Time Travel

Part One: Chapter Two

The spot were Star landed was not hard, although there was a grunt as soon as she hit. For a moment, she kept her eyes tightly closed but then the sounds of cannons reached her ears and her eyes shot open. She was at Gettysburg again, during the final stage of the battle, Pickett's Charge, and the person who she had landed upon was Lo Armistead. A smile crossed Star's face, until, someone else landed on top of her.

"OOF!" Dana landed hard on top of her leader and the smile was quickly erased from Star's face as the breath was knocked out of her. "Hey!" she protested in her surprise as she realized who it was.

Dana sat up slightly on Star and looked at her. "Well, we've got no way of getting home now."

Twisting around slightly to knock Dana off of her, Star pointed at Armistead, who she was still on top of. "But we've got Lo."

"Might as well help where we can, huh?" Dana said, looking out across the field were the Confederates were charging.

"Yup," Star nodded, "I'm going to make sure that I save Lo."

Armistead raised one eyebrow when she said that. "Wha…?"

All of this he was finding difficult to believe and he still didn't have any idea who either of them were. Plus, they were clearly girls, wearing kepis and uniform jackets. It just didn't make sense.

Dana looked at Armistead and also raised an eyebrow. "As long as you don't kill him with your fangirlness."

She stood up and brushed herself off. "Well."

Star shrugged and rolled off of Armistead before sitting cross-legged on the ground, still watching him.

"Now what?" Dana asked.

The other shrugged, not really sure what they'd do next and Dana reached into her pocket and pulled out a portal opener.

"What's that for?" Star asked, looking at it, curiously. It was a device new to her, and she could from the corner of her eyes that Armistead was also looking at it with a curious expression on his face.

"For getting us home" Dana said, "…I think."

Star's face brightened slightly. If Dana was right, then it didn't matter that Calvin and Hobbes had continued home without them. "Can we take Lo with us?"

"Eh…" Dana didn't really know what to say to her friend about that.

"Please?" Star said, watching her. She had just met Armistead, and wanted the chance to get to know him better. Plus, for all she knew, if she left him, who knew what would happen.

As Dana opened the portal, Armistead raised both eyebrows. "Isn't anyone going to ask me what I want?"

"You're coming," Star said without a moment's hesitation.

Dana still wasn't convinced. "Star, have you ever heard of the butterfly effect?"

She shook her head. "Nope."

"A butterfly beating its wing in China causes a tornado in America. Small things have great effects in time."

"Bringing Lo back with us won't change a thing," Star said confidently.

Dana sighed. "You don't know that. What of his descendants?"

"But it's Gettysburg." Star gestured to the battle, "His children were already born."

"Yes, but what about the ones still living today? Our time that is," Dana said.

Star shrugged. "Maybe they won't recognize him. They won't be expecting him to show up."

"That's a pretty big maybe," Dana pointed out.

"We'll just say he's a reenactor," Star said brightly.

"Ah…" Dana nodded. "I see what you're getting at."

Also nodding, a smile crossed Star's face. "Yup."

"Well, what about Win?" Dana asked. Lo Armistead and Winfield Scott Hancock were very close friends, fighting on different sides of the Civil War. It didn't seem right to take Armistead from the time and leave Hancock behind.

Star glanced across the field. "Let's go find him!"

Armistead looked at both of them, worried about what they were planning. He didn't like hearing his close friend's, his brother's name coming up. "Don't drag Win into this…"

Dana wasn't sure of what to say but Star solved that problem for her. "Let's go get him… Do you think you can find him, Dana?"

Turning to look, Dana nodded and pointed to a flag of the II Corps and Hancock on horseback. "Yes, I see him!"

"Alright, good," Star said, "Go quick and get him here, I don't care how you do it as long as he gets over here unharmed."

"Yes, mon General!" Dana saluted and ran off in the direction of Hancock.

Star returned the salute and watched her from her position next to Armistead.

Dana ran up to the side of General Hancock's horse. "General! Sir!" She saluted him. "Sir, I think there's someone here you should speak with!"

Hancock looked at Dana. "Someone I should speak with? May I ask who?"

"Lo Armistead sir!" Dana replied.

