I glanced out the window. It was a habit now. For some reason, I always thought I'd see her again. In the yard. A branch hanging low to obscure most of her, a bush revealing her only from the shoulder up.

She looked real.

But no snow had fallen onto her.

Even when she had stood, no snow was on her shoulders. I had heard no crunch of the snow. No movement proven.

Was she a ghost?

No, ghosts weren't real. I watched Ghost Adventures, but those were general ghosts. They had a reason to stay. I wasn't even sure if those were real to begin with, anyway. But Donna?

That was completely insane.

Ludicrous.

Completely deranged.

Daft.

I must be more depressed than I thought to become that unhinged.

I returned my concentration to outside. I watched as a car pulled up, a nice luxury vehicle.

It was Lucas.

The car had been for his birthday, eight years back for his 18th. He didn't want something so expensive, but I had more money than I needed.

I started to wonder when that inheritance would run out.

It wouldn't. I mean, I had a job, Lucas was putting applications out. Even if he moved out to get his own place, I'd be fine. I still had plenty left over from my aunt's will.

The phone rang.

I looked outside to see Lucas with his own phone to his ear, talking. I went to answer the phone.

"Yes?"

"Hey!"

It was Bulma, from the sound of it.

"Hello," I said, a little dryly. The usual guilt came riding in.

"How are you doing?"

"Fine...you?"

"Fantastic!" I began to wonder why she was so excited, especially considering it was me she was talking to.

"Formalities out of the way..." I murmured, crossing my arms. "What do you need?"

"Oh! Right! Well, I wanted to ask if you wanted to come ice skating with all of us! It'll be loads of fun, I'm sure. Donna and Louis will have a blast!"

"Sure...though Louis broke his arm about a week back, so I don't think being on the ice is a good idea-"

"Oh no, how did he do that?"

I sighed. "He jumped off a tree."

A long pause. "You know, Trunks did that when he was little. He broke his neck, though."

It was my turn to pause. "Wow."

"I know. I was worried sick about him!"

"So, where are we skating and when?"

A pause. "Oh, the one skating rink towards the center of town. Hajimura's? We're going today around noon."

"I know where it is," I responded. I heard the door open behind me. It took him a while to get inside. I glanced over to him, seeing a nod of greeting, as his hands were full with a computer box.

His got a virus a while back, thoroughly crashing all of his hard drive.

He was still talking on the phone. With Vanilla, I assumed. "Sure, sure..." He murmured. "Is your dad okay with it...? Okay...the café? Okay, cool..."

Of course. A date. The two hadn't been going out long, but it was making an impact on Lucas. He was an extremely shy person, and he usually never spoke unless he had to. Having Nathaniel and the others as friends were definitely changing that.

"Okay, see you there!" Bulma hung up. I wasn't sure if she was talking the whole time I was observing Lucas, but I knew what I needed. I hung up, glancing at the clock on the wall.

It was 11:32. Okay, this could work.

I went up the stairs to Donna's room, the one that had replaced the nursery. Louis' was next to it, a turtle sticker on the front above his name.

Believe me, I was surprised he still liked turtles. But he never said he thought them annoying.

As for Donna, she had a simple heart on her door above her name. Normally it would've been a unicorn, but she decided to have a heart instead.

I knocked twice on Donna's door, seeing it open almost immediately.

"Hi!" She chirped.

"Hey. Do you want to go ice skating?"

Her eyes instantly lit up. "Yes! Yes! Can we go now?"

"Soon. Just get your skates and get dressed, okay?"

"Okay!" She closed her door, most likely to do as I told her. I put my hands in the pockets of my jeans, going over to Louis' room.

I knocked twice.

A long pause.

The door opened.

"What?" He asked, looking up at me.

"How's ice skating sound to you?"

"Coooool," he said, grinning. "Are we going now?"

"Get dressed and we will be. Do you need help?"

I glanced at his cast. "Nope. I've broken my arm before. I'll be okay."

I nodded. "Alright."

He closed the door. I glanced to Donna's door. The small pink handprint was still there. A smaller one was underneath it. Both Donnas.

Three blue handprints were on the left.

Louis, Lucas, and I.

I smiled.

I went back downstairs, seeing Lucas still with the computer in the kitchen. He was taking it out of the package - well, attempting to. He glanced at me, his glasses at the tip of his nose. "Yeah..." He mumbled into the phone on his shoulder. He was struggling with the tape.

I left to the study, coming back with an X-Acto knife. I handed the safe end to him, receiving a nod. He cut the tape with ease, setting the tool down.

"Okay. Bye." He hung up, setting his phone down next to the tool.

