Waters of Time

Disclaimer: Don't own Victorious

A/N:

-QUARTER-

After dinner she met with her apparent best friend in this timeline. Trixie was the same height as her. She had long dark hair, and wore a violet colored shirt with a knee-length purple skirt. When Trina approached her, the girl gawked at the outfit she was wearing. "Have you gone mad?"

"What?" She looked down to the dress and heels that she had on, it didn't seem to be too much. Trixie put her hand to her forehead and groaned.

"We're not going to a party or something. You never wear that unless you're going somewhere important." Trixie circled her and raised an eyebrow. "I suppose it looks nice on you, it's just different. Unusual. We won't fret about it now, the movie starts any minute!"

"Can't wait."

"Yeah, I thought I was going to be late. My little sister was talking my ear off." From what little memories of this time Trina had, she knew Trixie had a younger sister that lived with their father in California. That was about it, though.

"How is she?"

"Oh she's fine. She broke up with her boyfriend again, but they'll get back together. Still, she's going through her cycle." Trixie rolled her eyes and dismissed the thought with a wave. "Typical cycle."

"Sounds rough."

"Well when you have the issues she's got, sure. Anyway, enough about that, let's get into this movie." Trina followed the girl and frowned as her mind drifted to the person she thought Trixie was talking about. It seemed far too coincidental, but she couldn't help to think of Jade.

"That's right." Krissy's voice caused her to flinch. She shot a glare at the woman, irritated that she continued to pop up and scare her. "Your best friend is Jade West's older sister." Krissy looked up with a thoughtful hum. "You might even get along with her in your own time, you know, but that's beside the point." Trina crinkled her nose and looked towards Trixie with a smile. "I could point out that because you're here and your cousin never met Jade-well not much is different. Except for the fact that she doesn't do well with friendships."

"Did she ever?"

"Oh hey, if you decide to go back to your time, look Trixie up. You might be surprised to find her living in the California region. Turns out with nothing tying her down here, she decided to go to college in California to be a little closer to her sister."

Trina's heart thumped in her chest and she looked towards Trixie with surprise. The girl was standing at the concession stand, her right finger was hooked over her lower lip as she studied the menu. "I don't do well with friends."

"You do, actually. You and Trixie first became friends in this time over something common, you both are athletic. You're athletic in the other time, but you also have something else in common. Your little cousin, her little sister, enough said."

"You could actually try talking to people." Trina winced at the sound of her own voice beside her. When she turned to look, she saw once again this time's version of her. Her arms were crossed and she was leaning towards the right. "It might surprise you that you don't need to steal my life when you can make it your own. Also, I would never wear that dress to the movies!"

"Don't interrupt me," Krissy snapped her fingers and the other woman vanished in a cloud of smoke. "Jesus." Trina rolled her eyes and turned away, smiling as she looked towards Trixie.

Memories of the girl began to flow into her mind. They were years-worth of laughter, talks about their families and about their futures. She remembered also a recent time when Trixie was considering a move, but because she didn't want to leave her best friend behind, she didn't go.

"You know she's not much different in your time, but I'm not going to say much more. It is going to be your decision in the end."

"My decision? I still have a choice?"

"Yes, but I'm getting to that. You're still alive in that time, by the way. If you were to go back, you could use some of the things you learned here and maybe improve where you're at. Just saying. It all comes from inside. I suppose this timeline's version of you is right, you could try talking to people."

"I have tried." She sneered for a moment and shook her head. "They push me away."

"Then you're trying with the wrong people, Trina. If someone doesn't want to bother with you, they're not worth your time. Don't let them get you down and try talking to people who you might have more in common with. But enough about that, I don't think that time is important at the moment."

"Well…I'm friends with Trixie already in this timeline."

"Yeah-it's the easy way out." She twitched and started to shoot back a remark of her own, but Krissy was gone when she looked back.

Trixie hurried over to her with a bag of snacks. "Okay Trina. I've got two boxes of Raisinets, two Milk Duds, and of course I got you a cherry icee." Trina smiled and took the drink from the girl as well as a box of Raisinets and Milk Duds. Looking down at the snacks, she recognized this moment many times before. They shared a favorite when it came to candy, although Trixie preferred the coca cola icee while Trina preferred the cherry flavor.

"Thanks Trix."

"No problem." Trixie looked at her dress and laughed. "I'm trying to imagine that dress when you're done drinking that icee, though." Trina raised an eyebrow and pictured her other version's mocking laughter. "I don't think I've ever see you come out of a movie with at least one or two cherry drops on your clothes."

"Yeah, mom usually has a fit trying to wash it out…"

"Oh god, remember that one time we rode our bikes around after it rained?" Trina looked up to the girl and pushed up half a smile as Trixie laughed at a memory that she couldn't easily recall. "We hit a rock and fell in a puddle of mud, grass, and whatever else was in that muck. Our mothers looked ready to drop us on the spot when we got home. Brand new clothes, ruined. Some of the stains never got out of my clothes."

"Yeah." They made their way into the theater and sat in the back row. The lights were lit up and the screen was going through its regular advertising before the previews. "Trixie, do you ever wish you went to California?"

Trixie sipped on her drink for a minute before pulling her lips from the straw. "Sometimes." Trina frowned as the girl shrugged. "My best friend's here, though. I wanted to go and be there for my sister, but Jade didn't want anything to do with me."

Tori's friendship, along with the others was what softened Jade up to begin with. So if Trixie had gone to California in the other timeline, it was because Jade wasn't as hard up as she sounded like she was in this time.

