Title : Is It Really You?
Summary : What would happen if there had been a girl in Martin's life who had broken his heart when she died? How much confusion would ensue if she were to suddenly reenter his life?
Rating : T for language
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
PP : I'm bbaaackkk! I know it hasn't really been enough time to make what happens after the cliffhanger start tearing you apart, but I wanted to update it, and show people that I can be nice.
TT : Or your conscience was bugging you so much about ending the chapter that way that you couldn't take it anymore.
PP : Well, I suppose there is that too, but I prefer my explanation. It sounds better.
TT : Did you forget that I'm not real at the end of the last chapter? Or was it just that you were too lazy too turn the italics on when I spoke?
PP : HA! YOU ADMIT IT! YOU'RE NOT REAL! And you're wrong. I completely forgot that I normally turn the italics on when you speak.
TT : (sigh) Just because I'm not real, it doesn't mean I can't bug you about what you're doing to poor Martin.
Martin : You see! There's at least ONE person on my side!
PP : Oh, Marty, you know that I'll end the pain soon, but not after I throw you into massive confusion! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Ooh! It's time to reply to the reviewers! By the way, if I update, and I don't reply to a review that you sent to me quite a while before hand, it's not because I hate you! I check what reviews I have by the e-mails I'm sent, and just today I realized that I had two reviews that didn't send alerts to my mailbox! So, I'd like to thank JPElles for your kind compliment, kindness is ALWAYS appreciated, and there's also Ominae who I'd like to thank again! It's so encouraging to find out that there's someone who went back to my story to read the next chapter, and can't wait for the next one! You're the reason I'm updating the night after I updated last time!
TT : You have NO idea how happy your review made her. And she's telling the truth, if she hadn't read those reviews today, she wouldn't be updating tonight, she would have just said screw it and gone to bed.
PP : Well, I wouldn't have said screw it, I just wouldn't have thought about it. Well, we've chatted long enough, the fans don't click on the link to see us gab, so do the disclaimer NOW, or else...
TT : Eep! Please, don't hurt Mr. Fuzzy! I don't wanna have to sew on his head again! PotatoPuff does not own anything that Marathon has copyrighted, and is not trying to break any laws here, but you never know, she just might be! (dull thunk is heard, TaterTot drops to ground)
PP : I'm sorry, she just seemed too happy, so I had to do something to break the mood! Well, let's get this chapter started! And, you guessed it! It's the title chapter! Ooh, can anyone sense something major happening? Something concerned with Rachel, maybe?
Martin : Something that will make me feel confused, out of character, like an idiot, and/or suicidal, maybe?
PP : Shut up, you'll give away all my secrets. (smacks Marty in the head)
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Chapter 5 : Is It Really You?
Martin felt extremely nervous as they bounced along the Kenyan landscape in their rented Jeep. He wanted to floor it, to race along to see if it was really her, but he'd probably end up getting himself lost if he didn't wait for the route that was very, VERY slowly being transmitted to Diana from M.O.M. She had sent them all the information she could find about the remote location that Rachel's G.P.S. had turned up in, which was very little so far. M.O.M. had managed to find out that they spoke a very rare language in that region, so Martin had picked up a translator dictionary at the airport. He was finding it kind of hard to focus on anything while they were driving. HIs thoughts kept drifting off to a pretty redhead, with curls tumbling down her back, and sparkling blue eyes that seemed to stare right through him to his deepest thoughts. He couldn't stop himself from seeing her. He pressed the gas pedal down a little harder, anxious to see whether his dreams would be fulfilled, or come crashing down around him.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
After a couple of hours driven in near silence on Martin's part, they finally reached a small community.
"This is it," Diana said.
Upon hearing that, Martin hopped out of the Jeep and walked over to the nearest person.
"Tu oui cbayg Ahkmecr?' (Do you speak English?) he asked.
The woman shook her head in reply and started shouting at the other villagers. Martin had no idea what was going on, but he had expected having no one in the village to translate for them. He could hear the villagers speaking amongst themselves.
"Fru tu oui drehg drao yna?"
"Drao muug vunaekh."
"Drao cbaug Ahkmecr!"
"Syopa drao ghuf dra udran fusyh."
Finally, an important looking guy came striding through the crowd towards Martin, Diana & Java. He looked them all over carefully before nodding, like he had just made a decision.
"You...come...wit...me."
