Disclaimer: The certificate-snatching ghost has once more evaded me… but have no fear, he will be found….

"…": characters talking to each other

'…': characters talking to themselves

(…): extra facts about something in the story

((…)): my opinions

AN: Ok, for all of you who've been waiting so patiently for the story to kick into high gear, it stars now! Enjoy! Happy Holidays everyone!

Chapter 6: Awakening, Part 1

Crockett residence, New York City, planet Earth, Milky Way Galaxy- December 2, FC 72, 6:55 AM

An alarm clock went off in the room, changing after a few minutes from an annoying beeping to what sounded like rock music, irritating someone buried under the covers on a king size bed. An arm slowly reached out from under the navy blue comforter and grappled for the button that would shut the clock off. After a few minutes with the clock still on the person became angry and slammed a fist down on the clock, silencing it indefinitely. It then retreated back under the comforter, but not before the sound of a door creaking could be heard.

"Shh! We have to be quiet so Dad doesn't hear us," came a girl's voice from just inside the doorway, the command being pointed to someone else outside the room.

"Well, duh," came a boy's voice from outside the room, his reply irritating the girl, who hotly responded, "Duh yourself!"

After a few moments of silence the girl's voice came again, this time closer to the black dresser in the room. "Got it!" came the girl's voice, in which excitement was heard.

"Good, now let's get out of here!" came the boy's voice that was closer to the bed than the girl's. An unseen nod was sent between them and just when they had almost made it to freedom they heard groaning and whispering coming from the bed. They froze and turned their eyes to the bed.

"What in the hell…" came a woman's voice and a hand reached out and turned on a bedside lamp, revealing a thirty-one year old Shirley with mid-back dark red hair, her eyes still a bright emerald.

"Mom, you said a bad word," said the girl, who in the light was revealed to be about seven years old with shoulder-length red hair with a navy streak on either side of her eyes, which were a bright green. She was clothed in what looked like a red shirt and white shorts, with white sandals.

"Yeah, you said a bad word, mommy!" said the boy, who also looked to be about seven years old, had short navy blue hair, his bangs sporting Chibodee's pink streak. He, like the girl, had bright green eyes and was clothed in a blue shirt, white shorts, and blue sandals. Both kids wore what appeared to be small silver chains around their necks, with letter monograms on them; the girl's had an "S" on it and the boy's had a "C" on it.

Shirley looked confused and said, "Mommy?' What are you two talking about?"

The two children looked at each other and said, in unison, "What do you mean! You don't know who we are!"

Shirley looked at the two children and saw their eyes begin to tear, signaling they were about to cry. Shirley got out of the bed she was in and knelt in front of them, and, opening her arms, said, "Well, it's not that I don't remember you… it's more like a… well, a game. You need to play along if you want to win, and to do that you have to tell me what your lives are like. Tell me who you are, where we are, who your parents are, and so on…"

The two children rushed into Shirley's arms and cried, agreeing through sobs that they'd play the game. After they'd calmed down a bit and Shirley had put on a dark blue robe she'd found over her black silk pajamas the two kids led Shirley out of the bedroom and into a cozy looking living room, complete with a navy blue couch, a green chair, a wide-screen television with a DVD player, a large collection of children's DVDS, and a small bookshelf in the corner, which had some books, coloring supplies, paper, and what looked like a lot of drawings.

Shirley took a moment to look about the room in awe, taking in what she saw. She compared it to the living room she knew living with the girls and the four fighters. It was different; different in a way she liked. She could sense comfort, warmth, and love all over the room; things she had lacked as a child and things that she felt to a degree with the girls, fighters, and her friends, but not to the level she felt now.

"Mommy, over here!" cried the girl as she clambered up onto the couch, the boy joining her. Shirley sat between the two of them and they leaned into her.

"Okay, here's what's goin' on…" began the boy but was interrupted by the girl.

"I want to tell Mommy what's goin' on!" the girl complained, sticking her lip out in the cutest pout Shirley had seen.

"No me!"

"No me!"

"Me!"

"Me!"

"Now, calm down," intervened Shirley, who saw that the small argument was going to escalate quickly into a much bigger fight. "You can take turns telling me what's goin' on, and I'll start by electing you."

The girl, ecstatic that she was going to go first, began. "My name is Shayla Crocket and I'm seven years old, soon to be eight. My birthday is today and I was sneaking into yours and Daddy's room to find the bestest present, which was in your closet that has drawers."

The boy then introduced himself. "Well, I'm Casey Crocket and I'm also seven years old, soon to be eight. Shayla is my twin and like her I was trying to find the present. Oh, and the word is 'best', not 'bestest'."

Shayla opened her mouth to protest but Shirley intervened, saying, "Okay, okay. You two are twins…" Shirley paused but then continued when they both nodded eagerly, "so, who are your parents?"

Shayla and Casey looked at each other disbelievingly. "You are our mommy and our daddy's…"

Before the twins could finish revealing their father's identity the three of them heard a loud curse echoing from the bedroom followed by a voice screaming, "What the hell is going on!"

Shirley's eyes grew wide as she recognized the voice. 'That's Chibodee's voice…'