26. Reunion

A Year and a Half Later...

"Ok. I'll see you at Ray's in ten minutes?" Joe paused while he waited for Fred to respond. "Alright. Later." He closed his phone, slipped down the stairs and out the door.

A pretty, blonde girl sat on the steps, examining her nails, acting completely nonchalant.

Joe did a double take. She looked like her. The only difference he could see was in the eyes. Solid blue, no traces of green. "Sy-Sydney?"

"In the flesh." Sydney flashed a bright smile and bounced up to her feet.

Joe grinned and hugged her, never wanting to let go. "I've missed you so much! When did you get here?"

"A little bit ago. We had to get moved in."

"We?"

"I didn't exactly come here alone."

"What-"

"Hey Syd!" A familiar voice shouted.

Joe frowned. "Skyler? Why?"

Sydney shrugged. "He seems to have a thing for Anna."

"He better not," Joe said, going into protective brother mode.

Sydney laughed. "Relax. Skyler's a good guy. Anna's lucky."

"Why are you talking about me?"

Sydney and Joe turned to look at Skyler.

"Nothing, Sky. Just explaining that we'll be living together for a while."

"You're what?" Joe asked.

"Skyler still has two years of high school left, he's only sixteen. He can't even drive yet. Plus, I don't trust him to live by himself."

"Hey!"

"Do you even trust yourself?"

"No."

Sydney smirked. "That's what I thought." She turned back to Joe. "So? I think we need to catch up."

Joe grinned. "Just let me go get something real quick. I'll take you out for pizza." He turned and went back inside.

Sydney dropped her shoulders and sighed. "That was harder than I thought it was going to be."

Skyler frowned. "You ever going to tell him?"

"I want to, but what if-"

"Sydney, he has a right to know."

"I know, but-"

"He's going to find out eventually."

Sydney sighed. She absentmindedly twirled a heart-shaped locket with a diamond encrusted S on the front between her fingers. "I know."

"I think it's only fair that you tell your boyfriend about the boy you love more than him."

"I'll tell him, just not yet. Don't mention anything to him, please?"

"You know I won't, but when someone that important shows up in your life, you can't hide from it."

"What are you two talking about?" Joe came up from behind and wrapped an arm around Sydney's shoulders.

She smiled at him, all traces of her and Skyler's conversation gone. "Nothing. Just telling Sky some basic New Yorker stuff. I don't want him going all tourist on me."

"And that means I'm not allowed to see any of the sights?" Skyler added, going right along with Sydney's lie.

"Yup." She smiled at him, then looked back to Joe. "Ready?"

Joe nodded. "Yeah." He leaned in to kiss her. "I got you something, for when you came back. I've been keeping it for over a year." He held up a necklace with an egg-shaped blue sapphire pendant that was wrapped in silver with diamonds on the tip.

Sydney gasped and took the necklace from him. "It's beautiful."

Joe grinned. "Glad you like it." He was about to put it on for her, but stopped when he saw that she was already wearing a necklace. "Where did you get that?"

Sydney looked down at the silver locket. "It was a gift. A... good friend gave it to me." She reluctantly took it off and put Joe's on instead.

Joe flashed a smile. "It's good to have you back. I've missed you."

Sydney smiled. "I've missed you too."

They leaned into another kiss. "Um, guys? You're not alone here. Can you have your little reunion celebration later?" Skyler interrupted.

Sydney eyed Skyler out of the corner of her eye and laughed. "Sure."

Joe put his hand on the small of Sydney's back, causing her to jump. He gave her an odd look. "Sorry. I've taken a lot of hits there. It's sorta sensitive." Skyler gave Sydney a look, which she ignored.

"Oh, sorry." Joe wrapped an arm around Sydney's shoulders instead.

"Can we get some food now? I'm starving," Skyler said.

Sydney laughed again. "Sure. Let's go."

And that's it for this story! Yeah, I know I left you with a little cliffhanger. But that just leaves you to speculate about who this boy is. I'll probably be working on 'Return of the Living' next and some extra in-between chapters in The Untold Stories: Extras. Until then, check my profile for updates! So, what did you think of this? Which is your favorite 'War of Time'? The original, or the remake? Let me know!

And one more thing! I'm thinking about posting a short Q&A on my profile, so feel free to PM me some questions about anything! or just leave some in your reviews! Even if you've asked me the question before, chances are, my answer has changed. So, ask away!