Snow, Dreams, and Enemies
Summary: Rachel and Conan go to America, and find that not everything is perfect in Anchorage, Alaska. They also find that they're STUCK with the circus-like family that they're staying with! When Conan makes a new friend, will old enemies come up?
AN: I've only seen a few of the dubbed episodes of Meitantei Conan. ; Sorry...
Chapter One: Anchorage, Dreams, and Settling In
Rachel glanced around the airport, holding onto Conan's hand firmly. "Where are they?" she asked. Her eyebrows knit together as she scanned the Stevens International Airport. A brown-haired girl of about 13 ran up to Conan, staring at him for a moment. Her brown hair framed her face rather boyishly, and her striking gray eyes were enlarged by the brown-framed glasses perched on her ears and nose. She was dressed moderatley well for winter, wearing a light jacket and long pants. She smiled at Conan.
"Edogawa Conan, right?" she asked in accented Japanese. He nodded as she offered her hand. "I'm Myrilla Nadine," she shook his hand, grinning. "I can show you around! My family won't be here for a while yet... At least, I don't think..."
Her statement was countered by the appearance of a woman who was ovbiously Nadine's mother. In fact, Conan did a double-take. The resemblance between Nadine and her mother was striking. She bowed to Rachel. Rachel bowed back. "You'll have to excuse Nadine. Ever since she heard of Conan, she wanted to meet him so much. I'm Thomas Betsy." Conan stared at her, and, in reply, Betsy laughed a little. "I adopted Nadine, you see. I never expected her to turn out looking so much like me!"
"But why didn't you take her last name, Nadine?" Rachel asked the smaller female. The gray-eyed girl giggled.
"I was ten when Betsy adopted me. I was determined to keep the name I had from the start." Betsy nodded. "You know, Conan, you're not too well-dressed for the weather, all things considered..."
Betsy, meanwhile, confided in Rachel that she thought Nadine would be condescending to Conan. Nadine frowned at her mother, folding her arms. "What do you mean, Mrs. Thomas?" Conan asked. Nadine giggled into her hands.
"Well, you see... Nadine is much smarter than anyone her age. Normally, she doesn't want anything to do with anyone younger than her- even people her age aren't on her level." Besty replied. Nadine grinned.
"Darned tooting! But Conan is so smart..." she flashed him a knowing look, then giggled and asked if he wanted to go to the car. Betsy handed her the keys, and the two scampered off. Conan noticed a distinct shift in her eyes- almost as if she had let down some kind of mask. She opened the van door, ushering Conan in. She leaned up to the front, turning the car on. She turned the radio on, too. Conan raised an eyebrow at her. "Listen, Conan... I need to get something off of my chest. I've had it with me for about three years now. My real name is Fukachi Kayla. I'm a Japanese-American, and I am really twenty years old. My parents were too far in the Japanese underground... and things turned sour. I managed to be the second 'test subject' for... A pill that reverses growth. I showed up in an orphanage here as a kid who was born without records. They bought it. I was adopted by Betsy. She doesn't know."
Conan's eyes widened. "You've gotta be kidding me! You were the second?" His eyebrows knit together. "How do you know you're the second?" He stared at her as she sighed.
"They told me Kudo Jimmy was the first... just before they made me take it." She shook her head. "Please don't tell anyone, Conan. I don't know why I trust you with this... I just do." Conan laughed.
"Well, Kayla... I'm the first." Nadine's eyes widened as she shook Conan. She saw the resemblance to the pictures of Jimmy and her jaw slackened.
"No... way! This is... woah! Did you discover that NyQuil can turn you back?" Nadine asked. Conan tilted his head. "It's a sedative and cold medicine. It has a similar effect to alcohol, and it near-floors me every time I have to take it."
"Floors?"
"When I took it in my real childhood, I literally felt like something was pinning me down." Nadine giggled. "Holy hell! I can't..." she shook her head, grinning and laughing. "But that just leaves one question... Why you're two years younger than I am."
"It might have to do with the chemical differences between males and females," Conan suggested. Nadine nodded. She glanced out the window.
"Rachel and Betsy are coming." Nadine's eyes regained the childish look as the women loaded the suitcases into the car. Conan and Nadine exchanged school information. "Well, I'm in ninth grade," she informed Conan.
"No way! You're ony thirteen!" Conan yelled. Nadine's smile changed a little.
