Albert is 103, Sarah is thirteen
"Things aren't looking good for him… I'm sorry sir, but your friend isn't going to make it," the doctor sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as Scott looked as if he wanted to argue, but his wife's hand found his and gave it a squeeze to calm him. Scott growled, his eyes starting to burn as he looked over at the elderly man in the bed. The man was over a hundred years old, and he had been through both world wars and Vietnam, but it was in this moment that the man in the bed truly looked his age.
The doctor pat Scott's shoulder, gathering up his medicine bag and leaving without a word as Sarah wandered in from her hiding place behind the door. She had grown up over the past two years, she had grown at least a foot and her hair now fell down past her shoulders only having been recently cut from where it had been around her waist. Unfortunately she had not gone back to see Albert since that day when she was eleven, but that did not stop her from trying.
The girl wrung her hands together, looking from her parents to her "uncle" in the bed for some sort of comforting words in this situation. The old man had been her friend, and the last thing she wanted was to lose him. Her mother noticed her presence and the woman left her husband's side to wrap her youngest up in a tight embrace. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart" she whispered, her Russian accent thick in her voice as she choked back tears. It was times like these when her mother's accent would resurface, but other than these times Sarah remembered her mother having a distinct American accent. Something Scott had taught her after they met.
"Scott, Anna… Leave us, please…"
Sarah bit back her tears as she looked to her friend, the elderly man asking for her parents to leave as Anna nodded, letting go of her daughter and pulling Scott out of the room to let them have some privacy. Once her parents were gone, Sarah sniffled and rubbed her eyes, looking to her friend as he forced a smile for her, patting the spot on the edge of the bed beside him to beckon her over. Sarah obeyed, still trying not to cry as she plopped herself beside the elderly man and forced a smile. "You'll pull through, won't you? You did last time, right?"
"I don't think it's that easy, Sarah…"
"But you promised Uncle Al! You promised you'd be there for me no matter what!"
Al smiled, his blue eyes shining as she called him by name. No, he was not her biological uncle, but he had known her father for years. They met by chance many years ago, before Sarah was born, and Scott had educated Al in the ways of Time Travelers only to find that Al knew quite a bit about them already. The man pointed to a box on the nightstand nearby, smiling at his young friend as he did so. "Bring me that box, would you?" he asked, ignoring the last part of her statement as Sarah gave him a look but did as she was asked.
Placing the box on Al's stomach, the elderly man opened it and smiled as a familiar melody clicked away as a result. Reaching into the wooden device, Al pulled out a leather book and handed it to the girl with a smile. "I kept my promise, see?" he asked, gesturing for her to open the book.
Sarah raised an eyebrow, utterly confused, but soon she did as she was asked and opened the book, her fingers trailing over the pages inside as she noticed the dates in the upper right hand corner. These entries were from the early 1900s, how did this explain him keeping his promise? Al pointed to the book, the girl looking up to watch him as he smiled once again and watched her closely. "I wrote down every time you came to visit me… In that field... I met you when I was ten years old, but you may remember me from a couple years ago…"
Staring at the man she had called Uncle Al for years, the girl looked down at the book in hand and noticed a name on the inside cover; brushing away the dust to reveal Albert Narracott written in the same neat handwriting the entries had been written in. Sarah's eyes widened, looking from Uncle Al to the book as she bit her lip, her tears falling from her eyes as she clutched the book to her chest and watched him. "You… You were the boy? You're Albert?" she squeaked, feeling her body start to shake with emotion as she realized she had not gone back to Albert because he was here… She had not gone back to his past since that day because she met Uncle Al soon after her first trip. He had always been there. Her father was right, when a time traveler is emotionally distressed they go to the person they were meant to be with; Sarah always ended up running to Uncle Al for comfort. Albert's blue eyes shined brightly at her realization and he smiled, reaching out and touching her cheek with a chuckle.
"I see your eye has healed very nicely,"
Sarah bit her lip and felt a small smile cross her features. "Still not gonna let me get away with not telling you about that, huh?" she asked, dabbing at her eyes with her sleeve and watching the man closely as he nodded. The girl sighed, shaking her head and looking back at him with an exasperated expression. "Fine, the day I first came to see you some girls had been trying to flirt with Johnny so I told them to go away… They didn't take it too well, so one punched me while the other pulled my hair and they were about to toss me off the playground when I ran into the woods," she shrugged, watching Albert's expression harden at her explanation. She laughed, touching the hand on her cheek with her free hand as the other gripped the journal tightly. "I'm fine, Albert…"
"I still wish you had told me,"
"I didn't know you… I still don't. I haven't seen… well, younger you… since that day."
"Trust me, you'll be seeing a lot of me soon," Albert smiled, leaning back against the pillows behind him and looking even more frail than when she sat down. Sarah gave his hand a squeeze as he rubbed her cheek with his thumb. "I want you to keep that, think of me when you read it. Don't worry; your dad said it won't mess things up too much if you read it."
"No! Albert you can't leave me!" she cried, holding his hand tighter as Albert smiled once again, leaning back against his pillow, his blue eyes searching her face as she shook, feeling his hand grow colder in her grasp.
