Chapter 24: Fiction vs. Reality
Yuki's POV
"Yuki time to wake up!" came a wail I could recognize anywhere. Where was I this time? Jolting my nerves, I felt my warm purple sheets, along with my purple and pink polka-dotted comforter, blinking at my Pokemon posters hanging on the turquoise walls. Not sure of what to think about being back in my room from what seemed like so long ago, my mouth opened in puzzlement saying, "Oh. My. God."
"Yuki, it's time to get up already! Your sister's awake and you haven't even eaten breakfast yet," came my annoying mother from outside my locked door. "At least it's Friday!"
I checked my iPhone sitting on my desk to confirm it was Friday in the middle of March. My feet touched the light brown carpet when I sat up, without the occurring burning sensation of running through the woods without anything protecting them. My wandering mind didn't understand why I was here. What happened to Amestris? What happened to Eddy and Alphonse? I could conjure it was a weird dream, but what about those feelings? What about...? It couldn't possibly be a dream. I didn't and wouldn't except that as the truth.
Opening my closet at the opposite of the room, I found all my clothes hanging high above the floor on white rackets. I grabbed my favorite pair of sweat pants that I had been dying to wear compared to my jeans I had been wearing forever. Also I changed my dirty karate shirt for a wolf howling at the moon.
I never thought changing someone's clothes could feel so refreshing. After I combed the dragged knots out of my hair, I smiled at myself in the mirror. A snickered overtook my lips when I shook my head, pinching my nostrils with a sigh. A knock bang on my door, "Yuki! Feed your dog and get in the car before you miss the bus!"
"Don't yell at me. I got it!" my mouth bit my tongue with my snobby attitude that I had around my mother. I didn't mean to treat her that way, but she always bossed me around with her yelling, and I didn't like that. They treated my sister, Kate, like a princess in her royal castle, but weren't like that with me. I shuffled my feet to the door, unlatching it to show my living room.
My eyes widened when I saw our flat screen TV hanging on the wall with light reflecting through our large window on the blank screen. My little sister sat in our large, tan chair with her iPad in her skinny fingertips. "Kate, are you going to eat?" Mom's voice called. Her short, blonde hair fluttered a little pass her shoulders as she jolted into our kitchen.
When I saw Mom's smile, I wanted to glomp her and tell her how happy I was to see her - even if she did get on my last nerve, but I didn't want to seem awkward. So I just smiled a pleasant smile at her, while my sister wouldn't stop talking about something random.
I grabbed the dog food under the pantry to feed my mutt. The morning breeze hit the sides of my cheeks when I went to feed him in his cage. His cage was small, but big enough to fit a husky mutt. After I poured some food into his large container, I petted my kittens running amongst the cattle, then headed inside to grabbed a pop tart before my mom called me from the car. "Are you finally ready?"
"Wait!" I jumped out of my seat, heading inside, and grabbing my purple bag, with my iPhone in hand, slinging it across my shoulder. "Now I'm ready," I said while closing the blue car door.
"How could you forget your bag?" she asked as she backed out of the driveway.
"It's been a hectic morning."
"It's just every other morning, isn't it?"
"I wish I could say that," I whispered low enough for her to miss the words that came out of my mouth. Something was wrong, I felt it in my gut after waking up in my bed. I didn't want to take a skeptical approach from the other side of the spectrum, but how could I not? Last thing I recall was finding Ed after I stopped time. Maybe it back-fired on me and took me back to me side of the Gate. Only thing I noted, nobody was worried about me being gone from existence...like the world went on without me.
Wait, I got it! I needed to see if Clair was here. It won't prove anything, but at least I could talk to her about the current situation. If she wasn't at school, I would assume she was a ghost, which proved that I wasn't insane.
"Are you okay, Yuk? You seemed a little out of it today," asked Mom while we waited for the bus at the end of our long driveway. Kate and I never liked walking down our driveway, so Mom drove us to the end. Also, usually I was half-asleep, so I would miss the bus frequently.
"I'm half-asleep again," I moaned, lying. I felt more awake than ever before. She brought my excuse, thank goodness, so she didn't answer me because she seemed half-asleep as well. My sister on the other hand was a different story...