"Seems you don't know how to go get the correct tool," I say, chuckling.

"Hush," he said calmly. "I was just being impatient."

"Right. Impatient," I say with light sarcasm. "We're going to go ice skating - you're not too busy with a date at the café with Vanilla?"

"That's tomorrow." He lifted the computer out of the box, despite his frail condition.

"Don't break anything."

"I'll try..." He was more concentrated on setting it down without breaking a finger.

He managed it successfully, not hurting anything. I watched him with concern.

"I'm fine," he said with a sigh, noticing the concern.

"Your mother would haunt me if you broke something," I responded. The words brought to mind the event a week before when Donna had appeared in the yard.

"Ha ha," Lucas said with an actual light smile. "I'm sure she wouldn't."

"So, about what I came to you for..." I glanced at the computer on the counter. "Do you want to go?"

"Sure. I don't mind. Vanilla mentioned something about it on the phone, anyway." He left the computer where it was, probably to move it to his room and hook it up once we got back.

"I'm going to go get my skates and get ready," he said, going out of the kitchen. I nodded.

That left myself.

I didn't really have my own skates, as I never skated. I knew how, but that was from learning as a kid. I never liked it much, and I stamped it as a girl's pastime. I just never got my own skates after growing out of my other ones.

I left the kitchen, leaving to go upstairs. Grabbing a button-up shortened trench coat and a scarf, I went to the front door downstairs to grab my winter boots. They were next to the small table where they usually were.

My shoes were the only ones there.

I glanced around, seeing that one pair of Donna's was to the side, Louis' next to them. I sighed. Even if I told them to set them next to the door, they didn't listen. At least they got the area right. I picked them up and set them down next to each other.

There was something in the drawer of the small table. It was colored pink.

I blinked. I was beginning to notice it was a habit of mine. Especially when something was surprising. I was pretty sure I cleaned the place up - including drawers - every weekend. Seeing something in this drawer, this one especially, was odd. I always made sure to clean this one up first.

I opened the drawer, taking out what looked like a small piece of paper and pocketing the keys of the car.

The paper was blank.

Confused, I folded the paper in two to throw it away. Then I saw something on the back of the fold.

It was a little smiley face.

I turned the still-folded piece of colored paper over, seeing it was only the smiley face.

It was probably Donna...well, the little Donna. It didn't surprise me she'd leave something in a drawer.

But pink paper?

I knew for a fact we didn't have any colored paper other than a lightly tanned color.

She probably got it from school.

I unfolded it, seeing the smiley face again. I sighed. Donna knew better than to leave small pieces of paper around. But she probably meant it as a little letter to me. Wouldn't be the first time.

I left it on the tabletop, tugging the boots on. I glanced to my right when I heard the sound of footsteps, more than one person coming down the stairs. Donna and Louis were out of breath, standing in front of me. They must have been chasing each other.

I straightened up, seeing both had on a heavy coat and a scarf, skates in hand.

"Ready!" chimed Donna. Louis nodded in agreement. Lucas appeared momentarily, his own skates in hand with a heavy coat.

I glanced at the note, wondering if I should ask Donna about it. I decided against it. I nodded, opening the door and heading out to the snow. It was snowing only lightly, nothing of great concern. The yard was still covered in the falling frost, but it would melt eventually.

I went to the driveway to the left, stepping on the lawn. I glanced back to see Donna was gone. I looked at the two boys, stopping.

"She forgot her rainbow scarf," Lucas explained.

"Dummy," Louis commented. I sighed.

"Alright. Come on." I opened the front door of the car, turning the car on and turning the AC to heat. "You two stay here, I'm going to check on Donna. It'll warm up in a bit."

They nodded from the back of the car.

I returned a nod, getting out and closing the door.

I headed back into the house, seeing Donna with the pink piece of paper in hand. She had her rainbow scarf wrapped around her neck. "Donna, come on, the others are waiting," I say.

She looked up, smiling with a nod. "Okay." She put the piece of paper back, heading out the door. I glanced at the paper again before closing the door and locking the door. I got to the car, closing the door and driving in the direction of the skating rink.

The first thing I noticed was the large amount of people.

They weren't strangers - they were all the families I knew. The Sons, Briefs, and Mitchells. Some were renting skates and some were ordering snacks.

Others were already on the ice or lacing up their skates. Jennette and Goten were the first ones to notice us. Jennette waved us over, though Goten seemed to have his eyes completely glued on Lucas. Something of a glare went by before he changed it to a smile.

Right, super overprotective father.

At least he was starting to like Lucas a bit.