"In America, people who are intelligent enough can skip grades." Nadinde countered. Conan's eyes bluged as she polished her glasses. "Yes, really." She offered a piece of her homework. "Mr. Sparks assigned homework over the winter vacation. BAH!" The paper was in English, and Conan sighed.
"I can't read it." Conan admitted. Nadine blinked, then flipped the paper over. It was in a Japanese typeface.
"Betsy said I could take a Japanese course. I wanna go to Japan when I get older." Conan could see that it was the truth, though the reasons were anything but what Betsy would expect from the child. He expected it was to seek a permanant fix for her condition. Conan blinked as Nadine pulled out a clipboard and began writing next to some symbols. At the top of the list was a line of five dashes.
"What's that?" Conan asked. He was mystified by it.
"Notes on the five modes of thinking. I got it from a book. I usually do take things like this from books and apply them to daily life. Do you know how many times I've caught myself in the third pattern?" Conan blinked.
"Third pattern?" A painted fingernail pointed to a pentagon.
"Each of these symbols are made of five lines exactly. The pentagon, or third pattern, is essentially running around in circles, getting nowhere." Nadine giggled.
"You think in the fifth pattern far too much, too, Nadine..." Betsy repremanded. Nadine groaned.
"Betsy! My intuition is dead-on!" Conan raised his eyebrows. Nadine's finger traced down, crossing an asterik. There was a pattern of lines beneath her fingernail (--). "The fifth pattern; the intuitive pattern. Sudden, unknown, illogical leaps to the answers one seeks, though some people have stronger intuitions than others."
"What are the others?" Conan asked, genuinley interested. Nadine's pale purple fingernail rested on a horizontal, broken line of five dashes.
"The first, straightforward thinking. You could go far with it, but, like intuition, it's not too reliable, and you're bound to make mistakes." Nadine's finger travelled down to the second symbol. The lines were stacked, one on top of another, not making a vertical line. Rather, they ran paralell to one another. "The second, multiple trains of thought that lead to one answer. You won't go very far with it, but it's more accurate than letting your intuition do it. We've already covered the third and fifth. All that's left is the asterik, the fourth." Her finger rested on the oversized asterik. "This represesnts creative thinking. All thoughts leading from one point. One line is bound to at least take you closer to your goal." Conan stared at her.
"So what do they... do?"
"I basically trained my mind, after a lot of meditiating, to change thinking modes. It wasn't easy. Trust me. It was like reformatting an old computer. If I woulda' learned it earlier, it would be easier. In any case, I had to think of examples of each kind of thought in my daily life. I'd think on that for a good hour, and couple it about halfway through with the symbol." She closed her eyes. "Then, as an excersize, I would close my eyes and try to figure out what mode of thinking I was in at any given moment. After a while, I got to the point where I just had to close my eyes and think of the symbols. My mind's eye would be drawn to the one that was my type of thinking."
Conan blinked at her. "Wow. That's cool!" Nadine nodded, giggling a little.
"I think it's kind of silly, how I took something from a fiction novel and turned it into-"
"Something to live by." Conan finished for her. Nadine nodded again. "I know of someone who does that with Sherlock Holmes." Nadine raised an eyebrow as Betsy pulled into her driveway. Nadine helped Betsy and Rachel carry some of the stuff in.
"I've got some extra winter gear that will fit you... Then we can go outside and I can show you Bowman Elementary." Conan raised his eyebrows. "It was my old school, and it has a big playground. I live just over the fence... though we have a one-sided gate." She giggled, grabbing a pair of walkie-talkies from a counter. She pulled on a pair of snow pants and Sorel boots, directing Conan to extras. The coats were surprisingly non-girly. Nadine helped Conan into the extras, racing outside. She laughed as he waddled out awkwardly. "You poor thing! You don't normally wear this stuff, do you?" Conan shook his head as she taught him how to walk in 'bunny boots'. Both trudged dutifully out of the yard. Conan noticed a flashlight in his pocket and wondered, aloud, why it was there.
"I put them in the pockets of all my coats. It gets dark quick in the winter out here, so I have to keep them around. That's also why there's reflective tape all over the coats and stuff. They're dark colors, so we need to counter that with reflective stuff." Nadine tipped Conan over, flopping down and pulling off a glove. She pulled out a walkie-talkie, flicking through the channels. She froze as she heard a voice speaking in rapid, but coded English. "No way!" Nadine muttered. Both could faintly hear sirens. Nadine grimly produced a bottle of NyQuil, warm from her body heat. Conan glanced at her. "It seems we have a serial killer on the loose, Conan. Facts are, we need a way to solve this- but it's way out of my leauge. I'm not good at solving things like this. The scary thing is, the people who are murdered... Are Japniuts."