"Guess what we're doin' in Mrs. Morris class today! We're doin' an experiment!" she broke out in a squeal.
I didn't want to ask, but I felt like I needed to, "What kinda experiment?"
"We're doin' it with ice cubes and salt, but I don't know what it is exactly. I know it's goin' to be fun, though! She says we get to make ice cream afterwards!" she squealed like no other. After hearing that, all I hoped was her sugar rush had gone down by the time she came home. I prayed asking would give me some clue of what I was doing here, but I guess not.
The bus finally arrived at seven-twenty, my sister wouldn't stop jabbering so it seemed like forever, and I claimed an empty seat. I searched through my 289 playlist of songs on my bumblebee cased iPhone for a Breaking Benjamin song called World So Cold then played Time of Dying by Three Days Grace. The bus reminded me of the trains we rode in Central, only now I had nobody to talk to.
After ten minutes, my friend Harley sat beside me on the blue leather seats. My phone beeped, "I don't care if your at twenty percent or not! You will play my music!" She laughed at me. "What's so funny?"
"You look hilarious when you're mad."
"I do not!"
"You look hilarious when you're called short, too, shorty," she grinned.
"I DO NOT! AND I'M NOT SHORT, I'M VERTICALLY CHALLENGED!"
She started laughing again, "Okay put your hand on the ceiling."
"Fine," I agreed, standing up and placing my fingertips on the roof of the bus.
"I meant your whole hand without getting on your tippy-toes," she commanded with a smile like the devil, okay maybe the devil part was just me, but I hated her grin when she was being a smart-ass. She did it with ease just to tease me.
"This isn't fair! A sixth grader isn't supposed to be taller than me!"
She looked at me with a puzzled complexion, her short, curly, dirty blonde hair falling to the side, "What planet are you on? You're in the 9th grade and I'm in 7th now."
I blinked multiple times to wrap my mind about that statement. I sighed, bowing and pinching my nose, "You can't be serious..."
"Yeah! It's true! Hello, is Yuki's brain in there today?" she knocked on my head with her fist lightly.
"Hey, stop that!" I smacked her hand, adding, "I don't know if I'm here or not. Can I tell you something and promise you won't laugh?" I asked sincerely.
"Sure, go ahead, Yuk, I'll believe anything."
"I went to Amerstris for a month and a half," I stated bluntly, but prideful and concerned of what she'd think.
"Girls in the back, sit down!" came the bus driver's irrupting voice.
We did as requested, but Harley came at me screaming, "How, When, Why, Where, Who- What?! Tell me everything!"
For being a Naruto freak more than anything, that reaction spooked me, but she was one of my kind I'd gave that much. "Okay, yesterday I was in Amestris and now I'm home."
"Was meeting Ed epic? Was Al as innocent as always?"
"Yes...and yes."
"What about Mustang?"
"What about him?" I rose an eyebrow.
"I wasn't finished...," she smiled, "and Winry, Mei, homunculi, the sparkly man-"
"You mean Armstrong?"
"Yeah him! Oh yeah, did Izumi teach you any new tricks?"
"Nah, I didn't have the time," I sighed. All these questions started to make my heart race and leave me nauseated. What if I never saw them again?
The bus stopped at our destination, and I followed Harley off the bus. "Why are you following me?" she whined. "The high school is over there? I have to wait for the middle school bus."
I rolled my eyes and sighed heavily, "Right..."
"If I had any doubt that you didn't go to you know where, it's gone now. You're so screwed."
"Shut up, Har!" I screamed with a laugh, "See you later!"
"Bye," she waved.
I walked up to the main entrance of the school. "Okay, I can do this," I told myself with pride.
When I walked in, it absolutely sucked. I didn't know where to go and I looked like an idiot.
I asked the office that I spotted when I walked inside, "Excuse me, do you have schedules?"
"Yuki?" she grasped, "We've been here how long and you need a schedule? I never had an honor student ask me that before..." She wonder off, throwing her brunette hair behind her shoulders. At least I stayed in honor classes after all this time.
"Please?" I begged.
"Sorry, sweetie. I wish I could help you, but I can't give you a new schedule. I'm sure your friends will know where you need to go," she suggested.
