Just squeezing one last chapter in before I go. :3

You're not sure what happens next. Your consciousness for the next few moments narrows and weakens because you're focusing all your energy on figuring out just what the hell is going on here. It's her, all right. She has her hand on her left hip and her expression is all lopsided, sharp-toothed grin.

She's smiling at you. She's laughing at your expression. She's not explaining, she's not consoling you. It's almost as if she's been here all along and she's jesting at the fact that you've only just noticed her. You've woken up and she's welcoming you back.

It's one of those moments where you can't decide whether to hug her or punch her. She just looks so fucking smug that you can't take it, you don't want to take that sort of shut from someone who left you alone to mourn for so long. It's her fault, you know, but for some reason you can't bring yourself to be angry at her.

You look at her. You suppress a snarl.

Then you really look.

And you nearly stumble off the cliff.

She's shimmering, like the scales of fish or pearlescent butterfly wings. Her fingers and the wispy ends of her glowing ember hair are static, buzzing in and out of view. Her eyes are the same, though. A pale blue, like the sky in winter. Her clothes are plain- a pair of jeans and a red t-shirt- but untarnished.

She laughs.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer."

You realise you were staring at her eyes with your jaw almost on your chest, lost in the soft blue. She's not here, you think, this isn't happening. You spend the next ninety three seconds gathering your emotions up and trying to convince yourself that you fell asleep on the bench.

But that didn't explain the hand on your shoulder, it didn't explain the sick feeling.

I haven't slept in two days. I could be hallucinating.

Her smile falters, then disappears. "Dave? Are you okay? I didn't mean to scare you. Dave. Dave, look at me."

You don't. You don't look at her. You look at your feet, at the grass, at the little collections of dirt created by earthworms, anything but her, her eyes. Because if you look at her too much, you might start getting your hopes up and you might start believing that she's actually there because she's so solid-save for the static in her fingers- and just so in front of you that it's really hard to ignore the fact that to you, at this moment in time, Terezi Pyrope seems pretty fucking alive.

But she's not. She's not alive. I saw her fall. She fell with me.

She fell down that cliff.

Slowly, she approaches you. You can't help but look up and notice that when she moves the shimmer becomes more noticeable. It's like she's a hologram, sometime in the future. And in your head, this is what it is. Someone has turned your dead best friend into a hologram just to fuck with your head.

This makes you angry.

You decide to show it.

It's very unlike you to get this worked up, but hey, when anyone's been messed with this much they tend to get a little pissed. You don't like this one bit; you find yourself looking into the trees on either side of you, into the shadows, checking if there was any Wizard of Oz shit going on back there.

There isn't anyone. Not as far as you can see.

"Te..." You stop yourself. There is no way that you are going to call this fake by the name of your friend. This is not Terezi.

It's not.

"What the fuck is this all about?" Despite your anger, you manage to keep your voice low. Nothing stirs at the sound, not even the small bird sorting through the leaves a couple of feet to your left. "Who's behind this?"

Terezi-fake's expression shifts from friendly to a heartbreaking mix of confused and hurt. You don't let it affect you, not on the outside. On the inside, though, the small part of you that still believes is screaming.

"What are you talking about?"

While her appearance is crackling and flawed, you can't help but notice how real and smooth her voice is.

"Nobody has to be behind this."

She seems to latch onto your thoughts. She knows what you're talking about and her expression simply becomes wounded. Her eyebrows are drawn together, her lips set into a thin, stubborn line.

"This is natural, Dave, can't you see?"

Can't you?

She's close enough, now, that you can hear her breathing. Which strikes you as odd, seeing as a hologram wouldn't need to breathe.

But a ghost wouldn't, either.

The sun's gone, now. All that you can see by is the faint glow she's giving off, and the faraway lights of the city behind you. It's creepy, and it sends shivers down your spine; you try to walk away, to run home, but to your- slight- dismay, you find your feet are rooted to the ground with a sticky concoction of curiosity, fear and mud.

"What are you?"

"Dead."

'Terezi' replies with a brief shrug of her shoulders. Her expression and general attitude is nonchalant, as if this whole thing is no big deal. No, not life changing in the slightest, I just popped over from the great beyond to say hi. She allowed herself a tiny smile as she imagined what her mortal friend would probably say in the future in regards to their meeting. "I'm dead."

"Yeah, and so how are you here?" You're trying so hard to keep the tremor out of your voice. This is a different type of fear. It's not a fear of ghosts, not of the dark, not of whatever might be lurking in the trees.

It's a fear of her leaving again. Ghost or hologram or memory she might be, but at least she's here, at least you're talking to her. She might not be alive, as she had clearly stated, but she's standing in front of you.

So she must be, a little bit.

You're slowly coming around to the fact that yes, this is a ghost. Yes, this person is dead and will never be alive again but yes, this person is a ghost.

You took my heart.

"We're linked, Dave." She doesn't let you finish your question. You were intending to add a witty, funny quip at the end, the icing on the cake, but your mind is blank. You're not yourself right now.

I appropriated your smile and your memory in return.

"I'm tied to you."

That's why.There's a little bit of you in me.That's why you're here.