Disclaimer: Oy, running out of "ex" words. And FOP doesn't belong to me.
Chapter Nine: Exception
Sometimes, when she looked at him, she forced herself to pretend this wasn't real. That if she just closed her eyes and wished very hard, she could stop being attracted to him. All the people she'd feigned to like had a few things in common; money and lots of it. Money was power and she adored power.
But then, that made sense, didn't it? The one that she truly loved, that she would do anything for but she'd never intended to tell, had neither of those. Against her, he was powerless and he was younger than her and not at all interested in commercial enterprises. He was innocent, like she'd been so long ago; she'd forgotten what it was like.
What was innocence but a lack of experience and raw awakening? Children thought the world was perfect until the glass globe, pieces scattering, crashed to the floor. When they realized the first, loudest scream was not outside but in their head. That no matter how hard they tried to avoid it, out run it, it was there. Pain, misery, and torture- if she didn't inflict them, then her memories would overwhelm her.
Naïve people, not necessarily children, thought that the world operated on gum drops and happiness. They didn't understand there was no such thing as happiness, only temporary delay of anger and upset. Anger was depression without the energy and happiness was misery with sedatives.
Timmy had always been miserable, just like her. In a way, this made him perfect for her. Both of them knew what it was to suffer at another's hands- she at her step father's, he at hers. She wanted him to know, more than anything, that unless you struggled against your destiny, it would hurt you more than you could ever imagine. Adults lied, they abused you, and they ripped out your still beating heart and trampled on it. If she let up on him, then the world would hurt him for her and she couldn't contend with that- she loved him too much to permit them to stab him in the back.
Right now, he held an aura, but not of power. No, never the red glowing aura of power. No, she could see it through the door, his upset. She was on the verge of something big and he was in a panic.
Come, Turner, tell me your secret. An eye for an eye- you've always been burning to know why I'm such a bitch. You think it's just that I'm covering, but that isn't entirely it. It's why Tootie's so sweet and I'm so bitter.
She doesn't know true pain. She could never be my second in command because she's so damn naïve. She thinks that parents are telling you the truth about everything and they'll protect you. I tried to show her the truth, but she would have none of it. I'm through with her.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a pink poof; she blinked, frowning slightly. Pink always reminded her of that gypsy, whom she'd kill for another chance to speak to. Had she ordained her life or did she know something only for the moment? Was she the reason she'd fallen in love with Timmy Turner? If she was, was she in for it…
"What's the matter, Turner?" Vicky snarled, pounding her fist on the door. Although she couldn't see it, she sensed Timmy draw back and vaguely heard him whisper to the green goldfish in the room. He spent more time talking to those fish than he ever had with a human. They reminded her of something, come to think of it. Shapeshifters, but that wasn't quite it…
Barking out a few more threats, she was stunned when a voice called her name. Out of nowhere, the gypsy appeared, clutching something beneath her robes. Its yellow point stuck out, but she swiftly covered it again. Like before, all she could see was her forehead, the curls framing her face, and those eyes glued to her face. Nervousness overtook her.
For a few moments, after the gypsy had her attention, silence reigned. Timmy held his breath in his room, the gypsy merely shook her head at her, and Vicky felt as though the ground had vanished beneath her and all she was left with was a fleeting image of how things were supposed to be. For a brief second, Tootie entered her head again, but only in regards to her being knocked out and locked into the broom closet downstairs. Somehow, she sensed deep disapproval, both for her past actions and for the present, from this figure.
Voice would not return to her and, as the door opened behind and Timmy poked his head out, his jaw dropping, Vicky stumbled. Normally, it didn't take her nearly this long to take control of her emotions, but she wove a spell unlike all others. It wasn't that she couldn't speak, but that she wouldn't. To speak in her presence was to relegate her to a position less befitting.
Barely audible, she heard Timmy whisper, "Wanda?"
This name held no significance for Vicky even as the gypsy inclined her head at him. So Timmy recognized her gypsy? But how? They'd never met, to her knowledge.
Anger replaced confusion quickly; she rarely stayed confused for long. How dare he take one of her memories! Was nothing sacred anymore?
"You have grown since I saw you last," Wanda intoned, moving towards her. Vicky retreated, bumping into a light switch. It jabbed her in the back, but she failed to notice.