Vanilla smiled when she saw Lucas, skating over to the edge of the rink. "Hiya," she said with a wave.

Lucas waved, heading over to her. Louis left to the snacks, Donna going over to Christopher.

"DEZZZ!" I glanced to my left, being slammed to the floor before I could see who it was.

"Augustine?!"

"Dez!" He beamed, getting off me. He stood up, holding his right arm out. I took it, allowing him to pull me up. I dusted myself off.

I sighed. I didn't grin or roll my eyes. I was still a little upset from the week before, when he thought I needed to move on.

"Why haven't you talked to me, bud?" He asked, hands on his hips. I didn't respond. I walked past him, to the renting stand. I handed the clerk some cash, giving him the shoe size before Augustine caught up with me. "Wot's up?"

I glared at him. "You know why I'm not talking to you." I watched the clerk search through the skates.

"Eh?"

I sighed with annoyance. "Last week. The phone call."

"The phone call..." I heard him continue to try and verbally remind himself as I accepted the skates and stepped away from the booth. I sat down on a bench, pulling my winter boots off and replacing them with the skates.

Augustine leaned on the bench, arms folded on the wood. "About Louis? Mate, I didn't mean to laugh-"

"No," I said sharply. "Further on."

He paused, thinking. "Donna?"

I didn't reply.

He sighed. "Oh, Dez, you know I didn't mean to be harsh. You know wot's best for you. I was just trying to 'elp, honest."

"It wasn't called for," I responded, lacing the shoes.

"Dez, you have to at some point or another." He walked around the bench, sitting next to me. "You know it, you do. You have to move on, mate. She's gone. Accept it."

"I did accept it," I said, a harsh tone in my voice. "I accepted it a long time ago."

"No, I mean find someone else." He paused, crossing his arms. "Your kids need a mother, Dez. They need someone like it, at least."

"Augustine, I don't need someone else. I can't forget her." I remembered the time I saw her outside. "As for the kids...I'll be fine. They'll be fine. They trust me. They don't complain, and they don't have many problems."

"Desmond." I glanced at him, seeing a serious look on his face. "You're going to have to think about it from their perspecti-"

"Hey!" We both looked up to see May. She was a nice person, though she seemed shy at times. She smiled.

"Oh, hey," Augustine said with a grin of his own. He made it seem as if we weren't talking about anything serious. I stood with the skates on, moving to the ice. I was already upset with Augustine. I didn't want to stick around to see him force himself on me after their chat.

I looked around the ice. So far I saw Christopher with Donna and Jennette with Goten skating. I looked around for Louis, seeing him snacking out on pizza. Lucas was still with Vanilla, near one of the entrances to the ice, chatting.

And then there was me. Looking around, pretty much everybody was talking to someone. The person that did want to talk to me was ticking me off. I sighed inwardly. I shoved my hands into my pockets, skating slowly on the ice.

I didn't particularly mind being lonely. It wasn't the first time it's happened, but you're lonely at least once in your life. But being lonely did have its consequences. One being thinking about Donna, the one that was gone.

Just when I was starting to think about it, I knocked into Goten. I stopped myself quickly, seeing Goten wasn't that fazed. "Sorry," I said.

"It's fine."

"Oh, hey, ask him," Jennette said, glancing at me.

Goten sighed. "I thought we were done with it," he replied.

"Oh, come on."

"Fine, fine..." He turned to me. "I can't believe this...will you spell 'me'?"

"...Um...M...E...?" I said slowly.

He looked pretty much in agony. "...You...forgot the 'D'..."

I paused, confused. "But there's no 'D' in 'me'-" I face palmed, realizing.

Goten sighed again. "Not yet...happy, Jennette?"

Jennette crossed her arms. "It wasn't that funny."

"Well, I'm sorry," he murmured. "Anyway...what're you doing?"

"Skating," I responded simply.

Goten nodded. "So am I."

"Is this conversation over?"

"Pretty much."

I nodded, skating off. I shook my head, in disbelief of the joke. I figured he'd do a different, more childish joke, but that was a lot different. I glided to one of the walls, leaning on it.

I glanced to my right, seeing Louis. "Hey."

He looked over to me. "Hi."

"Do you want to skate?"

"Nah. It's a girl's thing."

I shrugged. "Alright." Couldn't say I didn't think the same when I was his age. "What kind of pizza is that?"

"Pepperoni," he said over a piece. I nodded.

"Cool."

"Where's the dummy?" He asked, looking around.

"Donna," I said with emphasis, "is with Christopher."

"Of course she is. Her little crush and all." He rolled his eyes.

"Do you have a crush?"

"Nope. I'm the lone wolf." He took a large bite of his pizza.