"Japnuits?" Conan asked.
"Japanese-Inuits. Inuits are Native Alaskans. I... I don't get it, though-" Nadine was interrupted by a shout from the walkie-talkie. Her eyes widened, then gained the aged look. The fading light played on her fatures, making her look old. Conan blinked a little.
"Nadine?"
"Oh... sorry..." She took her hat off, bowing her head and closing her eyes. "An officer was just killed in the line of duty." A tear rolled down her cheek as she stood. "I hate standing by when things like this happen." She pulled her hat on, suddenly a grim, intent figure. Conan blinked at her.
"There's something you're not telling me..." he muttered. She grinned lopsidedly, a bitter look on her face as she switched the walkie-talkie off.
"That is... that the murderers were Japanese and wearing long, black coats." Conan's eyes widened as she nodded. "The same ones who put us in this hole." Nadine switched the walkie-talkie back on, then changed to a specific channel. "Betsy. This is Nadine... I need in." The walkie-talkie was turned off as Betsy unlocked the gate and opened it. Conan and Nadine stared at one another as Betsy walked back in. The brown-haired girl grinned a little. "Conan, listen... This is getting desperate." Conan stared at her. "I'm thinking in the second pattern, Conan. The men in black coats know we're alive. They need to be stopped. I knew they would realize that their first buddy was still alive, and then they'd come after the weaker of the two targets. Me." Nadine closed her eyes, then walked up the stairs to the house. She came out with a glaive. The knife-on-a-stick startled Conan. "I convinced Betsy into letting me get a glaive, and then taking lessons."
"Why?"
"Self-defense. I also have taken Tae Kwan Do... just enough to get me by without this pigsticker." The gray-eyed girl glanced at Conan.
"But... these clothes are too bulky to-" Conan found a loose hair falling to the ground, Nadine standing as if nothing had happened.
"I trained for that, too, Conan." Nadine said. She grinned. "I even trained as Kayla, in winter clothes, no less. There's just one last thing I need to do. Betsy needs to know." Conan's eyes bulged. "It's a mastery stroke, Conan. By having Betsy know, I can assume my real form and kick some major rear. I'm ambidextrous... but I need a weapon for my left hand." Conan stared at her. "You hunt them down- through me, and I provide the raw muscle. Sure, Rachel will know my secret... but you're perfectly safe, Conan. If they try anything, they'll have to manage to get close, first. That's what polearms are good for." Conan nodded. "If they start advancing... I'll give them a warning nudge. That would be cutting their arm tendons..."
"Rendering them incapable of doing anything but running!" Conan announced, filling in the blank. Nadine grinned as she walked in, taking off her winter gear, then fleeing to Betsy's room. Betsy blinked, following her adopted child. By the sudden shout, Conan could tell that Nadine had downed the NyQuil and was suddenly in a world of pain. Another shreik caused Conan and Rachel to come into Betsy's room. Nadine was now Fukachi Kayla, blinking hugley.
"I'm still blind as a bat. Arg! I know my old glasses are in my room somewhere..." Betsy pulled a pair of glasses that were, essentially, a larger version of her 'Nadine' glasses out.
"Are these it, Nadi- Kayla?" Kayla nodded, pulling them on. Kayla was wearing a loose sweatshirt and sweatpants. The resemblance between Kayla and Betsy blew Conan away. "I had a sister named Kayla... She vanished three years ago..."
"Your surname used to be Fukachi, but you changed it to 'Thomas' and fled, didn't you?" Betsy nodded. Kayla hugged her sister. "Little sis! Oh, goodness, this is FUNNY!" Conan blinked. "I got adopted by my LITTLE SISTER!" Kayla was laughing... until Conan tugged on her sleeve. Kayla nodded. "There's a reason I went back to being Kayla. The same bastards that turned me into Nadine are here looking for me. Well, I have something to say to them."
"That's why you-!" Betsy exclaimed.