The trio was shocked that he could speak English, but they could also tell that he was very new at speaking it, and probably didn't know any more words than what he had just said, meaning there was someone either in the village, or near the village, who could speak English fluently. Martin didn't hesitate in following him, so Diana & Java were left with no choice but to follow. They soon entered what looked like a medical tent, and ducked inside. Sure enough, there were 4 cots lined up against a wall of the tent. Only 1 of them had a patient occupying it, a young boy, with the woman who was surely the doctor, and the translator, standing over him, talking to him. Natives just didn't have hair that shade of red. Red... It made Martin's breath catch when he finally realized justwhat shade of red the doctor's hair was, fiery red. It reminded him so much of Rachel, but it was straight, and ended in spikes around her earlobes, nothing at all like Rachel's curls. As the village chief (Martin was positive that was who he was) wallked over to her, motioning for them to stay there, Diana poked him in the back. He turned around to see her watching him with wide eyes. She mouthed two words.
"It's her."
Martin spun around, hardly daring to believe it, but then, instead of differences, he saw the similarities. Her red hair, the way she stood, hands on hips, obviously telling the boy off, and, after the chief said something to her, and she spun around, the sparkling blue eyes. The confusion that had filled them when she first spun around was replaced by shock as she looked at them. The chief asked her a question, probably whether or not she knew them, and she nodded in reply. She slowly walked across the room, her eyes boring into his, cerulean into chestnut. She stopped in front of him, her question showing deep in her eyes.
"Is it really you? Are you really standing in front of me?"
He knew the same thing was reflected in his own, and as he stood there, hypnotized by her eyes, he felt everything else fade away. It was suddenly only the two of them standing in that tent. They just stood there, staring into each other's eyes for what felt like an eternity, each refusing to believe the truth that stood before them, when Martin noticed something odd. There were tears forming in Rachel's eyes. It showed just how shook up she was that she was crying. He had never seen her cry before. In an instant he pulled her in close to him, gently stroking her tears away. The other hand went around her waist, holding her tightly. He didn't care what anyone else thought, but the reaction he received from Rachel definitely wasn't the one he was expecting. Honestly, he hadn't wanted to see her reaction the way he was expecting, but normally, she would have tensed up, pushing him away, joking about how crazy he was. Instead, she wrapped her arms around him, and buried her head in his chest. Martin was shocked, but he didn't let it show. He just wrapped the hand that had been wiping her tears away in her hair, and started breathing in her familiar scent of berries, with a faint hint of vanilla. But there was also a new hint of something in it. Fire, maybe? He didn't worry about it though. His mind just wasn't capable of processing anything new at the moment. It had one, incomprehensible thought running around.
"She's alive."
Even with her standing that close to him, he couldn't fully believe that it was her. How many times had he seen people that he trusted, but were really possessed by monsters in the past 4 years?
"Tell me," he whispered, "if you're really Rachel, tell me one thing that only you would know."
Her answer was just as quiet as the question.
"You still sleep with a fuzzy teddy bear at night, and if you don't have him, you get nightmares."
Martin blushed. He hadn't slept with that bear since before she had died, but he could still remember it well. Along with the time she had found out about it. Normally, he set his alarm early every morning so that he could hide the bear before anyone walked in and found out about it. Well, that morning he slept through his alarm. It just so happened to be the same morning that she was coming over to help him with his science homework. She walked in to find him hugging the bear for dear life. Not even his own parents knew about it. She had never told anyone else about it, but the teasing hadn't let up for a month. It was definitely something that only she knew. Besides, those dancing blue eyes couldn't belong to anyone else, not even a monster possessed version of herself.
"Is it really you?" he whispered, still unable to fully accept it.
And then, he heard her say it loud and clear, and the voice silenced all of his doubtful inner voices.
"Yes, Martin, it's me.
I'm really back."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
TT : Well, what do you think? Oh yeah, PotatoPuff isn't here right now. Her and Martin went somewhere to do something.
Martin : No, there is NO WAY I am doing that!
PP : Come on, Marty, for me?
Martin : No, no, AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! GET OFF OF ME!
TT : Poor guy, nothing anyone can do for him now. Well, please review! It makes PotatoPuff so happy! And, if you find spelling errors and such, we're sorry, but we can't find WordPad's spell check, if it even has one. Mind you, we didn't look hard, so it might be there, but we really don't care. Remember, anything is accepted by us in the reviews. Oh yeah, forget everything said earlier about this chapter being updated the next night. Fanfictio doesn't seem to want to let us log in roght now, so it'll turn up whenever we can get it up. Don't forget to review! C ya!