I smiled with relief when she spoke about them, "Do you know where Spencer is?"
She started typing on here computer. "Spencer who? The girl Spencer moved a while ago."
My eyes dilated. No! Not Spencer! "What about Hope?"
"Nope, she moved to Ohio sometime in September."
I figured if they weren't here, Clair wouldn't. "Talia?" She was a girl that liked to start drama, but kept her as a friend, anyways. She was okay.
"Oh, she's here! She's in 208 in Freshman Academy."
"Um...where's that?"
"Are you sure you go to school here?" she asked with worry, but I nodded with certainty as a reply.
"It's pass the cafeteria. The cafeteria is pass those doors down the hall. You should find it if you take a left until you get to the Concession Stands then take a right," she explained. I just smiled, making a frown when I left her with my bag swinging against my side.
I followed her instructions, but I accidentally took a right instead of a left, so I wounded up in the computer room somehow... I saw Clair on the first computer when you walked passed the door. I sat my stuff down and glomped her as hard as I could. Her chair rolled five feet, I swear. "Hi, Yuki. What are you doin' here?"
"Better question is why you're here without a teacher?" I questioned.
"Hey, shh! I thought we made a deal to keep a low voice in here so I wouldn't get caught."
"Huh? Why?"
"Don't you remember? My iPod was taken away because I was on it too much, so I write my stories on here instead. I'm only allowed on here fifteen minutes a day and I'm allowed on my iPod on Sundays, so I update roughly every two weeks on my story," she explained.
"Oh. What story is that?"
"Oh c'mon. You're usually slap-happy or cranky in the mornings. What's the matter?"
"Just answer the question, Clair."
"Hm...okay fine. You know, The Snow Alchemist. I've been working on it for over a year now. I'm working on chapter fifty! I never thought my chapters would climb to drastic levels, but I have over five hundred reviews, so I'm happy with myself!" she smiled, turning back to the flat screen computer.
"What's this story about?"
"Okay, now you're freaking me out...," her eyes dilated with the florescent lighting.
I smirked, "C'mon, just tell me. It's about you falling in love with Al like you always dreamed about, right?"
"Oh, shut up, I wish," she snickered. "It's about you and me going into Amestris. For awesome measure, I'm a ghost and your the owner of this stone thing like the Philosopher's Stone and we go on adventure with the Elric brothers."
"You're kidding me, right-" I stopped in mid sentence. I tried to speak, but nothing came out of my mouth.
"What's the matter this time?"
Suddenly the bell rang. Clair turned off the monitor, and walked out of the room. She walked toward me when I stood motionless. Figuratively speaking, my feet were stuck in hardened concrete. "Yuki, the bell rang?"
"May I ask you a question?"
"Yes?"
"Has any of your characters ever been in this situation? Where they can't move because they don't know how to react and ask random questions about everything?" I asked, almost in a scared position.
She turned to me with her abnormal eyes with concern. "Um...matter of fact, yes."
A shiver ran down my spine. "May I read your story?"
"Of course, like you've done a million times before. Now c'mon, Yuki, before we're late for first period!" she begged.
"Okay, okay. It's called The Snow Alchemist, right?" I bit tongue, testing that name for the first time. "That name is ironic. My English name is Snow."
She waved her arms in the air, "Well, your the one that picked it. I'm just the writer."
"A messed up one at that."
"You're telling me. I don't know how I think of these things..." she picked up her yellow Pokemon bag. "Now c'mon. I hate being late."
"Since when?"
"Where have you been the pass few months?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," I gave a grimacing smile.
"Try me," she dared, stopping in front of the cafeteria doors, glaring at me.
"I'm Yuki Tenshi. The owner of the Pure Stone and has been to Amestris for over a month!"
She laughed. "I think all those math equations are making you wacky."
"Wacky? Since do you use a word like that?"
She glared, "It's not right to judge. I use weird words, okay. Anyways, prove it. You have control of the stone now, so prove it!"
"I get control of that stupid stone! Thank you! I knew you were my best friend forever!" I hugged her again, only more friendlier.
"Okay, you're choking me."
"I was not. That hug couldn't hurt a fly. Getting hugged by Armstrong was way worse," I rolled my eyes.