"Yep." She streched, taking Betsy's handgun from a drawer, loading it, and strapping the holster to her chest. "I also decided to take up a gun course as Kayla. Of course, I never USED the name Kayla... but I must say I'm a damn good shot." Grim purpose glittered in Kayla's eyes as she scooped Conan up. Rachel stared at her. "Mind if I tell, Conan?" Conan consented, turning pale. This was it! He could never say it to Rachel, but the ruthlessly cold, powerful female holding him was ovbiously more than capable of doing it for him. "Edogawa Conan is Kudo Jimmy. He was subjected to the same drug I was, and the same scum-sucking bastards that turned me into a kid and killed my parents were the ones who turned him into a kid." Rachel's eyes bulged.
"I don't believe you!" Rachel shouted. Kayla sighed, shaking her head.
"You as good as saw Myrilla Nadine turn into Fukachi Kayla, and you take that in, but you won't believe that your high school sweetheart has been beside you all the time?" Kayla demanded. "Think about it. Look at Conan..." she yanked his glasses off. "And then think about how Jimmy looked when you last saw him. There's a disturbing resemblance, isn't there?" Rachel admitted defeat. "Conan and I have a plan on how to get those lowlives. He's going to solve the crime through me, and I'll just be the physical force that sends them into la-la land. Hopefully, that span of time will be enough that the cops see me turn into Nadine- the black coats will be out of it for quite a while by that point." Kayla smirked. "There's just one link in the chain missing... I need something to blind and otherwise confuse them with. A household something."
"Vinegar is confusing as hell when you get a face FULL of it. So's lemon juice," Betsy contributed as Kayla nodded.
"There's an idea that works!" Kayla crowed. "Conan could kick thick plastic bags full of a vinegar/lemon juice mix into their faces!" Rachel was still recovering from the shock of Conan's true identity. Kayla nudged her sister, who gently shook Rachel. "Rachel... listen. I know it may be hard to shove your emotions aside, but... you need to, for the moment. Until we eliminate our enemies, Conan and I are in mortal danger. You need to act as if everything's the same." Rachel nodded numbly as Kayla and Conan walked by. Betsy produced the bags, and, swiftly, ruthlessly, Kayla took off with Conan clinging to her for dear life. "It was on Huffman... down at the local grocery store." Kayla was running a thirty-minute mile. The jarring ride was quite a trip for Conan.
"You're not even aching?" Conan asked. Kayla admitted that she was, a little.
"But I can't let that get in my way. There's a bright, clear line from point a, being Nadine, to point b, putting those scum-sucking bastards away."
"The first pattern."
"You're a quick study, boy." After that, there was silence. The black coats, though there were more of them, were in the parking lot. Kayla swallowed her exhaustion as she set Conan down. She had her glaive in her left hand, her gun in the other. Her gray eyes glittered with dangerous intent.
Conan's first instinct was to cower behind Kayla, but he shook it off. He sent a lemon-vinegar balloon at one of them, sending a dart from his watch after it. The resulting splash of acidic juices blinded his target and those around him. "Behind you!" Conan warned Kayla, who whirled dangerously. She drove the butt of the polearm into the base of the man's neck, sending him out like a light. "One down!"
"Shut up!" Kayla growled, firing at one of the black-coated men. He cried out about his ear, but sleeping darts soon embedded themselves in each of the men. Kayla leaned against the brick wall, clutching her chest. Just as she'd predicted, the backup arrived just as she began reverting. It was a horrible scene, as the police tried to figure out what her problem was. Nadine soon sat where Kayla was, much to a stunned backup force. The teenager sighed, shaking. She said something in pained-sounding English, and they glanced at the men in black coats. She pointed at a distincly Japanese-looking officer. "Listen... My friend and I are not the children you see. We are de-aged, thanks to a... mysterious... drug that those men gave us. They killed my parents and would kill us if they knew that we were not dead. As it is, they need to be arrested... AND KEPT HERE!" Nadine insited. "Our names should be kept secret. I won't tell you my name, or my friend's. None of this should get to the news." They nodded, and the officer caught Nadine as she tipped forward, pushed over her limit.
Conan didn't know exactly when he, too, fell asleep, but he discovered that he was in Betsy's home. Nadine was curled up on Betsy's bed as he investigated the house. Rachel was still sleeping as well. Betsy grinned at Conan from the kitchen, handing him a cup of coffee with extra sugar. "This will wake you up..." Betsy said. Conan nodded as he climbed into a chair. "This is so... weird. I mean, now, when I look at you, I can't help but see an adult. I don't see how Rachel didn't see it in you before! I can't even understand how I never saw Nadine as my older sister!"