If her eyes had fallen upon Timmy, she might have noticed his mind going a mile a minute. His eyes first hooked upon Wanda, then her, then the green goldfish still in his room. It was on the tip of his tongue to ask what was going on, but he abstained. He hadn't come this far to lose what he most valued.
"But you are still ignoring your destiny."
Distantly, as though from another state, she heard the green goldfish smack into the glass in shock. What issued from his mouth resembled "T-Timmy?", but she ignored it. The gypsy was far more important.
"When you were five, I told you who you were to fall in love with and how to attain him. Perhaps the latter part has escaped your memory, but teaching him the ways of your step father, or, should I say, your birth father, will not prove anything. You cannot learn to love from someone that stole your mother's virginity and then landed himself in jail only to die a year after your younger sister's birth."
Vicky's face paled considerably and, finally, she found her voice. However, it was not as full of threats as she'd have liked it. Instead, trepidation and awe consumed her.
"How the hell do you k-know that?" She snapped, growling so weakly, a lion cub would have snickered.
"I also know that Tootie isn't your biological sister. The parents you believe you have are your aunt and uncle. Why else did you think they grew so terrified of you in such short a time?
"All that raw anger, all that resentment over what you ignored, you poured into Timmy. There were various excuses for your behavior, including a mean 'bug', 'empathy' not appearing, and simply not having a 'heart'. You have a 'heart', but you prefer to hide it, hoping that no one will care because you're too busy making their lives as miserable as yours was.
"This isn't to frighten you, to the contrary. It is just to remind you that if you continue in this path of destruction, then all will be for naught. You may love Timmy Turner, but if you shove him away, battering him mentally and physically, he will never love you back.
"The choice is yours." Very gently, she stroked her cheek and smiled weakly. At least, she presumed she smiled because it was rather hard to tell. It hardly mattered, though. The words had hit home.
"But if you do not care for him, I will." With that, she vanished, leaving Vicky, flabbergasted, staring into the hallway.
…
She knew she was the babysitter, but she couldn't stay in that house. Throwing all caution to the winds, she fled, the gypsy's words ringing in her head. Deep down, she knew her to be correct, but badly, she'd wanted her to be so wrong, it wasn't funny.
Tootie wasn't her sister; this was why she had never shown any sisterly affection towards her. Why dare fabricate what would never be present in the first place? Why waste her time on someone that was so obviously not related to her?
When she was five, she'd awakened from the worst nightmare in her life…but it was real. After she'd stopped shaking and taken control of herself, a man, the man she now called her father, had taken her out of there. He and her aunt raised her and, through sheer will alone, she'd forced herself to pretend they'd always been her parents. It was better than the alternative.
When Tootie was born, a girl that resembled her not at all, anger borne from frustration that these lies could never properly work and resentment that something good could come from a man that looked like her father and yet wasn't, sustained her. She spent the rest of her time devising plans to destroy Tootie's innate happiness and, since her happiness was directly related to Timmy, she'd sought to destroy him as well. Little did she suspect that this was the fated boy. Before she'd met him, she'd focused on obliterating Tootie's joy in the Timmy/Tootie equation, not at all concerned with him.
When she'd met him, just then she'd known that he was the one that her destiny had provided. She'd struck out at him, lashed out against her destiny, but was only trying to hurt the father that had left her with these confusing feelings. He was the only example of paternal love she had (because her uncle was too frightened). Bereft of the proper way to act, she couldn't settle herself around any guy, much less Timmy.
She had to stop running, though. Running had only gotten her into a bigger quandary than the truth. The truth would set her free…she had to be her real self, if that girl existed anymore. Well, she would soon find out.
…
This was supposed to be a birthday gift for Squirrel Tamer, but it's a little late. I'm sorry, girl.
Oh! Before I continue, let me explain the whole Vicky thing. If you've read Once Upon a Fractured Fairy Tale, this has absolutely nothing to do with it. I like to vary my interpretations, plus I'd read something about the PC version of Breakin' Da Rules having a girl named Nicky, deemed Vicky's mother. Well, my argument is, if that's her mother, then Ricky is her father and since Ricky would never be frightened of his own daughter, they can't be her parents. Er…don't hit me for that one.
