Cinderjuice
A Beetlejuice fanfic by Lady Norbert
Author's Notes: I mentioned to beta reader Kourie what I said in the last chapter, about feeling like I've lost control of the story. She assured me that there was never a moment at which I was in control of it in the first place.
This was honestly the hardest chapter to write.
Chapter Thirteen: What Could Be More Unnatural?
Lydia woke when light started creeping into the sky, and was both amused and touched by how difficult it was to extricate herself from BJ's sleeping embrace. They'd both been so tired, and cold too. He made a grumbly sort of face as she carefully wriggled free, but seemed to settle down again. It was a challenge not to chuckle.
Quietly, wanting him to get a bit more rest while he could, she set about putting together a fresh campfire. "Are you feeling better, Doomie?" she asked softly.
He responded with a series of quietly distressed grinding sounds. "I know, you're really pushing yourself hard," she said. "You did a great job saving Beetlejuice yesterday. Hang in there a little longer, okay? We'll get someone to give you a check-up as soon as we can."
Additional grinding sounds followed, of a more inquisitive nature, and she smiled. "I'm sure Pinky's fine. Jacques will take good care of her."
"Meep meep!"
"Let's let Beetlejuice sleep a while yet. He must be exhausted, I don't think he slept much at all while we were in Tombstone." She sighed, poking at the glowing embers with a stick. "I wonder how we're ever going to find that missing juice. I don't even know what we're looking for, really - does it actually look like juice? Is it in a bottle? I didn't think magic was something you could see. But if you can't, then how does the Fairy Godfather know he's missing some?"
"R-r-r." It was Doomie's version of 'I don't know.'
"Was kind of wondering that myself," said BJ, sitting up and leaning over the edge of the car to look at her.
"Oh, you're awake. Should we see if we can find something that would pass for breakfast?"
"Might as well." He gave her a vague, drowsy sort of smile.
"So," she said as they started looking around, "what does your juice look like?"
"You got me, Babes. I know what it looks like when I use it, but when it's just there? No idea."
"Hm. Which explains why you didn't know any of it was missing," she mused.
They managed to find some fruit that seemed reasonably edible, although BJ had to dodge a low-flying squirrel who was apparently targeting his piece. "Just how big is the Neitherworld, anyway?" she asked him, picking apart her fruit. "I mean, I assume it has borders, right? It doesn't just continue forever?"
"Well, eventually it loops back on itself, kind of like the features menu on one of your DVDs." She laughed, and he continued, "If you run far enough in one direction, sooner or later you come out the other side."
"So at least there's a finite amount of space for us to search." She swallowed a hunk of fruit; whatever it was, it tasted okay and it was really juicy. "Where do you think we should go from here?"
"Maybe we can string together a montage," he suggested. "That's the most convenient way to travel."
And so, accompanied by a stirring instrumental soundtrack (possibly composed by Danny Elfman), the search began...
Through the high mountains...
The thick jungles...
The sweltering deserts...
The balmy shores...
Everywhere they could think to search, they searched... but no sign of BJ's missing juice ever surfaced.
They more or less crawled to a halt in an obscure neighborhood; they'd gone so far around the Neitherworld that, just as BJ had described, they'd almost doubled back on themselves. "Well, that was kind of fun, but fruitless." Lydia sighed, propping her elbows on her knees and resting her chin on her hands. "At least I got a bunch of good pictures out of it."
"There's that, I guess." BJ was sunburned, which clearly didn't help his mood.
"We've been everywhere I can think we've ever been, and we don't even know what we're looking for. What's left to try?"
"I dunno." He glanced up at the sky, then did a double take. "Lyds, look."
A small package was dropping from an overhead glider, a parachute guiding it gently into BJ's lap. "Looks like it's from the prince. Maybe it's lunch." He tore open the paper wrappings. "Yep. Here." He passed her a bottle of water and a banana. "There's more in here. Huh, what's..."
As Lydia started eating, she watched him pull out an envelope with his name on it. "Now why would Prince Vince send a letter..." He read the contents, scratching his head, and his eyes slowly grew wider and more... she wasn't quite sure how she'd classify their appearance. Frantic, almost.
"Beetlejuice? What's wrong?"
"I - it's nothing."
"Beetlejuice..."
"Really, everything's fine. You stay here with Doomie, Babes, I'm gonna go use that phone." He pointed. "Need to call the Roadhouse."
"Has something happened to Jacques?!"
"No, no, don't worry. I'll be right back."
She watched him cross the street, finishing her banana and trying desperately to see who he was calling. "He's up to something, Doomie."
"Meep meep," the car agreed.
Once he returned, Lydia tried again to question him, but he deflected her with an insistence that really surprised her. It was rare for him to refuse her much of anything, let alone an answer. He devoured some of the food from the package, although it didn't seem like he really tasted any of it. "All right, will you at least tell me what we're going to do now?" she asked finally.
"We're going to wait. Cavalry's on its way."
"What cavalry?"
"Meep meep!"
Lydia turned to look at Doomie, who was practically bouncing up and down on all four tires with impatient joy. "What's got you so excited, Doom?"
"Meep meep meep meep!" He leaned forward, eagerly, and for the first time she could discern the sound of a car moving through the streets. She was amused; how had he heard that? And why was it such a big deal to him? Only when the car began to come into view, and she could make out the pink color, did she start to understand.
"Oh, Pinky! It's Pinky!" Delighted, she left the curb and went to greet the little pink convertible as Jacques pulled her onto the street where they'd been sitting. "Hi, Jacques! Hi Ginger! It's so great to see you!"
"Lydia! Sweetie, you're a sight for sore eyes," said Ginger. "We've missed you!"
"We came as quickly as we could when you called," Jacques added. Pinky was clearly happy to be reunited with Doomie; in fact, the only one who seemed at all displeased was BJ.
"Glad you could get here. The door's set up?"
"Mais oui, it awaits."
"The door?" Lydia repeated.
"Yeah, uh... Lyds..." BJ rubbed the back of his neck. "Here's the thing. We're gonna split up the dream team. Jacques and Ging are gonna take you back to the Roadhouse; Prince Vince figured out how to get the door to your world open so you can go home."
"Go home? But -"
"No, listen. You need to get back. You've been gone for days; they're bound to notice soon." He adopted a cooler tone. "Besides, at this point, you're just slowing me down. Hard enough to take care of myself in this state, without having to keep worrying about you too."
"Beetlejuice!"
"Go on." He made a sort of shooing motion.
"I'm not leaving you!" she protested. "I said we'd figure this out together, I came here to help you!"
Something flashed briefly in his expression. She didn't quite know what it was. "You're not helping, Babes. Like I said, you're just slowing me down. You should never have come in the first place. There's other places I could be checking but I'm not dragging you into them, so if you really want to help, just go home."
"I don't believe you."
He folded his arms, and the way he looked at her... she involuntarily took half a step backward. It was such an unfamiliar look. "I don't want you here," he said simply. "You get in the car, and you go home. And don't come back."
I don't want you here. The words echoed loudly and painfully in her head. "You don't mean that."
"Yes, I do. I've been looking after you for years; it's time for me to look after me. You're all grown up now, Lyds. You don't need me anymore, and I'm through babysitting. Now you go home, and you forget you ever saw this place. We're done."
"But -"
"No buts. It's over."