I can't see...why can't I see?"

Jheselbraum ran her fingers through her hair. "Shhh, you will be able to see clearly again in time. You are recovering from a head injury."

Sophie thoughts felt like sludge as she tried to process the new information.

"What is the last thing that you remember?"

Sophie squeezed her eyes shut. There was something important…wide brown eyes, six fingers reaching out…she gasped. "Ford! Where...where is he?"

"Stanford is safe for the time being."

"Can I see him?"

"Not at this time."

"Why?"

"I'll tell you when you are feeling better."

"But…but I…" Sophie tried to wiggle her toes and frowned. "My left foot, I can't..."

"You can't feel it."

"N-no."

Jheselbraum sighed. "This may not be the best time to tell you why."

Sophie felt dread pool in her gut. "What happened?"

"Sophia-"

"Please..."

Jheselbraum hesitated for a moment. "Do you remember what was happening the last time you saw Stanford?"

Sophie squeezed her eyes shut...sand...wormhole...crashing… too much pain... Vague impressions and memories floated just out of reach. "I don't…I can't…"

"You were in a collapsing corridor. Stanford escaped it because you pushed him out of the way, but you were trapped under the wreckage. The lower half of your leg was severed."

Sophie felt like she had been punched in the gut. No, no, this can't be happening... She bit her lip as tears rolled down her cheeks. "Will-will I ever be able to walk again?" she asked in a small voice.

Jheselbraum brushed away Sophie's tears. "Yes, in time. What you did was very brave, and now you need to rest and recover."

Sophie forced her drooping eyelids to stay open. "Wait...how do you know about Ford?"

"He came here a long time ago. Sleep; I will come back to check on you soon."

Sophie allowed her eyelids to fall shut and drifted off…


Sophie ran along the collapsing corridor, gasping for breath. Ford was a few paces ahead. He turned and reached out his hand, an instant before the ceiling collapsed on top of him... "STANFORD!" Sophie jolted awake and bit back a scream as her entire body protested. Her head hurt as she tried to scan her surroundings. A hand on her shoulder startled her and she jerked away.

"Sophia! Sophia, it's alright, you're safe, it was just a dream."

Sophie grit her teeth. "Ford, where's Ford?"

"Not here, but he is safe."

Sophie instinctively reached for the knife on her hip with her good hand, but her fingers only found silky fabric. She tried to keep the helpless terror out of her voice. "If he's not here, then were is he?"

Jheselbraum reached out a hand. "Sophia, you need to calm yourself."

Sophie smacked it away. "Where's Ford?"

"He is in his home dimension. Now take a deep breath-"

"I-I need to see him, need to know that he's okay..." Sophie pressed a hand to her temple.

"Sophia, you need to breathe; your distress isn't helping you recover."

"But Ford..."

"Is perfectly fine."

"But how do you know?"

"Because I have seen it."

Sophie groaned and rubbed her forehead as she tried to process what Jheselbraum meant. "So what are you, some kind of voodoo fortune teller?"

Jheselbraum chuckled as she smoothed out Sophie's blankets. "Hardly. Most who claim to be fortune tellers simply tell people what they think they want to hear. I, however, am an oracle."

"So, you're a 'real' fortune teller, then?"

Jheselbraum sighed. "The future is not so simple as you may think. It can go in infinite directions, and is decided by the smallest of choices. Change but one choice, and everything changes. With infinite universes, every outcome happens, so it is difficult to discern most of the specifics of your individual future. The past, however, is more fixed, and thus is easier to discern."

Sophie crossed her arms, or tried to. The cast made it difficult. "So, tell me something about my past."

Jheselbraum looked at her sideways. "You still don't believe me, do you?"

"I've seen a lot of things that most humans haven't, but I've never seen a real oracle."

"Well then, how do you think I found you to bring you here?"

Sophie's already-tired brain short-circuited. "I...uh..." She narrowed her eyes. "I thought you couldn't see my exact future."

"There are certain specific events that I am aware of before they happen."

Sophie clenched the blanket in a death grip. "So you knew that I would get trapped in that shipwreck."

