Disclaimer: I don't own the characters... as much as I would like to.
A/N: Alright, I know last chapter took a long time, but that's because I couldn't figure out how Icheb would react... so I have to thank Icheblover for the help in writing it.
Frances looked back over her shoulder once, and saw nothing out of the ordinary on the street. Sighing at what she had lost, she continued running after her longer-legged younger sister, already disappearing around a street corner.
It was obvious where Kathleen was going. There was only place on Alma street that she could go: Krystle's. Frances slowed as she reached Alma street, and stopped altogether, leaning heavily on her knees and breathing deeply in an attempt to slow her heart.
She walked the rest of the way.
Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door, and stared into Krystle's blue eyes as the girl opened the door. "'Neechan? You might wanna see this..." Krystle called back, using the Japanese word for big sister (Frances never had understood why Kathleen's friends called her that, though God knew they'd tried to explain it often enough). Kathleen came to the door, and stared in shock.
"Frances??" she gaped, brow furrowed in what must have been confusion mixed with disbelief.
"Um... yeah. I'm back. You probably wouldn't believe where I've been." Frances said, surprised to realize that she was not babbling- there wasn't really any explanation she could give that would satisfy; that could satisfy.
"Try me."
"The twenty fourth century."
"I must be imagining this. You can't be here. And you definitely can't have just said that. You're insane. No, scratch that, I'm insane." Krystle laughed, as Kathleen stared off into the distance, breathing rapidly.
"You've always been insane, 'Nee-chan." Krystle commented, pulling Frances into a tight hug. Kathleen had never been one to talk about the problems that went on at home; this was probably more important to Kathleen than Krystle.
Kathleen fixed Krystle with a withering glare, then reached out, and tentatively touched her fingers to Frances' cheek. The feather-light touch tickled a little, and Frances tried, somewhat successfully, to suppress a snort of laughter. That seemed to convince Kathleen, and she grasped Frances, one hand on each side of her face, and cried. Kathleen alternated between staring into Frances' eyes, - which, Frances noticed for the tenth or so time, were exactly like her own- amber around the pupil, with blue ringing the amber- and hugging Frances, until she felt like she would be crushed.
Ten minutes of explaining convinced both Krystle and Kathleen that Frances was the 'lets take a trip to the loony bin' type of insane, and all three agreed that it was best for Frances to not go back to the big brown house beside the cemetery just yet- though Frances did sneak back to visit Mom in the next few months.
She stayed at Krystle's, which was complicated, since it meant a lot of sneaking around, and staying quiet while Krystle's dad was home. Kathleen abandoned staying home after school altogether, and spent her afternoons studying with Frances. She still slept at home, at 900 Dame St, and snuck food out to Frances whenever she could- they didn't want to take chances on Joe noticing the extra food that would go missing with three living in the house, rather than only two.
Frances found herself missing the tweny fourth century often, and deep pangs would wrack her whenever Joe would watch Voyager, especially episodes where Icheb was mentioned. The worst was when Child's Play was on. Tears streamed down her face then, knowing she would never go back.
Meanwhile, Krystle, and Kathleen, with Frances' help, where formulating a cover story to tell Kathleen and Frances' father when Frances did return.