This realization broke Trina's heart because she could see in Trixie's eyes that she did care for her sister. "I guess I shouldn't worry about it," Trixie replied, "If she doesn't want anything to do with me or mom, that's her thing. We've talked about this, so why bring it up again?"

"I don't know. I guess I was feeling a little guilty for keeping you from going there."

"Don't." Trixie pat her shoulder and smiled warmly at her. "I'm happy with the way things are." The girl crossed her legs and looked down to the Milk Duds in her hand. "Besides, you don't get to have do-overs."

"No?"

"I don't think it would be right, or fair. If you think really hard about it, you have to realize that what you go through makes you who you are." Trina furrowed her brow and her lips separated a centimeter. "You learn from the experiences and mistakes, so I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason and you shouldn't get a do-over because it would change too much. I think it would also be like cheating, if you look at it like that. Maybe even a little selfish? Think of all the people you meet, all the lives you impact, you have no idea what those people will be like if they never met you. Hell, you could be more important to someone than you realize."

"Do you think that if you and I met in a different timeline that we'd be friends?"

Trixie's lips formed a circle and she let out a laugh. "I think we'd be friends in any time, Trina. But really, if it's meant to happen, then it will." She found it funny that Trixie would say something like that, considering she heard those same words from Krissy once. "But enough of this deep philosophical stuff for one night, it's giving me a headache."

Trina laughed and nodded in agreement. She lifted her own box of milk duds as the previews began. "Shall we?" Trixie lifted her box and moved her fingers to the flap.

"Yes. Open them together in three, two…" They pulled open the tabs and clicked the boxes together as though they were glasses of wine.

When she arrived home that night, she expected to hear Tori and her friends laughing over something she'd consider mundane. When they weren't there, it frightened her at first. Instead, she saw Joshua with a sandy haired girl cuddled up with him on the couch.

The girl looked up and waved. "Trina, how was the movie?"

"It was good."

"Careful," Joshua laughed, "She might not remember who you are." Trina put her hands to her hips and shook her head while smiling at her older brother. This still felt too much like a dream to be real, but Krissy said many times that it was real. Still, she didn't think she could ever forget those in her last time, and to be honest she missed them.

In this timeline everyone seemed far too hard up, except for her mom and brother. The way they talked about David, at least in her time the man made somewhat of an effort. Usually because of her constantly bothering him and making him talk to her. Often she wanted to talk about her mom and brother, and he was willing to sit down with her.

Now she realized that those talks must have softened him and made him that much more receptive to his family. "I remember your girlfriend, Josh." She smirked at him. "Amber, right?"

He laughed and Amber smiled back at her. "See Joshua, she couldn't forget me." Part of her had forgotten, but there was still an air of familiarity that she couldn't place about this girl. That familiarity didn't exist in this new timeline, which was what she found strange.

"Anytime you want to pop up, Krissy. Now would be good." She looked to the right, then behind her, and Krissy did not appear. "Ugh, fine, appear when I'm not expecting you."

Amber swept her hand through her dark curls and pushed herself from the couch. "Sorry I couldn't join you and Trixie at the movies."

"That's fine, I know you wanted to be here with Josh." What was it about this girl that gave her reason to pause? She studied her close, trying to connect her to any memory. Amber wasn't as old as Joshua, but she was just a year older than Trina. Still, this was the only thing she could put a finger on. "Anytime now, Krissy! Come in with your seemingly omnipotent self."

She exhaled slowly and ran her fingers over her forehead. "Maybe this is one of those four days she and her husband decide is 'bedroom time'."

"True." Amber looked at Joshua with a smile. "If it wasn't for him, I'd still be in California."

"California?"

"Yeah. You know, my little cousin's over there." As she processed the words, it struck her. In the other timeline, she'd seen Amber once or twice. The girl even tried to talk to her, but she often shied away thinking she wouldn't like her once they spoke.

Amber was Robbie's cousin.

Her eyes widened tremendously and her body froze. "Oh yeah, I couldn't forget that." The memories of this timeline slowly came to her mind. She and Joshua met Amber when they went to California with their mother five years ago. He formed a relationship with her when her cousin, Robbie's brother, died. She was the girl that was crying by herself in a diner, and Trina convinced Josh to go talk to her.

As a relationship started, she eventually moved to be closer to him. She formed a friendship with Trina and Trixie, forming a third part of a very crazy trio. They did almost everything together, whether it was going to the movies or going to the state fair.

In the other time, however, Amber was taking care of Robbie because his parents wanted nothing to do with him. With that knowledge fresh on her mind, Trina needed to know what was going on with him now.

"H-How is Robbie, by the way?"

Amber furrowed her brow and frowned. "You know. He's still a loner, always carrying that puppet around." The puppet was named after his older brother, Rex. The same cousin that passed away several years ago. In her timeline, his friendship with Tori helped the group keep him around, and eventually he started to wean himself away from that puppet.

"So he's still got that thing? Hasn't he made any friends yet?"

"No. His parents don't even bother trying to talk him into making any." Amber scratched at her neck and shrugged. "If I were there, I'd make sure he got some friends to look out for him. Kind of like Trixie would do for Jade, you know."

Trina laughed and felt her heart sink while her mind drifted back to Tori. This was something the three women had in common in the other timeline, they all helped their younger relative gain friends, in one way or another.

"Think of those lives that you impact." Trixie's words had been branded on her brain, leaving a permanent mark to think about. The girl was right, it wasn't only Trina's life that would change. For better or for worse, she didn't know, but maybe she wasn't supposed to know. As Trixie said, the fantasy could potentially be better than the reality.

Are those doubts that are arising?