A Way Home

Chapter 6 – Lean On Me

A/N: The first part is from the POV of Charity, when she's a little girl. She may sound more articulate than expected, but that's because Rebecca teaches her lots of big words to broaden her vocabulary.

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"It hurts when you need me/ And I can't break your fall/ It hurts when you can't see/ And it hurts/And it hurts when you're lonely/ And I'm standing right beside you there/ And it hurt when you told me/ That you'll try this on your own/ Hope you never hurt/ Hope you never cry/ Hope you never lose your way tonight/ Hope you never crumble/ Hope you never fall/ Hope you never throw away it all." – Hurt, Thousand Foot Krutch

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I couldn't understand it. Why wasn't she home? She was supposed to come back with my baby sister.

And then that creepy, masked lady left as soon as she had said her goodbyes. Henri made me leave the room right before she left, but I know that I shouldn't have left. I should've stayed. It was so strange. It was like when mommy had gone away with that strange lady, and neither had come back. I don't know what to do.

I'm scared, and I miss mommy and daddy. I want my daddy. Why won't anyone tell me where he is?

-

"Why don't you go ask Maria if she will draw you a bath?" Henri asked Charity. She nodded at him.

"Oui," she murmured, stroking Dominique's cheek one last time before turning and leaving the room. Henri followed her, and closed the door behind her, smiling as he did so, but Joey was sure that the little girl was still standing outside the doorway, looking confused and probably more than a little hurt.

"Poor thing," Joey murmured, feeling sorry for Charity.

"Now, then," Henri began, "why don't you tell me why I should believe you are a friend of Rebecca's?" He sat down and folded his hands over his stomach.

"Well," Joey began, perching at the edge of a seat, "because I have this." And she produced from her dress pocket the ring Rebecca had given her to prove who she was.

"Hmm," Henri muttered to himself, along with something along the lines of an exclamation. "Mon Dieu," he said, "this is her wedding ring. She would not have parted with this easily."

"She wanted me to be able to prove who I am," Joey replied. "Now, where is Erik? I am supposed to show it to him and assure him that she will be coming soon."

Henri's face fell a little. "I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but Erik is in jail for a crime he didn't commit," he said.

"I see," Joey said, trying to take it in. "Then I must return at once and inform Rebecca, as well as return the ring to her." Henri handed it back to her.

"Very well," Henri said, and made a gesture so as to tell her to go ahead. Smiling a little, because Joey knew he wanted to see the time traveling device in action, she punched in the numbers on the belt, and watched as everything faded away, and became a park.

Good, she had estimated correctly. Lucky for her that her obsession with The Phantom of the Opera had taken her so far as to examine all the places within a hundred miles of the Opera Populaire (since the catacombs beneath it extended quite far).

-

Erik sighed again. He hated the way his life was turning to monotonous. Rebecca had always made it so interesting. They had always been able to joke around with each other, even in times of pain. They both knew what it was like to suffer, and they made a perfect match.

Even if they hadn't ended up as husband and wife, Erik knew that they still would have remained friends, and that was something that was very important to him, and he was sure it was important to Rebecca.

He just wished that he could have said a formal goodbye. That he could have gotten a chance to kiss her on the cheek.

But she would definitely come and visit him. He knew she would, because she loved him, and he loved her. She would never stay away from him for too long. Any day now, she would come. She should be almost done recovering from her pregnancy. Henri had told Erik that she had gone into labor, and that she would be fine.

Erik was sure that she would come. He knew it for a fact. Although, as much as it pained him, he also knew that Charity probably wouldn't come with Rebecca. Neither, he was sure, would their second child, whose name he didn't yet know. He knew that she would come. She would never leave him for very long.

Would she?

-

I sighed. The plane ride back to Paris was long, and boring, and made even more agonizing by the fact that I ached for my family. My family was far away, though. They were so far away that I couldn't call them up on the phone, and tell Erik that I would be home in a few hours, or a few minutes, or however long it took for me to get back on the ground and to a payphone.

I sighed again.

