Hello my lovelies!

I feel so bad for taking so long on this update, I'm sorry guys!

Anyway on with the show!

Reviews and thoughts are always welcome

Enjoy :D

~Tempus Fugit~

The colors still burn but Clara can't tear her eyes away from the familiar buildings and streets. It is like waking up from the deepest dream. And though she knows that gas station, and she's been to that store a million times, everything seems foreign and strange.

Walking down Main Street soaked to the bone in her medieval style tunic Clara feels like a ghost, or are the people of this world ghosts to her? The wide store windows reflect back her ashen face as she passes the mom and pop stores that line the one traffic light road. She stares at the cars, and the lights, and kids with iPods sitting on street corners with a bizarre sort of hysterical humor. It is just unbelievable.

Nothing here is different, she is.

People begin to notice her, and hell it's not like she doesn't standout. This is probably the most interesting thing to ever happen to this town since its founding. Clara knows almost everyone in her village and yet they are all staring at her like she is some kind of phantom.

Mr. Turner, who owns the hardware store with his faded baseball cap and jeans, stands at his front window, a wrench forgotten in his hand, watching her with his mouth hanging open. Miss Fields is frozen on the sidewalk across the street, eyes wide walking a dog Clara's never seen before.

Clara stops in the middle of the two lane road unsure what to do. Sure she's dressed weird, but not that weird. This seems bad.

"Clara?" A disbelieving voice calls from the entrance to the Rose and Crown dinner where she used to work.

She turns in time to see Nina flying through the door and running towards her down the front steps. Her mind freezes before she can speak when she realizes there is something very wrong with this picture. Very, very wrong. Nina doesn't work for the Rose and Crown, though she's wearing their red uniform and Nina certainly is not pregnant. What. The. Hell. Her friend is so far along she actually waddles.

Nina stops a few feet away confusion and surprise clear on her face. She dithers on the edge of the sidewalk uncertainly before moving forward. "What are you doing here? No one said you were coming home." She also looks a little leery like Clara is a spooked animal that might bolt at any moment.

Clara is having a hard time responding. Her mind is stuck on a repeating track of: wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong.

"Ughh?"

Now Nina is really concerned. Her brow furrows as she glances around at the watching crowd before saying kindly. "Are you supposed to be out here? Maybe we should take you to your parents?"

She jerks back from her friends hesitant touch. "Nina how are you pregnant? What- what are you even talking about?"

"That's what usually happens after marriage." Nina's eyebrows are in danger of disappearing into her afro. She can see Clara's bewilderment. "You remember. Sam and I got married? You even came home from the institution for it."

Woah what? "The institution? Wait, you guys weren't even dating the last time I saw you!"

Nina bites her lip giving Clara a look she's never seen on her before: pity. "I'm gonna take you home okay?"

"No!" She's had about enough of this nonsense to last a lifetime. "I don't have time to deal with whatever the hell this is right now. I need to know, have you seen a girl who looks like me? Her name is Oswin, she probably showed up sometime after I disappeared. I promise will explain everything to you later, but right now I need to find her."

"You're - you're looking for Oswin?"

Clara is surprised by the instant recognition. A cold realizations runs down her spine and into her veins like deadly ice making her limbs heavy with its weight. She can hardly bring herself to ask the obvious question.

"Nina, what year is it?"

"2017."

Jesus F'ing Christ! Three years… she has been gone for three freaking years!. How - how is that even possible? She's only been in Shades a few months. Her mind spirals off in a panic. What did everyone think happened to her? Oh god, what did her parents think? That she was dead? That she drowned years ago? She's a second from hyperventilating.

It must show because Nina grabs her by the shoulders forcing Clara to meet her eyes. "Clara. Clara, calm down. I need you to tell me how you got here, what is going on?"

"This isn't happening to me." She crushes her eyes shut for a moment forcing herself to breathe. Forget it, she can freak out later. It's just one more disaster. Grabbing onto the arms holding her steady she opens her eyes. "Nina, where is Oswin?"

"But you're Oswin… the doctor's said you were schizophrenic."

Bloody brilliant. "Look at me: I'm Clara. Oswin is not me, I'm me. And I need to find her, where is she?"

Her old friend gapes at her like a fish on dry land while their audience has grown. Apparently everyone here thinks she's lost her marbles which is just freaking awesome. She wants to yell at them, like she's wanted to yell at everyone since John died. She wants to kick and scream and throw punches, because her life is not a goddamned sideshow attraction. It's a fucking mess.

Slow recognition dawns in Nina's eyes as her pupils dilate almost comically. A breath catches in her throat looking Clara up and down carefully. She waits for Nina to speak, a surprising smile spreading across her features. It really is wonderful to see her best friend again. Clara honestly thought she never would.

"Oh my god… Clara. It really is you isn't it? I always knew there was something wrong. But - But what the hell?"

With an elated cry she throws her arms around her neck, hugging Nina tight. Her excitement takes even her by surprise. Nina response with equal enthusiasm laughing in disbelief. Eventually Clara pulls away so she can see her friend's confused smile.

"Yeah it's really me. You are never going to believe what's happened to me and I will tell you everything, but for now, where is Oswin? What happened to her?"

Nina takes several steadying breaths. "They took you - her - to the Leadworth Psychiatric Hospital."

This just gets better and better.