6

Alex Russo sighed a bit. In the crowded theatre, she was sitting behind a guy in a Chewbacca costume, in front of a row of Princess Leia's dating a Mr. Spock and across the aisle from several Storm troopers in a packed house for the hundred and eighteenth showing of The Empire Strikes Back. On the other side of Max, her future father had a mullet and wore a Star Wars t-shirt; her future mother was dressed like the Material Girl during her Lucky Star phase. How could she ever look at them again after this night? The theatre was packed with sci-fi geeks and avowed Jedi Knights for one of the most top-grossing cult movies of all time. Her brother Max was on one side of her and her brother Justin was on her other side reciting the dialogue along with the movie.

"I'd just as soon kiss a wookiee." Leia Organa told Captain Solo on the screen.

"I can arrange that!" Justin beamed excitedly while eating his popcorn and sipping his Pepsi.

"I can arrange that!" Solo told the Princess on screen. "And believe me, you could use a good kiss!"

"Oh, my god…" Alex could not believe what she was living through. "I'm trapped in hell. Orlando Bloom isn't even in this movie!" Theresa Rodriguez looked down at her and turned back to Jerry.

"Jerry…" She leaned over to him to take a handful of popcorn. "Who are these kids?"

"Oh…" Jerry looked down upon them. "Um, they're my… cousins. I couldn't get out of babysitting them."

"Oh," Theresa munched on popcorn as Han Solo went looking for Luke Skywalker on the screen. This date was so not working. Sure, Jerry was cute with the hair, but the kids were killing the mood. The younger one kept looking at her and smiling. The girl was a princess, and the older one… well, she wasn't sure what his deal was, but he sure had the movie memorized.

"Who's Orlando Bloom?" She wondered.

"I think he's her boyfriend." Jerry rationalized, adjusted his mullet with a pass of his hand and placed his arm around Theresa. She lightly grinned to him and leaned in to him as he tried to become romantic. She sipped her soda and cuddled a bit to him trying to accept the date for what it was. On the end, Justin felt that pain in his head getting worse. He placed his head down to hold his nose. Maybe it was the subdued light and the flickering images, but he wasn't feeling so well. He looked around trying to recall where he was.

"Justin…." Alex ate some popcorn and looked to her brother. "What's your problem? You wanted to see this movie!"

"What?" He looked around confusingly. "Where am…. Hey, are you my date? You are so beautiful." He looked dreamily at her.

"What?" Alex looked at him unnerved by his mooning at her. "Justin… why are you looking at me like that?" She suddenly recalled what her father had said about changing the future. First came memory loss as their pasts were erased, and then they winked out from existence, but why? Their parents were on their first date! History was going the way it had, right? She turned to Max.

"Max, Justin's forgetting who he is!!" She whispered alarm. "We're in trouble!"

"Who's Justin?" Max asked. Alex turned her head back and looked to the other seat. It was empty.

"Justin? Who's Justin?" She forgot who had been next to her. She looked at her hand held aloft to her eyes starting to turn transparent. It was there, but it was not there. "What's happening to me?!" Could they have ruined their parent's first date by tagging along?

"Who are you?" Max looked at Alex.

"I'm… I'm…." Alex tried to think. "I'm… uh…" She looked around the theatre. A girl and her date came down the aisle from the bathroom. The guy sat on the end and the young lady came down before Alex… sitting down where she once was.

"Hey…" Max looked over to his young father. "What happened to that girl that was sitting next to me?"

"What girl?" Jerry tried relaxing around Theresa. This date was just not working. First, he had to bring this kid with him… Kid? Wasn't it three? Weren't there two others? He couldn't recall. Max looked around confused trying to recall a brother and sister that might have existed. As he held up his drink, he stopped and looked at his hand. It was starting to fade away, becoming invisible as he dropped his soda on the floor and Theresa jumped up to keep from getting wet.

"My head…" Max felt the headache hitting him.

"Hey, watch it kid!" Theresa rose from her seat.

"Do you need help?" Jerry asked the boy. Did he know him? "You look familiar."

"My head…it hurts…"

"Are you alone?" Jerry looked around the costume-clad theatre.

"Jerry, I think he needs help." Theresa looked at him and to the kid next to her. Max was clutching his head. It felt like it was going to burst. Jerry looked at Theresa, he looked at Max holding his head. What to do, what to do…. An usher came down to see what the problem was.

"Is that kid with you?"

Max looked at Jerry for help. Jerry looked at Theresa trying to figure out what to do. Did he know this kid? What did he owe to a kid he'd never seen before? Theresa was waiting on him to make a decision. On the movie screen, Luke Skywalker was getting advice from the ghost of Ben Kenobi to go to Dagobah. In that minute, Jerry realized like the Jedi Knights, he had to do the logical thing.

"Come on, kid," He lifted Max groaning in his arms. "Let's go get your parents." He scooted sideways out of the aisle of seats past another Chewbacca and a female Han Solo. Carrying Max in his arms, he looked back to Theresa in her Madonna outfit collecting his jacket and their popcorn before joining him. Up the ascending aisle, Jerry took Max to the front admission desk and sat Max down on the corner counter. The usher lifted the telephone up for them and went looking for the first aid kit.

"Max…" Jerry suddenly recalled the boy. "When did the headache start? How long have you had them?"

"What?" Max's head stopped hurting. "What headache?"

Several feet behind them, Justin and Alex emerged from the doors to the movie theatre. They looked at each other a second, seemingly remembering each other, and wondered what had happened. Alex looked around and suddenly recalled she was stick in the Eighties a good ten years before she had ever been born, and Justin rushed to the side of his brother. Theresa looked back at them.

"Guys…" She chewed gum toward them. "Your brother had a really bad headache. What kind of brother and sister are you?"

"You already sound just like my mother when you say that." Alex looked at her and then feigned interest in her brother. Theresa looked at her baffled over that comment. The usher had returned with the manager.

"Do you kids need any help?" He asked.

"Oh, um, no…" Jerry looked around. "My…uh, cousin just got a bad headache from the movie."

"What just happened here?" Justin asked his sister in a whisper.

"I don't know!" Alex was as mystified as they were.

"You know, Jerry…" Theresa turned round and beamed toward him. "At first I thought this date was going to be a bust, but if you actually care enough to take care of one of your cousins, well, then you're someone I want to know a lot better." She gave him a peck to the cheek. "Give me a call, will you?" She flirted with him a bit and realized he was definitely the kind of guy she'd want to be the future father of her children. She turned back toward the concession stand and headed away knowing he was watching her. Jerry cocked his head a bit and realized he really liked Theresa enough to spend the rest of his life with her.

"What happened?" Justin looked around the theatre lobby.

"I don't know." Jerry beamed toward Theresa while reacting to Justin. "But I think you kids made my date."