Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer applies.

Chapter 3: Complicated Hearts

"I have never heard of something like this occurring," Yan Lin admitted softly. They were in the backroom that served as a meeting place for the guardians and a bedroom for Caleb because he was wanted in Meridian. Will Vandom sat across from Yan Lin at the table. Caleb and the other guardians sat on his cot just watching Will. Blunk sat on the floor with a blanket wrapped around him.

"Me either," Will muttered. She looked at her young friends who quickly tried to look away. She adjusted the blanket she was engulfed in. "And let me tell ya, I've been through some weird stuff."

"Will is so lucky," Irma Lair declared her eyes shining. "I would pay every penny I have to get a glimpse of my future."

"Irma you don't have a penny," Cornelia Hale reminded her.

"Oh yeah," Irma muttered. "Then I'd give up my new Harry Potter book."

"The future isn't always great," Will said softly.

"Something must've happened to trigger this," Taranee Cook declared.

"Will had been acting weird all day," Hay Lin said.

"How so?" Yan Lin asked.

"She actually ignored Matt," Irma replied in horror.

"That's hardly a cataclysmic event," Caleb muttered.

"For Will it is," Cornelia replied.

"Are you still with Matt?" Hay Lin asked smiling.

Will smiled at her. She wondered if Hay was in love with Matt even then. She put that thought aside. Hay Lin didn't have the opposite sex on her mind at this tender point in her life. Even if she did crush on him, she was blissfully unaware of it. "We stayed together for almost a year," she answered.

"I'd hoped you two would stay together forever," Hay Lin sighed.

"Life can change with a blink of an eye," Will replied. "Some things you deem important in your life aren't so important down the road. Matt and I mutually broke it off."

"Okay, what does Matt have to do with this?" Taranee wondered.

"Nothing," Caleb muttered.

"Will was in a very bad mood," Cornelia replied getting back on topic. "She wasn't her usual self."

"A bad mood hardly calls for such drastic events," Irma declared. "If that were the case, Cornelia so would have been drafted first." Cornelia glared at her.

"I do not think our Will caused this," Yan Lin said. Will raised her eyes to the wise older lady. "Care to enlighten us Will?"

Will looked at her friends once again. They all stared eagerly at her. "Not in front of them."

"Why not?" Hay Lin asked pouting.

"You wouldn't understand," Will whispered honestly.

"Please, you're only four years older than us," Cornelia said rolling her eyes heavenward.

"It's not like we're little kids," Taranee declared.

"We have to know what happens, so we can fix it," Caleb said his green eyes flashing.

"Do you always have to try and fix things?" Will asked softly.

"It's the rebel in me," Caleb answered softly.

"You guys can't help me," Will whispered. "I have to figure this out on my own." She rose to leave.

"Girls why don't you help Caleb bus the restaurant," Yan Lin suggested. "I would like to have a moment alone with Will."

A chorus of "Buts" started but Yan Lin cut them off. "Please."

"Yes Ma'am." The young girls and a reluctant Caleb left the two alone. They then had to shoo Blunk from the premises. He and his new blanket headed for his favorite trashcan.

Will sat back down at the table. She dreaded the conversation ahead. She never wanted to disappoint Yan Lin. She was like a mother to her. You got your wish. You wanted to speak with her one last time before she . . . .

"Do you have something you wish to tell me?" Yan Lin requested. Will's aura broke her heart. It's usual bright pink was overshadowed by darkness. What's happened to you?

"I-I can't," Will said desperately. I don't want you to be disappointed in me.

"Why not?" Yan Lin asked. "You have a sadness about you that someone so young and beautiful should not bare."

"I-I hate death," Will said. Her hands balled into fists. Pretty ironic statement for what she tried to do earlier.

"It's a part of life," Yan Lin said cautiously.

"For some sooner rather than later," Will whispered. "I've been through this twice already, why is this happening again?"

"Who's dead?"

"I'd just come home," Will replied tearfully. "Why now?"

"Whose death caused this time warp?"

"It happened to prevent me from causing my own death," Will said vehemently. "I tried to x myself from the equation called life." Yan Lin jumped in her seat in shock. Her shocked gasped echoed through the room.

"I'm sorry . . . I'm so sorry," Will said letting her tears fall.

Will, Caleb, and Blunk took the back route to the Lin restaurant. Will tried to note differences in the city but the back alleys still looked like . . . back alleys. "Does Mom and I still live in the same place?" Will asked. She wrapped Caleb's wet jacket more securely around her small shoulders.

Blunk opened his mouth to speak, but a scolding glare from Caleb made him shut his mouth. "You moved over a year ago now," Caleb replied.

"Get out of here," Will said in surprise.

"It's true," he replied.

"Did we defeat Phobos before-"

"That you'll find out when and if it happens."

"What do you suppose I . . . future I that is . . . did to cause this weird time warp?" Will asked. She folded her arms beneath the huge jacket.

"She didn't trust in us," Caleb replied bitterly.

"You and the other guardians?" Will asked biting her lip.

"Blunk too!"

"And Blunk?" Will added smiling.

"Yeah," Caleb muttered kicking a can. "Right." He ran a hand through his wet hair.

"Caleb missed Will," Blunk said solemnly. Will looked up at Caleb in surprise. His jaw was set. Her eyes rested on the scar. It made him look dangerous. Which of course he was, but only to ugly monster people who enslaved the people of Meridian.

The Caleb of her world still had an innocence about him. This one, however, did not.

"We all did," Caleb replied.

A shiver ran through Will's body. She wondered if Superman over there ever got cold? "Where'd you get this leather jacket?" Will asked. "It's nice."

"You bought it for me."

She waited for him to elaborate, which he didn't. "Does Matt still live here?" Will asked. Her eyes sparkled.

"Yeah."

"Matt's likes Hay-"

"Blunk," Caleb warned. Blunk wisely let the subject drop.

"Matt likes hay," Will repeated confused. "What does that mean?" She waited for a reply, but it was a futile effort. She sighed in defeat. "What do the girls look like now?" She asked giving up on talking about Matt.

"Like girls," Caleb replied.

"Well, you haven't changed one bit," Will muttered. "Have you and Cornelia finally got off your high horses and pronounced your undying love for each other?"

He stopped walking. She did also. He looked down at her almost as if he was angry. What did I say?

"Undying love is a strong choice of words," Caleb said passionately. "She dumped me ages ago and I got over it ages ago . . . and I wish you would see-"

"Caleb," Blunk warned. Caleb wisely shut his mouth. His cheeks reddened in embarrassment. It was not a fair world when Blunk had more control than he did.

"Wish I would see what?" Will asked softly. He stared down at her for a long moment.

"How beautiful Meridian is now," Caleb finished lamely.

"Oh."

"Lame!" Blunk exclaimed. He loved the new word he'd learned from Cornelia. Will couldn't help but laugh.

I'm going to kill you later Blunk, Caleb thought embarrassed.