"I did."

"Then why, pray tell, didn't you get me out of there before got buried under a crap ton of rubble and LOST MY LEG?!"

"Because if I had, Stanford would not have made it."

"You could have pulled both of us out of there!"

"Sophia, calm yourself. Your anger is only aggravating your head injury."

"But why didn't you do anything before the roof collapsed on me?!"

"Stanford would not have made it."

Sophie blinked as Jheselbraum's words finally sunk in.

"You needed to be there to give him that final push."

"So if I hadn't been there..." Sophie remembered the falling pipe that Ford had narrowly avoided.

"Do you see now, why I couldn't interfere any earlier?"

"But the grenade..."

"Stanford would have used one if you had not."

Sophie's anger melted away as the full implications of Jheselbraum's statement sunk in. "...Oh."

"He needed you, just as you needed him."

"Yeah...I guess so." She looked up at Jheselbraum hopefully. "So if he's in his home dimension, that means you can get me there after I get better, right?"

Jheselbraum shook her head. "That is a journey that you will need to make on your own."

Sophie scowled. "You pulled me out of that other dimension. Why can't you just do the same thing in reverse?"

"Because it would disrupt your timeline."

Sophie lifted an eyebrow. "I thought you couldn't see the specifics of my timeline."

"I said that it was difficult to discern most of the specifics."

"So will I see Ford again, or won't I?"

Jheselbraum quirked an enigmatic smile. "That depends on how determined you are to find him."

Sophie threw up her uninjured hand. "How am I supposed to do that? It took Ford thirty years to get to his home dimension; how the heck am I going to find him?"

Jheselbraum brushed Sophie's hair from her forehead. "You must never lose hope, and trust in yourself; your timeline and Stanford's are linked across the multiverse."

"Linked? So it's like, destiny?"

"Yes, you could say that."

Sophie felt a spark of hope, but frowned. "But half the multiverse has a price on my head. The second I step out of this dimension, I'll have bounty hunters after me."

Jheselbraum raised half of her eyebrows. "Actually, the Federation of Dimension 522 Alpha believes that you are dead."

"Wait...what?"

"The Federation thinks that you died in that collapsed shipwreck; you no longer need to worry about them hunting you."

Sophie blinked. "For real? They won't be after me any more and I can just...hop dimensions without them chasing me?"

Jheselbraum smiled. "Yes. You will still need to hide your identity, but so long as you are careful, you will be safe from the price on your head."

"Wow..." For a moment, Sophie fell as if a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. "Wait, what about Bill? Did Ford destroy him?"

"Not yet, but he will soon."

Sophie furrowed her brow, trying to puzzle through what Jheselbraum had said as she began to feel drowsy. "So, Ford ended up in his home dimension instead of the Nightmare Realm?"

Jheselbraum chuckled. "So many questions. I will have to leave the telling of that tale to Stanford himself when you see him."

Sophie crossed her arms. "But I want to know now."

"You will know in time."

"Humph." Sophie's eyelids drooped.

"You are growing tired."

"'M fine."

Jheselbraum pulled up the blankets to Sophie's chin. "You need rest. I will come to check on you in a few hours."

Sophie grumbled that she wasn't tired even as her eyelids fell shut.


After a long recovery, Jheselbraum fit Sophie with a prosthetic to fill in where the lower half of her left leg used to be. Sophie struggled to re-learn how to walk, and finally, after losing count of how many times she tripped and fell, the day came when she didn't need crutches. She spent nearly every day training to get back into fighting shape; Jheselbraum had to constantly remind her not to push herself too much. Most evenings were spent sitting with Jheselbraum on one of the shrine's many balconies, watching the sun set over the surrounding mountains. She was watching a brilliant purple sunset one evening when Jheselbraum spoke up.

"You are thinking about Stanford again."

Sophie lifted an eyebrow. "When are you going to tell me that you can read minds?"

Jheselbraum smiled. "I don't need to; your body language tells me enough."

Sophie sighed. "Yeah, I guess so. I just...miss him, you know?"

