The next day at quarter to noon, Jae left the house with Jula and headed down the road to el Café del Fuego, history book tucked tightly under her arm. Stepping into the small cozy coffee shop, Jae and Jula ordered a couple of mochas and sat down at a table, listening to the soft classical music that played in the background.
"There you are."
Glancing back over at the door, Jae spotted Aidan walking in, dressed in a light blue 'T-style Props' shirt and dark blue boot cut jeans with black military style boots.
No beret this time..
"Sorry I'm late; I had a couple of things to take care of at work before I went on break."
Jae shrugged as Aidan took a seat at the round table they were sitting at.
"Well, I didn't expect to see the both of you here.."
"Mom wasn't going to let me go to town alone."
"Reasonable.. I can see why, your parents don't even know me."
"No, and neither do we, really." Jula added.
Aidan nodded.
"I understand. I know it may seem a bit odd to be trusting me so soon after meeting me, but seriously, I do know what I'm doing here."
"Well, we'll find out, but I hope so..."
Aidan gave Jae a small smile.
"I know. I won't let you down. After all, all of our futures depend on whether or not this gap gets mended."
The right corner of Jae's mouth turned up in the slightest hint of a smile at Aidan and she took a sip of her white chocolate mocha.
"So, where do you want to begin, Jae?" Aidan asked.
"How about the portal?"
"What do you want to know?"
"How does it work, exactly, because logically, wouldn't we go back to the date that the painting was created?"
"It would seem that way, yet, no. " Aidan replied.
"Then how?" Jula asked.
"Well, it has something to do with subconsciousness. At least a bit. How far you travel back in time depends on how far back in time you want to travel, even if it is a subconscious thought. However, there are a couple stipulations."
"Really, what are they?" Jae asked.
"Well, logically speaking, since the painting was created in this country, it will only work to transport you in this country, and obviously, you cannot travel further back than when the painting was created."
"How do you know so much about this?" Jula asked.
Aidan laughed.
"I read a lot."
"Come now, there's got to be something else."
"Oh, I have other sources. After all, I am a Tavington."
Jae rolled her eyes.
"Just like the colonel..."
"What?"
"You both have egos."
Aidan shrugged.
"Perhaps, but who's is larger?"
"I don't know you, so I can't tell. But if you keep on like you are, then I'm going to say that you are equal."
"Well, regardless of my 'ego', what else do you want to know?"
"How is this going to work? I mean, if there's a gap, shouldn't I be getting back as soon as possible in order to keep up with time?"
"If things go as planned, and you two can convince your parents to allow you two to go on a tour to the Tavington estate within the next month, two years will already have passed since the war will have ended."
"But... how?"
"It's alright. The timing doesn't matter as much as the fact that you need to go back, and soon."
"But you just said that timing didn't matter."
"Two years doesn't matter because you came forward in time. But the child is still with you, and if we wait too much longer, things will not be good."
"What do you mean?"
"I can't quite explain it, but the gap will get more serious, and if we take too much time, we'll see the effects here, in this time."
"I see. Well, lucky for us, we do have relatives in Ohio, and were planning on going there in a couple of weeks."
"Alright, good, good. Is there anything else you need to know?"
"Yeah, do you have a tour site online that we can show our parents?" Jula asked.
"Of course, there's even a 3-D online tour you can take. Just go to Yahoo! and type in Tavington Family Estate tours, and you'll come to our homepage. Oh, and here's my card." Aidan replied, handing Jula and Jae each a card with the 'T-style Props' emblem on it. "Sorry, it's just for my job here since my parents run the majority of the tours, but if your parents need to get a hold of me, all of my numbers are on the card."
"Thanks."
"It's nothing. Our past and future are at stake. Do your parents know about this?"
"No." Jae replied.
"And you're not going to tell them..."
"Nope."
"Well, that could make things a bit more difficult..or not... I'm sure you can give a good excuse..."
"Easy, we always plan for something to do as a family, just the four of us to have some time together in between seeing the relatives, so Jae and I could bring this up. Plus, if we can convince our parents that it will be an 'educational' experience, they'll go straight for it." Jula replied confidently.
"Wow, you certainly do have things figured out."
"It's helped a lot in the past..."
"I'll bet.."
"Listen, Aidan, I know we've only recently met you, but thanks for everything." said Jae, finishing the last of her mocha.
"You're welcome. Well, if you don't have any more questions, I really should be getting back to work; I walked here from the building. However, if you need anything, or have any more questions, just give me a call."
"Thanks. We'll see you later then."
Aidan nodded to Jae and Jula, and left the coffee shop.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Hey, Aidan, what's going on with you?" Brant asked as Aidan walked into the welding area where he and his brother made swords, a mysterious and mischievous look in his eyes. "You look as if Christmas holiday has come early.."
Aidan gave a soft laugh and replied, "You have no idea."
Brant shook his head at Aidan, redoing his ponytail as it began to loosen, but as soon as his brother had moved far enough away from him, a look of concern and suspicion crossed his face.
Oh shit. Aidan, what the hell are you doing now?