Meetings and Greetings

"So you're really back for good? No more Draylon? You're officially a New York resident?"

"For the hundredth time, yes. We have officially moved into New York and we are not planning on returning to Draylon." Sydney rolled her eyes and smiled up at Joe. "I promise."

"Sorry. I wasn't sure when you were coming and now that you're finally here, I just can't believe it. I missed you." Joe leaned his forehead against Sydney's.

"I missed you too." She gave him a quick peck on the lips. "It's nice to finally get away."

"I believe we were promised pizza?" Skyler awkwardly stood next to them.

"Oh, yeah. Pizza!" Sydney stepped away from Joe. "Please, tell me Ray's is still in business?" When Joe nodded, Sydney practically melted with joy.

Joe chuckled. "Pizza fan?"

"She hasn't had greasy foods in years." Skyler teased her.

Sydney nodded. "Strict training diet. Not exactly my choice. But now I don't have to worry about that anymore." Sydney clasped her hands with excitement. "I am going to drown myself in grease." She licked her lips in anticipation. "Let's go." She grabbed Joe and tried pulling him away.

Joe smiled and followed her.

"What about Anna?"

Joe stopped. Right, Skyler. Joe turned to face Sky and crossed his arms. "She's not even home right now. She's staying with a friend."

"Oh." Skyler looked crestfallen.

"I'm sure we can stop and see her after we get pizza." Sydney nudged Joe's side. "Right?"

"What?"

Sydney crossed her arms and whispered to Joe. "Skyler moved here for her. I understand you're just being a big brother, but take it down a notch. I promise I will keep an eye on him for you."

Joe sighed. "Fine. Yes, we will go see Anna after we get pizza."

Skyler perked up. "If we got her before, she could come with us."

"Don't push it."

Sydney tightly wrapped her arms around Joe's waist, a form of affection and a warning to be nice to Skyler. Joe put his arm around her shoulder in return.

"We need to hurry. My friends will be waiting." The three of them began to walk.

"Your friends?"

"Yeah, Fred and Sam. You kind of kidnapped them, remember?"

"Oh, right." Sydney blushed and looked down. "Forgot about all that."

"And Kairi lives here now too. She's actually dating Fred, which is still weird to think about."

"Kairi's here? I haven't seen her since we found out we were cousins. She said she was going off and that she would be fine. My life got so busy after that, I kind of forgot to check up with her." Sydney rubbed the back of her head guiltily.

"I'm sure she'll be gladder to see you again. Ever since I mentioned to her last year that you were coming back to New York, she's been so excited."

They all rounded a corner. "So where is your place located? I can't wait to see it."

"Syd got us a penthouse near Broadway." Skyler smirked and proudly walked next to them. "It is amazing. I can't wait for us to customize it and fill it with tons of cool stuff."

"A penthouse? In Manhattan? Isn't that expensive? And far from Brooklyn."

"Oh, it's very expensive." Sydney gave Joe a sympathetic smile. "And don't worry about me being too far from you. I'm going car shopping soon. I'll be able to come see you anytime I want."

"And I'll be able to come see Anna."

Joe decided to ignore Skyler. "How can afford that?"

Sydney smugly grinned. "Draylon gave me a fancy credit card to cover all my expenses until I finish college. I plan to milk them for all their worth."

"You're going to college? Where?" Joe asked, wondering if they could possibly go to the same university once he graduated. He reminded himself that he needed to start applying to colleges in a few months.

"I'm not actually, but Draylon doesn't need to know that."

"But I still have to go school?" Skyler raised an eyebrow. "Not fair."

"At least I have a high school diploma. I'm not going to make you go to college, but you will at least finish high school."

"But Earth schools are so far behind Draylon. It'd be pointless for me to go."

"Then it should be easy for you. I'll be expecting straight A's."

Skyler grumbled to himself and crossed his arms.

"So, if you're not going to college, what do you plan to do?"