"Uh huh..." I say with a chuckle. "Sure."

"It's true! All the girls be ugly," he said with an attitude.

"'All the girls ARE ugly'," I corrected.

"Whateva! I do what I want!"

I gave him a sharp look. "Where did you hear that?"

"Uh...Donna..." He said.

"Where did she hear it?"

"Um...I dunno..."

I sighed. "Don't say that, okay?"

He rolled his eyes, not responding.

I pushed away from the wall, skating over to Donna. Donna looked over at me, seeming to have a little bit of trouble with skating. She beamed. "Daddy!"

"Hey," I say. I gave a nod to Christopher who stood next to her. "Where did you hear...that one phrase?"

"Which phrase?" She tilted her head.

"The...er...'whatever, I do what I want'," I say.

"Oh!" She smiled. "I don't know what it was, but it was some cartoon show..."

"...An odd cartoon show? Slightly offensive?"

"I don't know. I didn't really watch it. I just saw the kid say 'whateva, I do what I want!'"

I sighed. "Alright...if you see anything else, don't...don't watch it."

Donna nodded. "Senpai is helping me skate." She smiled.

"Is he?" Christopher nodded. "Cool. Have you hurt yourself yet?"

She shook her head. "Nope."

I nodded. "Good." I ruffled her hair, then skating away. I looked around the skating rink, gliding around slowly.

To my right, shouting sounded. Seeing what the commotion was, it was Vegeta declaring he could skate better than Goku. Goku didn't seem that fazed, but he still agreed.

Those two in a competition near me was not a good sign.

I skated to the wall, unlacing my skates as I went. I barely got off the ice when Vegeta zoomed past me. I stepped out of the shoes, carrying them with me. I went and got my boots before going to sit down with Louis. I looked over to him, seeing him sipping out of a soda cup.

"Sup."

I shook my head, watching the two Saiyans gliding across the ice. I heard someone sit down next to me. I glanced to my left, seeing Donna. "Have fun?"

She nodded, swinging her legs back and forth. "Lots." She smiled.

I nodded, continuing to watch the two.

In my opinion, Goku was winning.

Watching people ice skate wasn't one of my favorite versions of entertainment, even if it was abnormally well-skilled. I glanced to the other side of the rink, seeing a what looked like a purple cardigan.

Purple cardigan.

That was what Donna usually wore.

The Donna that was gone.

I got up, heading to the other side of the ice skating rink.

"Heya, Desmond." I froze.

I glanced over to see it was Annabelle, Vanilla's sister.

"Uh, hi," I said quickly.

"Cool ice skating, huh?" She leaned over the barrier, watching with interest.

"Yeah, real cool, uh, I gotta go..."

She blinked. "Okay."

I nodded, moving on until I got to where I saw the purple cardigan.

There was no one there. I was near the rental booth and the exit of the building.

Blonde hair.

It was just by the exit. Someone with blonde, short hair and a purple cardigan, blue jeans, and chocolate-colored boots.

The first thing that popped into my head was that it was Donna.

That was what she wore a lot. And it was her hair. I could only see the ends of her hair, however, as the rental booth's roof covered the rest of her head.

I glanced to the others, seeing most of them either talking or watching the skating spectacle. Both Donna and Louis weren't alone, thankfully - Christopher and his older brother, Nathaniel, were there with them, not to mention Nathaniel's girlfriend, Alexandra.

I glanced back to where I saw the potential Donna. She wasn't there. She must've gone outside. I opened the door to the heavy snowstorm, glancing around. I covered my eyes as best I could from the snow, but it was almost impossible to distinguish a person in the sight of the snow. Even if Donna sprinted, she would still be in my line of sight. She was nowhere. My mind was puzzled.

Maybe I was hallucinating. I wouldn't be too surprised if I was. Donna was dead. She can't be here. Even if she was a ghost, I shouldn't have been able to see her, or she should at least be transparent to some degree.

The only reasonable explanation I could think of was it was a hallucination.

I entered the skating rink again, my coat dusted with snow. I was sure my hair had snow in it too, but I wasn't concerned about either.

Once I got back to Donna and Louis, they - and Nathaniel, Christopher, and Alexandra - gave me curious looks. It was probably about the snow.

"I head to get something out of the car," I lied. They accepted the answer. No questions were asked.

Tons of questions were still in my head.

Did the current Donna actually write the pink note?

Was the other Donna haunting me or just an illusion?

Was there even a chance of getting her back?

Maybe there was.

I had to at least try.

Otherwise I'd go insane - more insane than I was now. Just seeing her one more time would bring back some sanity.