"You want to listen to some music?" David asked, and without waiting for an answer, he put on some Arrogant Worms. It was the song, "Drink With Me". In spite of myself, I smiled.

By the time the song was over, I was laughing and asking David to play it again. He did, and we both sang along together. When it was over, I wiped the tears of mirth from my eyes and thanked him.

"I needed that," I said.

He smiled. "Thought you might," he said.

"You've changed a lot, you know," I commented to him. "Since the last time we met, I mean."

He shrugged. "Joey's fault, not mine," he said, and smiled again.

I smiled back. "Thank you again," I said, and listened quietly as the next Arrogant Worms song, "Jesus' Brother Bob" started to play.

By the time we landed, though, I was feeling down again. So much for feeling okay about the whole thing. But at least I would be able to return home soon. I felt bad about leaving my mom alone and all, but I still felt justified in what I was doing.

I followed David and AM2 to the Notre Dame Cathedral, where we had agreed to meet Joey. AM2 was keeping enough distance between us for a mountain to stand between us. He was obviously still afraid of me.

I smiled a little, thinking of how my mother had told me what her reaction had been when she had found about me being missing. She had gone on a rampage, and had attacked Mr. Johnson. Apparently, he had been scarred for life, and had required therapy. Or so, I heard, from David.

We arrived at the Notre Dame Cathedral on time, and found Joey there looking tired and hungry.

"Where have you been?" She demanded, standing up, and holding out her arms in exasperation.

"We're on time," Rebecca said. "What's the issue?"

"You're not on time!" Joey exclaimed. "I've been here for two days! Two days! With nothing to eat, or drink! I haven't had a bath in longer than that, either!" She sighed in an aggravated way.

"Calm down," David said, and put an arm around her. I saw him grimace a little, and it was true. She was a little smelly. But, still, she had a valid reason to be upset.

I held up a newspaper from a nearby stand. "See this?" I asked, showing it to her. "This says that today is June first, of the year 2007. That was the date we agreed upon." I looked at my watch. "It's three pm, right now. That was the time of day we agreed upon. We're on time. You were early."

"Well," AM2 said, "you can't decide what time of day, or even what day you will appear in the century. You could be trying to go to October third of the year nineteen thirty-two, and end up on September 21st, or even later, or earlier. But you can be guaranteed that it will be in that year."

"So, it's just a matter of luck?" I asked.

He nodded. "That's right," he said. "You'll be lucky if you get there within a few days of the time in which you left. You probably won't." he shrugged. "Just so you know."

"Thanks for that," I said sarcastically. "Too bad you didn't tell me that when you first gave me the belt. I was lucky that time. I may not be this time."

"Are you sure you can be guaranteed the right year?" Joey asked, wanting to make sure.

AM2 nodded. "Yes," he said. "But only so long as no one and nothing tampers with the keypad. If someone or something does while the belt is in the process of turning time, then the person wearing it could end up anywhere."

"Great," I said sarcastically. "Thanks for telling me now. You couldn't have told me this sooner?"

"You might have said no, then," he replied matter-of-factly.

Joey removed the belt from around her waist and handed it to me. "Good luck," she said, smiling at me a little.

"Thanks," I said, and I clasped it around my waist. I was already wearing a proper dress for that century.

The others, AM2 and David, were also wearing those kinds of clothes, just in case someone was suspicious of just one of us wearing them. Our excuse would be that we were in a play, and that we were on our break between practices.

"This is it," I said, and I punched in the combination. Then I pressed the button that served as an enter button, and everything began to fad. Lucky for us that we were in a shaded area of the overhanging part of the Cathedral.

But, as I shifted my feet, I slipped a little and clutched at the wall. The belt knocked against the wall, and something shifted in the time stream. I felt something change, and an electric shock ran through me.

I turned my head to look past the column I had fallen against. The whole street was changing from scene to scene, and I couldn't control it. I just prayed that the belt didn't start to shrink while I was wearing it. I scrambled to get it off while trying not to tamper with the mechanism any more than it already had been.

I was terrified that I would never be able to find my family within the time stream. I just had to pray that it would stop at least within a few years of the time that I left.

A/N: There it is! Please review!