Sydney smiled and threw her arm around a still grumpy Skyler. "Skyler and I are starting our own business."

"Not if I have to go school, we're not."

Sydney punched Skyler's arm. He winced and rubbed the now sore spot.

"Yes, we are. It's too late to back out now. I pulled the only string I had to get us this first job."

Joe studied the two of them. "What kind of business?"

"Dance."

"Dance?"

"New York is definitely the place you want to be for the performing arts, right? It just made the most sense for us. We both love to dance. We're used to working together physically. I mean, we've training together for years. Fighting isn't that different from dancing. Sky's my best friend. Even if he gets grumpy when I make him go to school." Sydney teased him.

Skyler looked at her and smiled. He threw an arm around her shoulders. "I'm still excited about this though. It'll be fun to perform or choreograph for shows. Plus-"

"We'll be our own bosses." Sydney and Skyler both nodded decisively.

Joe pretended to not be bothered by the fact they could complete each other's sentences and that they still had their arms around each other. Joe grabbed Sydney's hand and pulled her back to him. "That sounds fun."

Sydney softly laughed. "Don't worry. It's just business. Like I've told you before. Sky and I are like brother and sister, nothing more."

Joe smiled, feeling silly that he was worried at all. He trusted Sydney. "Sorry." He blushed. "I believe you. I know you wouldn't ever lie or hide something from me."

Skyler shot Sydney a sidelong glance. "Well-"

Sydney quickly silenced him with a glare and an even harder punch than she had given him before. "Don't tease him. Joe has nothing to worry about."

"Yeah, sorry. I was just joking." Skyler pursed his lips and rubbed his bruised arm.

They had finally reach Ray's Pizza and walked inside. Joe spotted Fred, Sam, and Kairi and led Sydney and Skyler over to the booth where they were sitting.

"Sydney!" Kairi ran up to Sydney and gave her a tight hug.

"You obviously forgot our little talk about personal space." Sydney squirmed.

Kairi stepped back quickly. "Sorry. It's just, it's been so long!" She smiled brightly.

Sydney shook her head and smiled. "It's nice to see you again too."

Kairi blushed again and slid into the booth next to Fred. "Tell me everything that happened with you since I last saw you. Don't skip on any details." She gave Sydney a wary eye. "Nothing bad has happened, right? At least nothing that caused you to, well... you know."

Sydney shook her head. "Stuff has and will happen, but nothing like that."

"Who are you?" Fred and Sam examined Sydney and Skyler, waiting for an explanation. "And why is Kairi acting like you're her best friend?"

"Oh! That's right! You guys don't know each other! This is Sydney and Skyler!" Kairi gestured to them like it was some big reveal.

Fred and Sam responded with blank stares.

"I guess that wouldn't help you much either. Sydney's my cousin! Skyler's basically her best friend. They're time travelers from Draylon. Sydney's actually-" Kairi stopped herself from saying something she shouldn't have. "She's been gone for a long time, but now she's moved back to New York, right?" Kairi looked at her hopefully. Before Sydney could answer, Kairi saw that Sydney and Joe were holding hands. "Oh my gosh!" She looked excitedly back and forth between the two of them. "Are you two dating? Like officially together? So you are staying! I always knew you two would end up together!" Kairi giggled. "This is amazing! I am so happy for you!"

"For the record, there's actually a lot more to me than just being Joe's girlfriend and a time traveler, and Skyler's not just my best friend." Sydney awkwardly sat down next to Joe in the booth.

Before the boys could say anything, a phone rang. Sam looked down as he noticed it was his phone. He looked at the caller ID and smiled.

"Great, here we go again." Fred sighed.

Sam rolled his eyes and walked outside to answer his phone. Sydney looked to Joe for an explanation. "You'll see." He put his arm back around her shoulder.

"Maybe it'll be good to have you around, Sydney, now Joe won't be the fifth wheel anymore." Fred smirked.