"I'm glad I got to see you… Talk to you… As Albert… One last time…" he whispered, his voice becoming fainter as his breathing decreased, his chest rising and falling as he held onto his last few moments of life.
"Albert! Don't leave me! Please!" she cried, burying her face into his chest and releasing an anguished sob. Sarah felt herself cry harder as she felt him stroke her hair, just as he did when she first met him, and his body started to get colder. The warmth he once gave off was leaving him so easily as his life slipped away.
"You… Have always been… My best friend… Love… You… Always…"
His hand stopped its comforting motions in her hair, his body fell limp, and Albert closed his eyes for one last time. Sarah screeched in agony, clinging to Albert as she cried, that all too familiar feeling of slipping away overcoming her as her heart broke all over again, and she was gone.
Albert is twelve, Sarah is thirteen
Sarah reappeared in the field, hunched over and sobbing as she reached out for Albert, who was no longer there. She let out a cry of despair, curling up as much as she could to try and make the pain go away. It hurt too much to be here, why was she here anyway? All she wanted was to be allowed to cry with her now dead friend, was that really so much to ask?
"Sarah!"
The girl's head shot up, staring in the distance as a boy who looked to be her age, if not a year younger, ran to her side. The boy stared down at her, not too sure what to do with the crying girl before him, and shifted uncomfortably as Sarah stood up and stared at him. Those eyes, those blue eyes… They were back.
"Sarah, I don't know what's wrong… But please don't cr-"
Albert was cut off, feeling Sarah launch herself into his arms and hold him close as she sobbed, squeezing him tight in her arms as she held on for dear life. Albert was here, he was alive… Unfortunately he was about a hundred years before she was even born. Regardless, Sarah clung to her long lost friend, her fingers tangled in his hair as she held him and sobbed, the hole in her heart aching but refilling for the first time in two years. After seeing the boy you had grown to love die as an old man in front of you, only to be sent back to him when he was younger right after took a toll on her emotions and all poor Albert could do was hold her, which was probably the only thing she wanted at the moment.
After a long hour of trying to get ahold of herself, Sarah sighed as Albert continued to stare at her; hovering. Giving the younger boy an exasperated look, the girl gave his knees a hard shove, which caused Albert to topple over beside her. "OW!"
"Stop hovering!"
"But I don't know what's wrong!"
"I don't want you to know!"
"And why not?"
"Because if I tell you then something could happen to the time stream!"
"I don't care! You're upset! You never tell me anything and I don't want to just sit here and watch you fall apart!" he demanded, crossing his arms over his chest with a defiant glare. Sarah was taken aback; this younger Albert was a lot more… loud than the other two she had encountered. Weird. Maybe it was just something he learned to get over as he got older.
"You know, you were a lot quieter the last couple times I saw you," she muttered, glaring back at the pubescent boy before her as Albert blinked in shock.
"What the bloody hell does that mean?"
"LANGUAGE!"
"Whatever!"
"Oh lord I've rubbed off on you already," she sighed, rubbing her forehead as Albert grinned, flopping down onto his back and placing his head on her lap. Sarah chuckled, running her fingers through his hair as she looked out at the horizon nearby. A little part of her wished that she would see the older versions of her friend appear; to let her know everything was going to be alright, but unfortunately it wasn't going to happen. Albert was gone. At least, the older one was. Albert watched her closely; his eyebrows furrowed together in concern as he sat up and looked her in the eye.
"Sarah, please talk to me… What's going on?"
The girl in question shook her head, shifting uncomfortably in her place as she turned to face the boy. "I have a better idea, why don't you tell me about your life for once? I have a feeling that every time I meet with you, you ask me a billion questions about me. Tell me about you."
Albert was taken aback. He always had questions for her, but this time she wanted to know about him? Really? Maybe this was why she never really asked him much about himself when she first met him. She already knew. Sputtering out a few incoherent words, the boy soon cleared his throat and went on to tell his friend all about himself. His parents were farmers, and his father was constantly in need of money to pay the rent because they did not have any animals to plot the field with. Things were not that bad, but it could definitely be worse. After that, he went on to tell her about his best mate, Andrew Easton, and how he wished he had a horse. Things like that.
Sarah smiled, listening to everything Albert had to say and enjoying the fact that she was learning everything directly from the source. This was the story of the man she had grown to care for, but never really knew. Sure, Albert had told her stories of when he was younger, but they all revolved around the war and he usually switched the names around to keep her from knowing the truth. Now, hearing it from Albert himself, she understood why Uncle Al would not tell her about his life. She was a big part of it, and if she knew about it beforehand, where was the fun in that?
"…And now there is this girl from down the road who tried to kiss me today…"
Sarah jolted out of her thoughts at Albert's words and she stared at the boy. "She what?" she blinked, her jaw dropping at Albert as the boy blushed and nodded.
"She tried to kiss me, but I ended up running away. I don't like her like that…" he answered quietly, turning a deeper red as he turned away from her and Sarah raised an eyebrow at him.
"Why don't you like her like that?"
"I don't wanna tell you!"
"Why not?"
"Because I just don't!"
"Oh my god Albert just tell me!"