A look of surprise crossed Hancock's face but he hid it quickly. He hadn't seen his friend since before the war. "Alright, I'll come with you. Where is he? Is he alright?"

"Over here, sir! Follow me!" Dana said, turning again and running back to where Star was still sitting with Armistead. Hancock followed her on horseback. "Here they are sir!"

"Who's that…?" Hancock was staring at Star, trying to figure out what she was doing there.

Dana followed his gaze. "This is my commander, General Star, sir!"

Star looked up at Hancock and saluted. "Hello General, it's nice to meet you."

"Why are you almost on top of Lo…?" Hancock asked, seeing how the two of them seemed to be sitting right near each other, Star not wanting to let Armistead away from her or out of her sight.

"Because she's a fangirl of his, sir. It's kind of hard to explain." Dana said.

Hancock raised one eyebrow. "A fangirl…?"

Armistead didn't really care so much about the conversation, was more interested in the person who was now before him, still sitting up on his horse. However, Hancock moved to dismount then, and he stepped towards Armistead who stood up to greet him, their eyes locking. "Lo…"

"Win…" Armistead's voice was soft, hardly able to believe it.

Standing beside Star, Dana smiled. "And now's the cue for them to hug and cry."

A smile also crossed Star's face as she looked at Dana and nodded in agreement, before turning her attention back to the two almost brothers. Hancock had grabbed Armistead's shoulders and was still staring at him. "It's been three years…"

"I know… three long years…" Armistead said.

Dana blinked hard and sniffled slightly as she watched them and then Hancock and Armistead each hugged each other.

It was this that made Dana bury her head in Star's shoulder, bawling. "I don't think they ever realize we are watching them," Star said softly, patting Dana on the back.

"I'm just so happy for them," Dana said, sniffing again.

Star glanced at Hancock and Armistead who were still holding each other. "Yes, I am too. We can't let them go back to fighting each other. We've got to bring them back with us."

"I agree with you this time! Let's go!" Dana said, nodding resolutely.

"Yes, lets." Star paused for a moment. "But how do we get back. I don't know how to use that portal thing you've got."

Dana reached into her pocket again and searched for it. "Uh-oh… It's gone!"

"You can't have lost it!" Star looked over at Armistead and Hancock, then back to Dana. "They'll going to realize there's a battle going on soon and we've got to get home. You don't suppose Calvin and Hobbes will come back do you?"

"I don't know…" Dana hung her head. "I'm sorry, Star. This is all my fault."

She was silent for a moment. "Well… we could make our home here…"

Dana looked up. "How do we do that?"

Star looked out across the field. "We make ourselves useful and get ourselves a position in the army."

"I suppose that makes sense." Dana followed Star's gaze. "And if it's our only choice, why not?"

"Yup, and maybe Calvin and Hobbes will decide to come back for us one day. But for now, we'll make ourselves at home here." Star shrugged, even though she realized she would miss the comforts of the 21st century. "We've always pretended we were Civil War soldiers before. Here's our chance to be the real deal."

A grin crossed Dana's face. "That sounds good to me. Let's do it!"

"Yup." Star also grinned, then looked at Armistead and Hancock. "What do we do about them now that we've hooked them up again?"

Dana also looked at the two of them, before looking at Star again. "…I'm not sure. The war's not over yet."

"Yes… this could be a problem," Star said, "I thought we'd just take them back with us and everything would be alright but now…"

Nodding and frowning slightly, Dana continued to look at Star. "Well, we'll just have to figure this out as we go along, I guess. There doesn't seem to be much more of a choice."

"No, there isn't a choice, no choice at all." Star watched Armistead and Hancock.

"I missed you Win, you know that. I never wanted any of this, never wanted to have to fight against you…" Lo was telling his friend.

"I know Lo…" Hancock told him then, "It's not between us… it never will be."

Dana wiped her eyes as Star turned her attention back to her. "I always think about how they are the prefect friends. It's… it's amazing to see them here now."

"I know…" Dana nodded and sniffed again, then grinned. "Ain't it marvelous?"

Star smiled. "Yes, it is, it is indeed. It's the most marvelous thing I've ever seen and I won't ever forget it."

Again, Dana nodded and looked around the field. "Well… What do we do now?"