Jheselbraum nodded. "Sometimes I miss him, too."

"Here was here for about a month, wasn't he?"

"Yes, he was that time."

Sophie furrowed her brow. "Wait...he was here multiple times?"

"No, but he wasn't the only Stanford Pines that I've helped. With infinite universes and infinite dimensions, there are several parallel versions of him throughout the multiverse. Those that end up outside their home dimension eventually find their way here."

Sophie mulled that over. "Wow, I never thought about that. Have other mes come here, too?"

Jheselbraum smiled. "I cannot tell you all my secrets."

"Aw, come on!" Sophie frowned. "I kind of hope that I'm the only one of me hopping dimensions," she muttered softly. "I wouldn't wish this on anyone."

"No one wants to suffer," Jheselbraum agreed, "but suffering often leads to growth."

Sophie sighed, watching the light fade from the sky. "I still wish I could have my family back."

Jheselbraum laid a hand on Sophie's shoulder. "And there is nothing wrong with that. I know that you would not have chosen to lose your home, but you have made the best of a difficult situation by finding the strength within yourself."

Sophie frowned. "Most of the time it doesn't feel that way."

"To survive as long as you have, and to still be kind, takes a great amount of strength."

Sophie let out a soft chuckle. "I wouldn't be this nice if it wasn't for Ford. You should give the credit to him."

"Not all; he may have inspired you, but you chose to follow his example." Jheselbraum rose from her seat. "Your time here is drawing to an end. You may stay here for one more night, but then you must resume your journey."

Sophie felt a jolt of panic. "But-but I like it here! And I-I'm…still a little wobbly on my leg sometimes! Can't I stay a little longer?"

Jheselbraum knelt in front of Sophie and placed both hands on her shoulders. "You have recovered enough to be ready for whatever comes. You need only to believe in yourself…and I know that you want to see Stanford again."

Sophie felt a lump in her throat. "I do, I really do, it's just…I don't want to leave you behind."

Jheselbraum pulled her into a hug. "I know. But your journey does not end here; this is only a resting place."

"Why can't you just come with me?"

Jheselbraum chuckled. "Someone needs to help all the accident-prone wanderers that travel the multiverse."

Sophie clung to the fabric of Jheselbraum's robe. "I'll miss you."

"I will miss you, as well." After a few more minutes, Jheselbraum rose and enveloped Sophie's hand in hers. "Come, you will need to rest for tomorrow."

Sophie had trouble sleeping that night. Thoughts and jumbled memories of the two years between losing Kira and finding Ford kept running through her head. Even without the threat of bounty hunters, solo multi-dimensional travel wasn't easy; and as much as Sophie wanted to find Ford again, there was no telling how long it would take. Still, Jheselbraum had told her that their time lines were linked across the multiverse. That had to mean that she would find him eventually…right?

Too soon, the morning came. Jheselbraum gave Sophie her pack, loaded with supplies.

Sophie gave Jheselbraum the biggest hug she could as emotion welled in her chest. "Thanks, Jhess, for everything. I'll-I'll never forget you."

Jheselbraum squeezed back. "My brave Sophia. The only difficulty of helping others is that eventually, I must let them go on to continue their journeys." She pulled back and knelt so her gaze was level with Sophie's. "Stay true to yourself, follow you instincts, and don't forget to be kind."

Sophie's throat tightened. "Okay." A tear rolled down her cheek and Jheselbraum brushed it away with her thumb.

"I know goodbyes are difficult for you, but you are strong. You are brave. You will find Stanford and I will still be here, alive and well." Jheselbraum stood and handed Sophie the portal gun that had gotten her and Ford through so many dimensions. "Your journey awaits."

Sophie swiped her eyes and took a deep breath. It was going to be okay. She would find Ford. It was going to be okay. I can do this. She pulled up her hood, scarf, and goggles. Resisting the urge to look back, she pulled the trigger on the portal gun and stepped through the swirling blue disk.


Yay! Sophie's still alive, and now she has a cool bionic leg. Reviews are always appreciated! :)