"I LIKE SOMEONE ELSE, ALRIGHT?"
Sarah blinked in surprise at Albert's outburst, the boy looking equally shocked as he covered his face with his hands and groaned, turning away from her. Smirking lightly, Sarah felt a grin form on her features as she tackled Albert from behind, causing the boy to yelp in surprise and turn over only to have Sarah sit on his stomach. "Who is she? Tell me about her! What is she like? Aww, Albert's in love!" she teased, quirking an eyebrow in a mischievous manner as Albert turned a deeper shade of red.
"I don't wanna tell you! You'll make fun of me!"
"No I won't!"
"Oh yes you will!"
"Would you rather I tickle you until you tell me?"
"NO!"
"Then tell me!"
"No!"
"What if I promise not to make fun of you?"
"…Can you get off me first?"
"…No."
"Well then how will I know if you won't make fun of me?"
"How will I know if you'll tell me?"
"Alright, alright," Albert sighed, sitting up-which was hard to do with her on his stomach-and glaring at her. "I'll tell you, but you have to get off me. It's getting hard to breathe."
"Are you calling me fat?"
"Do you want me to tell you or not?"
"…maybe…"
Giving his friend another hard glare, Albert sat up a little more, causing Sarah to slide onto his lap and he sighed, shaking his head at her. "What am I to do with you?" he asked, chuckling lightly.
"I'll leave that as a rhetorical question. Tell me!" Sarah insisted, grinning down at her friend as he sighed once again and looked at her.
"You promise not to tease me?"
"I promise."
"Alright, fine," Albert answered, blowing his bangs out of his face as he watched her and he looked across the field at nothing in particular. "Like I said, I already like someone else. Someone I've known since I was little. She's my best friend…" he murmured, glancing at Sarah as he turned pink once again and attempted to keep himself calm. This was a lot harder than he thought it would be. Turning to Sarah and finally gathering enough courage, Albert looked her in the eyes and finished his sentence. "I didn't kiss her because she wasn't you."
Mind reeling, Sarah stared at Albert for a good, long minute as she attempted to get her bearings. Albert liked her? Like that? Now everything was starting to make sense… The way he looked when she first met him, the fact that he kept a book of how many times she came to visit him and when she did so, the pain in his eyes before she left… Everything made sense now. What her father said was right.
Time travelers can only truly love someone once, and once only. Why? Well that's because time travelers know exactly what it means to cross time and space for someone they love, and that bond is the most powerful bond in the world. The love between a time traveler and the person they care for is unbreakable; not even time can make them drift apart. If anything, it brought them closer. Now, for the first time in two years, Sarah understood exactly what her father meant. Albert had always been there for her, always. Even before his death in her present day, he was there. She met him the day after her first travel to this very field and that old man had been with her every day since then. Albert was her confidant, her best friend, and-eventually-the man she loved. She could sense it in his dying moments. Whether she stayed with him in the past or brought him with her was something she would probably never know, but if Albert was true to his word and wrote everything down, she would figure it out eventually.
"Sarah, say something. You're making me nervous…"
Jolting out of her thoughts once again at the sound of his voice, Sarah smiled and shook her head. "No reason to be nervous. I'm just processing."
"Well you're taking a rather long time to do so,"
"I do what I want!" she declared, getting up off of him and proceeding to run off into the field. The boy stared for a moment, wondering what the bloody hell she was doing, but then he realized she did not react to his statement. Scrambling to his feet, Albert followed after her as quickly as he could, soon catching up and tackling her to the ground. The two of them rolled around, laughing like hyenas as they went, ending up at the bottom of the hill with Sarah staring down at him once again. "Pinned ya!" she teased, sticking her tongue out at him.
"Geroff me!" Albert whined, causing Sarah to laugh and get off, sitting beside him as they caught their breath. Looking back at her, Albert frowned and sighed. "I guess this means you don't like me, do you?"
"I never said that…"
Blinking in surprise, Albert looked up to see Sarah inches away from him, looking down at the ground as she spoke. What was she doing now? It was only a matter of time before Sarah smiled back up at him and sighed. Reaching out and placing a hand on his cheek, the girl leaned her forehead against Albert's and kept him close, enjoying the warmth of the sun as it started to set in the distance. There was so much she wanted to say, but she had no idea how to phrase it. She wanted things to go well, but it was all so confusing. She had no idea what to do at this point; therefore she would just wing it.
Albert watched her closely, his hand holding hers as she stroked his cheek and he waited for her to say something else. The last thing he wanted was for her to leave because she was upset with him. He only told her what she wanted him to. He did love her, but the last thing he wanted was to lose her because of what he said. As his mind was reeling with questions, and what seemed like an eternity later, Albert was surprised when he felt her lips on his own in a tender kiss. The boy smiled, closing his eyes as he returned it, feeling Sarah pull him closer as a result. After a few moments Sarah pulled away, smiling lightly at him as he sputtered in an attempt to say something coherent. She shushed him, leaning her head on his shoulder as she watched the sun go down in the distance.
They spent the next few hours like that, just sitting together without a word. There was nothing more to be said, nothing more to be heard.