"You saw Mr. Sparkles!" she yelped. The second bell rang, telling us to run. We ran pass the plain cafeteria that didn't have their tables up yet, along with a small stage covered with back-drops in the background of the white room. Clair tipped walking up the stairs, but quickly swung the doors open before I could help her.
"This is Freshman Academy, right?" I asked kindly.
"..." she gazes at me with her eyes widened. "How about today you stick with me because we basically have the same honor classes?"
"I'm cool with that. I must ask you, though, how do I get back to Amestris?"
"Hm? Read and find out. I'm very forgetful... Actually when did you leave Amestris?" she skidded on her toes with her head tilted slightly beside the light brown locker toward me. I face-palmed. Couldn't even remember her own story. That was pathetic.
Al's POV
"Brother! Yuki!" I called out when they came running over to me. Yuki was being held in brother's arms as he stumbled over to me through the broken branches.
"What happened to our cave?" he asked unamused.
"Yuki was angry at Envy for impersonating you," I paused before briefly glancing at Yuki's unconscious body. "What happened to Yuki?"
"My theory is that Yuki's stone somehow manipulated the particles in her body to a quicker pace of that of any average human. When her buzz died before her particles hit the plasma stage, the sudden stop made her fall unconscious," he explained.
"Will she be okay?"
"I'm not sure, Al, but for now she needs her rest."
"We should take her to the beach and keep a good eye on her." I sighed, "Too bad we couldn't ask Teacher to take us to her house."
"We don't need that housewife's help. We can handle this on our own," brother said with determination.
"Yeah, we can! I know we can!" I agreed rashly, holding up my fist to my face. Ed started walking toward the beach that wasn't far, placing Yuki's body in the sand. The day shuddered into night by the time we reached the sea.
Brother scratched the back of his head with uncertainty. "Yuki's much heavier that I thought. My automail will need a tune up when we get off this island," he smirked, amused.
"Yes! I finally found you!" came a yelling behind me. When I turned my head, Clair floated with a smile above the soft sand. "Sorry, I got lost," she bowed her head painfully.
"Huh? I thought you were connected to Yuki's emotions so you could find her anywhere?" Ed asked.
"Well..., to tell you the truth. I was stalking a few people, asking Truth a few questions about stuff, that he didn't give me straight answers to, and being a standby," she shrugged and rolled her eyes with a frown. "None of you needed me. I'm useless."
"That's not true!" I exclaimed. "You can't say that, Clair! We all need each other! That's the only reason we're together now."
"Al's right. We could've used your help when I was kidnapped by Envy!" Ed screamed fiercely as the dusky wind moved his bangs.
"Really!" she gave a perky smile. "I didn't know you needed me. I promise I won't leave your side, again, guys!"
"Good," was all brother had to say. I gladly liked her company. Why did she think she was useless? She wasn't useless.
She looked behind me. "Um...what happened to Yuki? Did Envy make her pass out! I'm sorry!" she broke out.
"It wasn't your fault. The stone was messing with her again," I told her.
"Messing with her?" She questioned with a snicker, "I believe it! Can you heal her with alchemy?"
"Alchemy can't heal people," Ed glared at Clair.
"Sure it can! It's called Alkahestry! It's using alchemy as a healing property," she explained.
"Why haven't I heard this from either of you before...?" brother sounded intrigued.
She gave a lousy shrugged, popping her eyes innocently, "I thought Yuki told you..." We both shook our heads. "Well, can you clap your hands and try at least!"
"I don't know how it works. I would need to do research on it before I try something like that. I think we should wait it out. She'll wake up within a few days."
Clair looked up at me and I nodded with sympathy. It was our best interest to wait a few days.
Ed's POV
"Ed, it's been a week now and she's still now waking up!" Clair cried as the sunlight faded through her breath with disgrace.
I didn't say anything. What could I say? 'Lets wait a few more days' was what I wanted to tell her, but I couldn't hang on much longer.
"You should use alchemy on her or something! Anything to make her well again! Just give me back my friend, Ed," Clair begged. "I know she's not dead, but if she stays like this she won't get the nutrient she needs, so she might as well be dead. She promised to protect me, so I must do the same. Please help her."