Nadine trudged out of Betsy's room, making a cup of coffee almost zombily. "I feel like crap," Nadine informed them, downing the drink. "Bets', let's take bets on Rachel's reaction when she wakes up. I bet she'll fly on to Conan and either yell at him for not telling sooner or break down crying."
Betsy grinned, laughing. "THERE'S my sister! I bet she'll slap him first, then apologize after realizing he still has the body of a kid nine years younger than her."
"How much are you putting on it?" Nadine asked as she sat next to her sister. Betsy's grin turned competetive.
"Are you asking me to put my money where my mouth is?" Betsy demanded. Nadine nodded.
"You know it."
"JIMMY!" Conan froze in mid-sip as Rachel barrelled out of her room, grabbing the boy in a bear hug. "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?! I WAS SO WORRIED!" Rachel was half-crying as she held the much smaller boy close to her. Betsy made a face.
"I win." Nadine announced, finishing her coffee. She sniggered. "You might want to let him breathe, Rachel." Rachel gasped as she realized she was suffocating the boy.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"If he did, he would have put you in harm's way. I've set things up so you can live with us- I did it beforehand." Nadine said, staring into her mug.
"Gramps always did say you were a precog. How'd you know there would be a perfect chance to free Jimmy and Rachel?" Betsy asked her sister. Nadine sighed.
"Call it a gift. I just knew." Nadine's lower lip trembled as she leaned against her sister, eyes closing. Conan found himself wiping tears from his eyes. "I guess... this is kinda... emotional... for all of us, huh?" Nadine asked in a quivering voice. Betsy embraced her shrunken older sister. Nadine sobbed into her sister's chest, body shaking. Rachel cried quietly, pressing her forehead to Conan's. Betsy closed herself, stroking her sister's hair. "It's... almost... over!" Nadine declared, looking at Conan.
"Almost?" Conan asked. Nadine shook her head, crying into Betsy's shoulder. Betsy gave Conan a sad smile.
"You're still kids." Betsy said simply. Conan nodded as Nadine composed herself.
"I'm kind of tired of being a little kid." Nadine said, rubbing her eyes. She climbed out of Betsy's lap, turning the TV on. She grinned, listening to the news. "They did it! They kept us a secret! They told people there was a bit of a massacare at Carrs Huffman, but... they left out the identities of the murderers, and they left US out!" She cheered. She flashed a victory sign, then groaned, curling up on the couch. "I overdid it..." She closed her eyes, dozing off.
Nadine awakened to see Jimmy's face above her own. "What the bloody hell?" she mumbled, sitting up and rubbing her head. Betsy grinned widley as she handed Nadine a cup. "What is it?" Nadine asked, peering at Jimmy in disbeleif.
"It seems that lemon juice, vinegar, sugar, vodka, beer, red and white wines, and some apple juice seem to make the transformation back permanant," Betsy replied, grinning. Nadine downed the cup, coughing.
"Sure as hell don't taste like tomato juice!" Nadine grumbled, shaking her head. Jimmy laughed. "What do you CALL this drink? Helljoy? 'Cause it sure is one kick in the ass..." Nadine grabbed a pillow, gritting her teeth.
"Jimmy... get out of the room." Betsy announced. Rachel dragged him out of the living room as Nadine changed back. A triumphant yell echoed through the house as Kayla pulled on a pair of her sister's pants. She whooped and hugged her sister, waving a fist in the air. Rachel and Jimmy returned to see a triumphant, glasses-wearing Kayla.
"WAHOOOOOOOOOO!" She dragged the entire group into one large hug. The mood was generally triumphant. "Buh-bye Myrilla Nadine, welcome back Fukachi Kayla!" She let out another whoop.
"There was a blizzard while you were out of it..." Betsy muttered lamley as Kayla ran to a window. The clouds were breaking for an awe-inspiring world of pure-white. Kayla smirked softly, noting the Christmas decorations.
"Who cares? It's BEAUTIFUL! ...MERRY CHRISTMAS!" Kayla shouted, pulling a camera out. She pointed to a spot just above Jimmy and Rachel's heads, sniggering. They looked up to see mistletoe. Just as Jimmy kissed Rachel, Kayla snapped a picture.
