Chapter Eight - Roses Are Red, Violets Are Blue
Lois Lane looked down one last time at her bouquet of roses and violets before throwing it backwards over her shoulder, towards the many hands waiting to catch it behind her. As the object flew through the air, Chloe made an attempt to grasp it but was suddenly distracted by the faces of one of the photographers (Clark would have been distracted by it too except at that moment he only had eyes for Lois).
"Jimmy Olsen," Chloe gasped as the bouquet slipped through her fingers. It was back when she was a teenager that she'd last seen that Jimmy Olsen and suddenly her mind went back to an adventure that she still had trouble believing actually happened.
Seconds later, her hand was on Jimmy Olsen's shoulder. "Hey, Jimmy, long time no see."
Jimmy turned around to face her, confusion on his face. "Sorry, lady, you're mistaken. I'm sure I'd have remembered meeting you."
"Chloe," she said, "Chloe Sullivan," and then, looking at his blank expression, she suddenly began to realize what was going on. "Oh, wait a minute, we haven't met yet."
Jimmy looked alarmed and then backed away from her and disappeared into the crowd.
"Who was that, Chloe?" asked a voice from behind her. It was Jimmy Olsen … the real Jimmy Olsen.
"Oh, nobody, Jimmy. Just a guy I once knew when I was younger."
"Well he certainly had an antique camera," observed Jimmy. "Looked like once that still uses film. Can't remember the last time I used one of those."
Jimmy's mention of a camera suddenly reminded her of a time long ago, that was also round about now. "Hey, Jimmy, got any pictures of the happy couple?"
"Sure, here's one with all the guests I could cram into one photo," he said, printing her a copy off.
Chloe looked at the picture of Clark and Lois, along with herself, Perry White, Martha Kent, Pete Ross, Lucy Lane, Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, Steve Lombard, and various others. It was just the photograph she'd been expecting.
"That'll do nicely she said," as she waved goodbye to Jimmy and made her way over to an artificial plant in the corner where she knew her younger self would be spying on her.
Chloe Sullivan held her breath as her older self approached her hiding place. The Doctor had argued with her about leaving the Tardis, warned her that her actions may change the future, but she'd kept reassuring him that he had nothing to worry about. Even Clark had seemed pretty worried about the future being altered in any way but Chloe had stood her ground until, finally, The Doctor had let her, and her alone, leave for her spot of sight-seeing, warning that if she wasn't back in ten minutes the Tardis would be leaving without her. Now, with her future self about to discover her, it looked like she should have heeded The Doctor's warnings more closely.
"Hi, me." said her older self. "Don't panic. I remember my older self finding me when I was exactly your age."
The younger Chloe parted some of the plant leaves to look out at the older Chloe. "So what happens next?"
"You come out of there and talk to me," replied Chloe The Elder, "and Jimmy Olsen over there can't believe his eyes."
"Okay," said Chloe The Younger, stepping out from behind the plant. "I guess you know why I'm here and exactly what I'm going to say so there's not a lot of point in me talking."
The older Chloe nodded. "Whereas I cannot say anything for fear of revealing to you your future and thereby possibly jeopardizing the chances of it occurring."
The two were silent for a moment.
"Only kidding," laughed the older Chloe. "I remember the older Chloe telling me anything I wanted to hear, so go ahead and ask your questions. After all, you've got a story to write."
The older Chloe looked at the younger Chloe, looking younger than she'd ever remembered herself looking. As she waited for the first question she realized that she'd have to avoid answering it.
"So, I managed to avoid the hereditary mental illness thing?"
"Can't say," replied her older self. "Next question."
Chloe looked a bit downhearted. "And it looks like Clark ended up marrying Lois?"
"Wow, and I thought an ability to state the obvious was Lana's specialty," laughed Chloe. "Yeah, she married Clark, but she's welcome to him."
"You're just saying that," said Chloe, "trying to make ourselves feel better."
"Maybe," lied Chloe, since her previous words had been the truth. After all, Lois hadn't been the first person in their family that Clark had asked to marry him. Her younger self hadn't learned everything about Clark yet, but she had. All the dreams of marrying Clark and the two of them growing old together had dissipated as Chloe found out more and more about him. Even as she'd heard the wedding vows today, she'd seen the futility in applying them to Clark - in sickness and in health, 'til death do us part - just words. Clark wasn't human, Clark was so much more, and how could she ever fully hope to understand him, to share her feelings, with somebody so, so … alien. Chloe had learned everything about Clark, but even now she still knew nothing.
The younger Chloe looked at her older self, seeing the sadness in her eyes. "So, where's Lana today?" she asked, trying to change the subject.
"Well, there's a tragic tale," started Chloe, about to tell her younger self about Lana's plane being delayed, when she was suddenly interrupted by her younger self.
"Wait a minute," the younger Chloe said looking at her watch. "My time's almost up. I've got to get back fast."
"Here, take this," said the older Chloe, shoving the photograph her way.
"What's this?"
"It's a photograph of your future," replied the older Chloe. "This way you'll know that you haven't messed things up."
"Who's going to mess things up?" asked Chloe. "Is it the Phantom Zone villains?"
"There's no time," yelled the older Chloe, motioning for her younger self to leave.
Chloe looked at her watch, and then started running in the direction of the Tardis, shouting back over her shoulder "See you when I'm older."
"Yeah, we'll have to get together," shouted back the older Chloe, who then looked at the ground wistfully, wishing that she could have told Chloe the truth. The Phantom Zone villains wouldn't be her main problem, it would be Clark - he was his own worst enemy.
