Nell Van Dort gasped as she stared at Victor wide and teary eyed. She glanced back and forth between Emily and Victor before finally dropping to the bed in complete confusion. Her hands were shaking badly and Victor felt a twinge of sadness for his mother. Never before had he ever seen her in such a situation. He slowly began to advance towards her, but stopped when she held up her hands.
"Who… exactly are you? You're not my Victor… I was there… his coffin… I watch it as it was lowered into the ground." She said in between sniffles. Victor sighed and glanced back at Emily who was trying desperately to thwart off the giggles that were slowly overtaking her. Victor just shook his head and turned back to his still sobbing mother. He'd admit she had a flair for acting, but was it really necessary this time? What could he do to convince her that he wasn't dead? Again he tried to advance forward only to be stopped again as his mother slowly moved backwards across the bed. She really thought that the Victor in front of her, really wasn't the same one she'd seen only days ago. Frowning he stopped walking towards her and instead turned back to Emily.
"She's not going to be any help to us at the moment." He said softly as she nodded and took his hand in hers. She smiled up at him and pulled him slowly away from his mother and back into the bathroom. Shutting the door she sighed and leaned against it.
"I certainly wasn't expecting that. Is your mother… always such a drama queen?" She asked softly as Victor began to chuckle. With a nod of his head he glanced at the door Emily was leaning against. He could imagine his mother still sitting on the bed, trying to figure out what had just happened.

Turning away from the door he stared intently into the mirror. To see his reflection staring back at him, alive and healthy was quite a stretch but to glance at Emily and try to remember that she just moments before had been his corpse bride. That required a little imagination. He turned to her again and with a smile pulled her into his arms. He couldn't begin to fathom why in the world he wanted to marry Victoria. God bless her soul, she was a wonderful woman. Her heart and soul so pure, but Emily; this was where his heart lay. With a soft smile he glanced again at Emily and this time caught her studying him. Emily slowly blushed and turned her gaze away from Victor. She wasn't use to the whole being alive thing again and she was uncertain, of how to act. Inching closer to Emily he place his hand on top of her shoulder and smiled at her.
"Don't worry, we'll figure out why this happened. But first, we might have to deal with my parents." He said as she nodded. Slowly collecting themselves they opened the bathroom door and walked out. Mrs. Van Dort had disappeared and Victor could only guess that she'd gone straight to his father.

After the time it took them to get them ready, Victor and Emily made their way down the large staircase and into the living room. They paused and glanced into the room, but couldn't see anyone. Shrugging Victor continued to walk, trying to find where his parents were. Shouts from the reception hall, reached his ears and he turned just in time to see his father walking down the stairs as his mother all but chased after him.
"I'm telling you, he was right there!" Nell shouted as her words fell onto the deaf ears of her husband. She moved to say something again, but caught sight of Victor and gasped. "See! See!" She said as she made hand movements towards Victor. "Was I joking?" Victor's father, stunned into silence could only stare at his son with wide eyes. Emily was standing behind him, her hand clasped within his. Victor stare at his parents and the desire to fiddle with his tie became overwhelming.
"Ah, this… is going to be hard to explain!" He muttered as both his mother and father kept their gazes trained upon him and Emily.

William Van Dort slowly stepped forward towards Victor his face unreadable. So many thoughts were running through his head but he knew one thing. His son had come back to them by some sort of miracle. Without a second thought or a moment of hesitation he wrapped his arms around his son and pulled him into a hug. Nell watched from behind for a few moments before finally joining in on the family hug.
"Victor, how?" He asked softly as Victor shook his head.
"I don't know dad, but I'm going to find out." He said honestly as they pulled away from each other. "However I'd like you to meet someone special." He said as he pulled Emily up closer to them. William and Nell started at Emily for a few seconds and then smiled to themselves. "Mom, Dad I'd like you to meet my wife Emily" He said surprisingly in a calm and stutter less voice. Emily smiled and waved slightly
"It's nice to meet you" She said in a soft voice as they nodded to her.
"You too dear" they said before turning to Victor again. "How long do you plan to stay before you run off and leave again?" Nell asked softly, not wanting it to sound bitter but was unable to pull it off successfully. Victor sighed and shook his head.
"I don't know mother, but first Emily and I have a few things to take care of." He said as Emily nodded. "We'll be checking out the local pub, hopefully we'll be home in time for supper." He said as he and Emily turned from Victor's parents and headed to the door.

Once outside Emily sighed softly
"You're parents Victor, are quite something" She said honestly as Victor looked at her. He smiled and nodded in agreement. His parents were eccentric in their own way but he still loved them. However they had more pressing things to worry about."You don't suppose that we're the only residence from the land of the dead, suddenly on the other side of the spectrum do you?" he asked her honestly as she shrugged. "I suggest then perhaps checking out our local bar? Who knows maybe Bone Jangles and his band got hit to?" he said as Emily nodded."It's worth a shot. I'd like to know what happened anyway" she said with a smile. Having decided where to go, Emily and Victor began to walk down the street heading into the main portion of town. Their first stop would be the land of the living's pub. Nowhere near as active as the land of he dead's but still something to enjoy.

Approaching the pub Victor held the door open for Emily and followed in after her. He'd only been in this pub once before and surprisingly it was just after his parents had announced his engagement to Victoria to him. He'd come here and had basically drunk himself into a stupor. Chuckling at the memory he gazed around the dimly lit pub and sighed at the fact that it didn't look that much different. Emily however on the other hand was hit with a rather large dose of homesickness. Though she loathed the man that had put her down there, she missed the land of the dead horribly. She'd made so many friends down there and know she had no way of finding out what had happened to them. She felt hot tears well up in her eyes and desperately tried to wipe them away before Victor noticed. All she needed know was Victor noticing that something was wrong with her. Shaking her head she tried to calm herself but her thoughts were still with Bone Jangles, Mrs. Plum and everyone else downstairs. Taking a deep breath she gazed around the dimly lit pub but saw nothing that would even suggest that any of her friends had been here before them.

Sighing depressingly she crossed her arms and moved over to where Victor was standing. It seemed that he had been daydreaming and she chuckled softly. Even now in a time like this Victor couldn't stop being himself. She placed a hand on his shoulder."Victor, I don't think they've.." She began but trailed off when a somewhat familiar song came on over the speakers. "Why, does this song sound so familiar?" she asked herself as she closed her eyes.
"Well you know Baby Doll" A voice behind her said, "It could be because of my undying devotion to 1930 jazz, or the fact, that this here song is my title song!" Emily gasped and turned around to stare into a familiar face.

Author's Note: Well here we are again. Chapter 4 is now officially up and ready for your reading pleasure! As always R&R! And for those who are wondering there are still positions available for my Corpse Bride RPG. Current characters that are taken: Emily, Victor and our loveable BJ!http/firestouch. Come Visit us!

Until the next chapter, keep it real guys!

Tears to Shed