Just as Kayla snapped that picture in Conan's head, he snapped awake. He shook his head, looking around. That was one weird dream! He thought, shaking his head and pulling his glasses on. Rachel smiled at him. "Are we landing yet?" he asked. Rachel nodded, pointing out the window. Conan peered out, and his eyes widened. "No way! Cool!" That's the same airport I saw in the dream! Everything's the same! As coincidence had it, they were even at the same gate. Conan looked around, jittery. He half-expected Nadine to show up with Betsy behind her.
It was certianly not Nadine who showed up, but it was a girl. A short woman and a worn-looking old man followed her. She grinned and bowed to them. "Ohayo Gozaimasu," she said. "Eigo ga wakarimasu ka?" She asked. Conan grinned a little.
Her accent is horrible, but she doesn't seem to be forcing it. He saw the look in her eyes- she had ovbiously worked hard to come to whatever level of Japanese-speaking she was at. He nodded. "Yeah. My parents made me learn it after school." Conan surley hoped it was a passable lie. The girl looked slightly releived. She then turned to Rachel, blinking.
"Does she?" The Nadine-like girl was wearing a dark blue t-shirt with the words 'Bailey Intermediate Choir' proudly displayed on the right breast. It seemed a little worn, and was ovbiously important to the girl. She giggled at Conan, who shook his head. "Well, that makes two of us kids who speak other langurages." A saddened look entered her violet eyes- she ovbiously wore contacts, instead of glasses.
Conan blinked. "Why so sad?" He was, in fact, wondering what was on this intelligent girl's mind. She sighed, closing her eyes and shaking her head.
"It's just... you're better at YOUR second language than I am at MINE. Then my depression-monkey kicks in and causes me to think more negative thoughts than I need. Evil thing, always waking up at the worst of times..." Conan laughed, causing her to look at him oddly. "You realize this isn't funny, Conan?" She folded her arms, sighing. "I bet you've never had to deal with depression. I try to laugh it off... Bah. There I go, wearing my heart on my sleeve. I should shut up before I depress you. Just... follow me, and tell Rachel to follow me, too, okay?" She walked off, ovbiously troubled.
But why does my being better at English than she is at Japanese depress her? Conan wondered. He'd have to ask her when they arrived at her house. I don't think her family's a bunch of perfectionists... He saw the girl pick up his bags, walking out to a black SUV. A small-breed, brown puppy greeted her. A thin, lean, lighter brown female licked her face, causing the thirteen-year-old to laugh.
"This is Teddy," she said, pointing to the now-barking dog. A violet glare silenced the mutt. "Contrary to popular beleif, Teddy's a girl. So's Mia, this litte whiner." The smaller pup was handed to Conan, who blinked as the little dog licked his face. "Oh, I never did tell you my name. I'm Liz Johnson. You might hear people in the house call me Elizabeth, but they're just under a delusion."
"Of?"
"They think I'll actually like being called Elizabeth. Yuck." Liz ran in and carried some of Rachel's bags out. While she was loading them up, Conan saw her school binder. He flipped through it, blinking.
Wow. Even if her work is late... it's still all dead-on! Why does she get such bad grades? Conan blinked and put the binder back as Liz hopped into the drivers' seat. Conan was seated between Rachel and the old man. The old woman was sitting up front with Liz. She can DRIVE!? ...We're so dead... Conan thought. Much to his chargin, Liz was almost a natural. She grinned mischeviously, and Conan paled. What did she have up her sleeve?
As it turned out, it was an ice-skating trip in the local mall. The girl seemed to be a frequent patron at a place called 'GameStop'. Then Conan caught his stupidity. Ovbiously, Liz worked here! "Conan! I want you to meet my coworkers." Conan blinked. "This is Aida, our manager... whose job I may get in a year or so," Liz's voice was competetive. "These clowns are Mark, Matt, Curtis, and Dustin. The rest, who are currently in random spots around the store are Crystal, Brianna, Annamaria, and the twins, Toni and Tori. Everyone, this is Conan. He's a friend from Japan."
"Can you speak English?" Aida asked him. Liz grinned a little and made a 'back down' motion. Aida blinked at Liz.
"I just wanted to introduce you guys. C'mon, Conan!" Liz grabbed his hand and waved to the group, leading Conan down an escalator. Rachel and the old people were waiting outside the ice rink. Liz quickly paid the admission and price for rental skates. Liz deftly changed from snow boots to ice skates, helping Conan into his skates. "Walk like a duck, Conan. That way, you don't fall on the way to the rink," Liz was helping him balance.