"Fine. I'll try," I sighed, placing my hands on my knees while standing up, looking down at her dismantled body.
Clair bowed her head in forgiveness, "Thank you."
I smirked without turning my head, putting my hand in front of my face. The perishing wind didn't move the bangs out of my face, leaving them dangling by my hands. I shut my eyes, feeling the energy pulse through me before I clapped them together and placed them on Yuki's disdained chest. A purify glowed through the luminous beating light that swam pass my mind and body. I showed no apathy for that stone when I saw those bright lights swarm me. Suddenly, a pull tugged down on me, leaving me light-headed. Running my fingers through my hair, my knees and body hit the ground with a small puddle of dust covering me. Dizziness and disorientation made me lose all consciousness. My eyes dilated to pin holes before I shut them from reality. A sense of a lost insecurity crossed my mind before I woke up in the middle of a farm surrounded by a herd of cows.
A lightly tinted blue trailer sat outside a metal gate next to me. "Where am I?" I asked myself. Suddenly...something tan crossed my view with a little girl in a pink helmet riding on it.
"Hi! What are you doin' here? Who are you? You look like that one person my sister's obsessed with!" she squealed.
"Your sister?"
"Yeah, she's inside playing with her friend. They didn't come out and play with me... Awe well, their lost! I'm gonna see if they'll play with me again!" she squealed again before leaving me.
"Wait! Girl!" I screamed for her attention.
"What?" she walked back over to me, swinging the stringy, blonde hair out of her face in her shorts and short sleeved shirt. She sound like a seven or eight-year-old, but looked about nine or ten. "I can take you to them if you want!"
"Sure, I guess...," I scratched the back of my head, bewildered. She clenched my real arm, pulling me until we were inside the prairie house. We headed toward the back side of the house, up the porch, and through the creamy white door.
"Hey, sis! I have a surprise for you!" she scream, but there wasn't an answer. "Wait here!" she told me fiercely.
Within seconds, I heard a beating noise coming from down the hall. "Yuki! Someone's here to see you! Open your door already!"
"What!" a shouting came from none other but Yuki.
A older women, I guessed Yuki's mom, greeting me at the door. "Who are you? Yuki's never had a boyfriend, so what are you doin' here!"
"Mom, it's okay," Yuki reassured.
"You know you're not allowed to have boys at the house!" she yelled, her hazel eyes glaring.
"I know and I'm sorry. Hi, Eddy," she waved, then looked up at her mom. "Can he please just come in?"
"No! I don't ever want to see him around here again! I want everything, phone, iPad, and computer!"
"But- Fine," she sighed, retrieving everything from her room and pockets. "Can I at least talk to him alone? If you say no there's nothing else you can take from me."
"I can take everything away from you. Your DSI and your books," she explained.
"Fine, take whatever you want! Just let me talk to him, please!" she begged with eyes vibrating innocently.
Her mom sighed, disgrace flooding his nostrils, "Okay. You have fifteen minutes and I will be watching from the window."
"Thank you," she smiled, heading outside. Following behind her, she sat on the small porch only a foot off the ground. "I knew I wasn't crazy! Where have you been? It's been two weeks," she cried.
"Two weeks? It was only a week...," I trailed off. "Yuki, where are we?"
"I...I don't know..." She looked up at me with her emerald eyes that started to shatter. "I don't care," she stood up and leaned into me, hugging her arms deep into my chest. "I'm just glad to see you again." I lied my chin against her head while putting my arms loosely around her, not sure how to respond. I was glad to see her as well.
The End
Just Kidding!
Yuki: You better not be kidding, it said you have 50 chapters! OMG! O.O
Woo! That was a much better ending than I expected, though. I was going to have another cliffhanger, but I decided against it because I love you guys too much. :)
Question: Most basic question, but you may have to think about it, what would you do in Yuki's situation? Would you go crazy before Ed got there, or act like how you normally do like she did?
There's probably mistakes in this, so if you see something please tell me, because I read over it only once this time. Sorry, peoples! Forgive me! (I still need to go over my other chapters... O.O')
Thanx for the support everybody!
Song of the chapter: World So Cold ~ Three Days Grace, which is ironic because she was listening to World So Cold by Breaking Benjamin on the bus.