"Let's leave Lo and Win in peace for now. They deserve it. And look, Pickett's Charge is over anyway." Star pointed to the retreating troops and grinned suddenly. She had known earlier that she'd wanted to save Armistead, but now that the battle was over it appeared it had worked out wonderfully. "Hey! Lo and Win didn't…"

Dana's eyes widened as she realized what Star was saying. "You're right! They're okay!"

"We kept them safe!"

"We did it!" Dana said exuberantly.

"This is wonderful, they are both well and healthy and they wouldn't be if we didn't come back here to save them." Star was still grinning. "Let's go to tell George that we saved one of his Generals!"

"That's a good idea! I just hope we don't get mistaken for the wrong troops and fired at!" Dana looked around for a white cloth to use.

"Yup." Star started walking towards where she knew George Pickett would be and Dana followed close behind. It didn't take all that long to get over there and Star approached Pickett. "General sir?"

Pickett looked towards Star and frowned slightly. "Who are you, may I ask?"

"My name is Star sir," she replied, nodding towards Dana, "This is my friend Dana."

Pickett nodded. "What message do you bring?"

"I wanted to tell you that I saved Lo's life sir!"

"Lo?" Pickett blinked. "He's alright."

Star nodded. "Not a scratch on him."

Also nodding vigorously in agreement, Dana looked at him. "He's over near the Union lines sir, with Win!"

Pickett glanced from Star to Dana and back again, unsure of how to respond. Dana just grinned but Star spoke up. "It's true General, we saved his life and then hooked him up with Win. We figured that they should talk. After all, it's been three years."

A slight smile crossed Pickett's face and he nodded. "That is true. Three years is quite a long time." He raised an eyebrow. "Especially when trying to get through West Point."

Dana started laughing and Star grinned as she struggled not to laugh. "Yes, I know exactly what you are talking about."

"Indeed." Pickett looked back out across the field and his smile faded.

Star lowered her head. "I'm sorry about what happened General Pickett. I've read…" She quickly stopped herself before she said anything that would make it sound like she was from a different time, which of course, she was.

Leaning towards Star, Dana whispered. "We might have saved Lo and Win, but there are a lot of others out there… who weren't so lucky."

Pickett didn't pay any attention to Dana, was looking at Star curiously. "You've read what?"

"Oh, nothing important General." Star looked up at him quickly.

Pickett just nodded slowly and turned away to go into the tree line. Dana was just prepared to let him go as she watched. "I feel kinda bad now."

But Star didn't pay any attention to what she said, yelled after Pickett instead. "Wait! George! Come with us for a moment and see Win again! You were close to him too!"

Turning around, Pickett raised an eyebrow. "Are you suggesting what I think you are? That I visit Win across the battle lines that we just fought upon?"

"Please, sir. Just this once," Dana said, agreeing with her friend.

"You don't know if you will ever get another chance," Star said, "Why should you turn up this one?"

Pickett looked at Star for a moment, then nodded. "Very well. I suppose it's only proper."

Dana smiled slightly as Star nodded in agreement. "You won't be along General, Lo's already there." She placed a hand on Pickett's shoulder and turned to lead the way back to where Armistead and Hancock were.

"Star…?" Dana said, "It's a mile to go. Wouldn't horse be faster, you think?"

Turning around, Star shrugged. "Yes, but I don't have a horse."

"Now you do." Dana pointed to horses standing a few feet away. "We're only borrowing them for a little while, anyways."

"Alright, that makes sense I guess." Star mounted the horse.

Both Dana and Pickett mounted up as well and Dana said. "Let's go." She clucked to the horse and the horse began trotting forwards. Pickett followed and Star rode alongside Dana towards the Union lines.

As the II Corps flags came into view, Dana slowed her horse. "Well, here we are again."

"Indeed, and there is Lo and Win, right were we left them." Star gestured to where the two of them were talking.

All three of them dismounted and Armistead glanced up from where he was talking. "George!"

Pickett grinned, and nodded towards him and Hancock.. "Well met, Lo. It appears you've found a friend as well."

"Yes, I've been reunited with an old friend," Armistead said, smiling.

Star and Dana looked at each other and grinned.