Behind them, her grandparents commented that Liz was being surprisingly friendly. That comment struck Conan hard. Like Nadine?
"She hasn't blown up in his face yet... That's a good sign!" Her grandfather joked, expertly ducking under the boot that was flying in the direction of his head.
That may be one of the reasons why she's depressed... if she gets it a lot. Conan thought as Liz asked him something. "Yeah..." he replied. She had asked him if he knew how to ice skate. Liz released his hand, taking off. The look on her face was grim. Conan realized she was working off her temper. He froze as she went into the center of the rink and began spinning. She'll be really dizzy after that! Conan thought with a laugh. Indeed she was, and she was giggling, too. Liz's mood had seemed to change to playful, as she was now skating circles around Conan and Rachel. "Hey!" Conan squeaked as she stole his glasses. She grinned and circled once more, placing them back on his face.
"Wanna race?" she asked, stopping. Conan nodded. She hunched down a little, pointing to where two boards joined. One could see the admission booth from that spot. "Our beginning and ending point. One lap. Ready... GO!" Liz took off, Conan following her. Liz had the home field advantage in this one. The girl was even beating him BACKWARD!
This is so humiliating... Conan thought, caught up in the moment. Liz stopped at the mark, looking around. Conan blinked. What had her so surprised? She looked up, eyes narrowing. Conan realized that she could see GameStop after he stopped next to her. There was something wrong, though. Liz skated over the barrier, pulling out her white sneakers. She returned her skates, telling the group to stay there. Of course, Conan chased her.
"TORI!" Liz shouted, racing into the game store. She had a wild look in her eyes. "Aida, who did this to Tori?" Conan stepped in to see... Tori, lying on the floor. She was a beaten mess, but still alive. Ovbiously Liz had verified Tori's state of being and was more concerned with catching whoever did this to her. Aida folded her arms.
"It was... it looked like that guy from Best Buy. You know, the one who keeps harassing her?" Liz's anger was clearly visible as she tore off running. Conan was hard-pressed to follow her. Liz tackled her ovbious target, pinning him quite well. She ovbiously learned how to fight from some street, because that was no karate move. Liz's face was turned down to glower at her victim.
"Tell me, Tom... Did you honestly think that GameStop's resident psycho WOULDN'T hunt you down for maiming Tori like that?" Liz growled. Her captive, Tom, struggled against her.
"I didn't think you'd be there!" Tom said, then caught himself in the admission of guilt. Liz led him- he was still captive- to the security office. Her eyes gleamed as the security officer cuffed him, then went to investigate GameStop. The security cameras proved it.
She might not be much of a detective... but I'd hate to be Tom. Conan stared at her.
"Sorry... I just can't stand to see people I like getting hurt." Liz muttered, taking an escalator downstairs. Rachel was just about to chase after them. "GRAMMA! GRANPA! LET'S GO!" Liz called, her voice carrying well. Conan and Rachel winced. Her grandparents followed the three younger people to the SUV. "Small warning, Conan... You might need these-" A pair of earplugs were presented to him, "in our house. It gets noisy when new people come in." Liz handed a pair to Rachel, turning the car on.
As things turned out, Liz was right. There were five barking dogs and three more people who greeted them. Liz rolled her eyes, bellowing at them. Silence ensued. Liz pointed to the tall blonde teenager. "He's Benjamin. Ben for short." The finger pointed at a heavyset woman. "Monica. My aunt." A short guy (nearly only as tall as Conan himself!) introduced himself as Marco. "My grandma's name is Beth Ann, and grandpa is Marco Sr." Rachel blinked as Conan translated for her. Liz shook her head. "I really need to work on learning Japanese..." she mumbled. Suddenly cheering herself up, she grabbed Conan and dragged him to the back room. The setup was... odd, to say the least. There was a gray computer with a flatscreen monitor next to it. Next to it was a white sheet, which Liz pinned so that Conan could sit in the office chair in front of the gray tower and black monitor. A larger monitor, gray and dark gray-blue, was in front of Liz. A white tower was next to it. Liz pressed the power button and waited, grinning. "This is Furball." Conan looked around, and Liz made a noise of irritation. "The computer. It's a lame pun. Some people in Fairbanks, whose brand name is 'Lynxware', made it. Lynxes are furry creatures. Thus the name. Furball. ...Like I said, a lame pun. I got it a year ago- when I turned thirteen." Conan grinned at her.