Joe reached across the table to whack Fred in the head. "Would you shut up?"

"No."

The gang looked over at the door as the bell above it chimed when Sam and someone else entered. They slid back into the booth next to Fred and Kairi.

Fred smirked. "This is Sammy's little girlfriend."

Sam blushed. "She's not my girlfriend."

"Oh, sorry, I forgot. They're friends with benefits."

"Fred!" Sam blushed even more. He sighed. "This is Cade." He gestured to the curly red-head sitting next him. "And you're Sydney and Skyler, right?"

They nodded in response. "Nice to meet you."

"You too." Cade shyly looked down at the menu.

"Don't worry about her. She likes to pretend to be shy, but once you actually get to know her, she won't leave you alone or stop spazzing about whatever latest science discovery she's made."

Cade glared at Fred. "Just because I like learning new things, doesn't mean you have to get upset when you can't understand them."

Fred frowned. "Whatever, nerd."

Cade rolled her eyes and looked back at Sydney and Skyler. "I promise I'm not that much of a nerd."

"You're the definition of a nerd."

Cade's eyebrows pinched together. Sam sympathetically patted her arm and shook his head, reminding her that Fred wouldn't back down and it wasn't worth the argument. He knew Cade and Fred didn't hate each other, they just liked to make fun of each other a lot.

"So, Kairi said you guys are time travelers from Draylon? Where's that? I've never heard of it before." Sam leaned forward with interest.

"Uh…" Sydney and Skyler exchanged glances, deciding how much to share. "It's not that special. Just a small place for time travelers to go to. The Warper Academy I there, and that's where we went to school."

"There's a Warper Academy?" Sam looked to Joe. "Have you heard of that? Maybe you should go there, maybe actually learn how to use The Book."

"Hey, I've gotten a lot better with The Book." Joe pouted and slouched down.

Sydney kissed him on the cheek and whispered something into his ear. Joe smiled and sat back up.

"You're that special girl Joe's been waiting for, aren't you? Man, it will be nice to have you around. Joe's been acting so weird for the past year. Do you know how many cute girls he's turned down? He went to prom alone this year."

Sydney stared at Joe. "You went to prom alone?"

Joe shrugged. "We've technically been dating for over a year now. I would've felt like I was cheating on you or something."

Sydney blushed. "That's sweet." She gave him another peck on the cheek.

Their food arrived at the table. Three large pizzas with various toppings. Sydney immediately dove for a slice and ate half in one bite.

She moaned. "Thank you, sweet gods of greasy foods. I needed this."

Fred laughed. "I like her, Joe. She's got my approval. Where have you been hiding her?"

Joe put on a flirty grin. "Sorry, I'll be sure to show her off more often."

Sydney's blush deepened, but she managed to return the flirty grin. "Only if I decide you let out."

"And thanks for making it awkward again." Skyler spoke as he reached for a pizza slice.

Sydney teased back, "As your legal guardian, I can keep you inside too if you'd like."

"No thanks."

"Let them flirt. It's cute." Kairi was sitting across from them eagerly watching Joe and Sydney's exchange.

"Not so cute when you've been around it all day."

"Well, welcome to our little group guys. Anybody who likes pizza is a friend of mine." Fred happily munched on a slice.

Joe rolled his eyes and looked back at Sydney. He leaned into her and kissed her. His forehead and nose lingered on hers. "I'm so glad you're finally back."

Sydney leaned into him. "It'll be nice not to worry about any crazy happenings anymore. I don't even remember what it's like to be a mortal. It's good to be back."

A/N - Sorry the chapters in this story aren't that interesting. This one obviously takes place after the end of The War of Time and most of it was just explaining what Sydney and Skyler are going to do in New York and how they met the rest of the gang. I definitely changed some stuff around. In case you didn't notice, I discontinued The Here and Now and it's not really related to my series anymore.

If you enjoyed, a favourite and a review would be very much appreciated! Thanks for reading!