"You name your computers?" Liz nodded, then blinked, standing up and dragging Conan upstairs.
"MOOOOOOM!" Conan blinked. "I forgot to introduce you to my mom!" A female with an eerie resemblance to an adult Liz peered out of a room on the left of the hall. "Mom, this is my friend, Conan. Conan, this is my mom, and one of the coolest people on Earth, Melanie Miller... or did you change it to Johnson, like Rhonda?" Mahelani shook her head, grinning a little.
"Can he understand English?" Liz's response was to stick her tounge out. "Hey..."
"Yes, I can," Conan muttered. Liz grinned and dragged him into her room... which, he learned, had a divider and a seperate bed. Conan's half was nearer to the door to the hall, but Liz had a direct route to the bathroom. "So... Um."
"Yes, um. We're a circus in here. You get used to it." Liz peered over the barrier, grinning. "I hear you like puzzles. Well, I have a game that happens to be one huge series of puzzles. It's called Riven, the sequel to Myst. I bet you could beat it, easy!" Conan chuckled a little at the praise. "Goodness knows it's taken ME forever to beat it. My mom's kind of shocked, considering how quickly I beat Myst on my thirteenth birthday. Evil underground rail-thing took mer forever to figure out." Conan grinned as she pulled out a laptop and a box with the CD-roms.
"Looks like fun!" Conan announced. Liz nodded.
"It is." Liz streched, pulling out a foam pad. She turned on a PlayStation 2. Plugging the 'controller' into the PS2, she turned the TV on and hit a button. She streched her legs a little more, pulling the barrier closed. When Conan saw her next, she was in shorts and a tank top. He blinked a little. Liz pressed the arrows with her feet, going into workout mode. The 'X' button was used, and then Liz selected a song. Liz stood on the side arrows, taking a stance that looked as if she were getting ready to fight. Soon Liz's feet were moving in time to the song, which had a fast, powerful beat. It sounded like a remixed Fur Elise.
"Into the night... you make me cry..." Conan blinked at the lyrics. Liz was singing along! In fact, the singing didn't detract from her concentration a bit. Conan raised his eyebrows, impressed. Liz was already mildly sweating, but determination was written across her face. Liz sighed as the song ended, and she walked into the bathroom, grabbing a wet washcloth. She sat down a little, breathing heavily.
"Why'd you quit?" Conan asked, perplexed. Liz shot him a weary grin.
"I have asthma. It slices my natural endurance in half. One fast-beat song like that is enough to make me want to pass out. I have to work on it." Liz said between heaving breaths, shaking her head. She opened a small cabinent, pulling out a Pepsi. She downed it in two gulps. "I'd like to see Beaner beat THAT!" She grinned, then looked at Conan. "Want a Pepsi?" He nodded, and Liz handed him one. She flopped onto her bed, humming a little. "Say, Conan? Why do you look at me oddly? I've seen you do it a few times."
Conan chuckled nervously. For some reason, he had a feeling she wouldn't be offended or even disturbed by the truth of the matter. "You see... I had a weird dream on the way over. It was about a girl like me- and she looked a lot like you. Your voices even sounded the same!" Liz laughed a little, flinging a pillow at him.
"That was one vivid dream. ...But what do you mean, like you?"
"Really smart, like... um..." Conan sighed. I really backed myself into THAT corner! "And with a knack for picking out details." Liz seemed to accept it, and she hugged Teddy as the dog paraded in. Conan looked out a window. "It's dark!?"
"Get used to it." Liz grinned, pointing to a clock. It was ten. "I think we should sleep- it's the end of my vacation. Say, do you want to come to school with me tomorrow?" Conan nodded. Anything was better than staying with the circus. "Whoot. G'night, then." Liz closed the barrier, then flopped into bed.
Conan put the computer away, turning it off. He changed into his pajamas, then put his glasses on the table. Liz raced, predictably, to the bathroom, coming out a few minutes later. She set a pair of glasses on her bedside table. "Night, Liz."
So! One chapter ended! I know it sounds like begging, but will you PLEASE comment on it? I love seeing what I need to fix, and what's good. Are either Conan or Rachel out of character? If so, how can I fix it? Et-cetera. ; Remember, the first half of the chapter is all a dream. ;) Nadine, Kayla, and Betsy are all figments of Conan/Jimmy's imagination. Uwahaha.