AB: Hello again, everyone! I hope you all are well, and I hope last chapter did not disturb you too much. Not much is happening here, so I am going to ask you all a question. I know some of you want a sequel, but I have a question that might make you think about it a little more. Should I write a sequel and answer most if not all remaining questions, or should I leave this as stand alone with an open ending? I will let you think about it. Disclaimer: The Secret Saturdays belongs to Jay Stephens and, I think, Cartoon Network. Here's Chapter 19: Worth Saving
(3rd Person POV)
The woman knew she had to find Ningirama, but she had no idea how to do so. She aimlessly wandered the desert as she prayed to the gods and goddesses for help. Minutes turned to hours; hours turned to days, and days turned to weeks. The woman soon began to worry about her future. What if Ningirama did not find her pleasing? What if Nanshe was wrong about her? Maybe Nanshe had the wrong woman.
Soon the woman collapsed on the scorching sand of the desert, ready to die. She felt the strong arms of a man lift her off the ground in a dream-like motion. He carried her to an oasis where she drank gratefully. Soon the woman was resting in the shade of a palm tree.
(Iris's POV)
The hologram illuminates the entire room with its blue light. His soft blue eyes stare infinitely beyond me, never again feeling emotion and never again being hurt. He can never speak a word of love, kindness, or concern again. He can never experience the torture of this life, and he is the lucky one. He left me here with too many impossible questions and too little time to answer them. And now there is nothing left for me to do to finish his work.
I stare at his strong arms, reminding me of days past when he would scoop me up in his arms, when he would sit me on his shoulders, when his hugs were protective. But he is gone now, never to walk on this earth again, and I am left with only this hologram and fuzzy memories to remember him by. Is this what Father wanted when he sacrificed himself for Mom? I can never be sure.
Mom walks in, so I shut the hologram off. She can never know that Father is on my mind, nor can she know of my hidden memories. I want to forget everything, but that will be impossible if Mom finds out. I do not even want to see this psychiatrist, but I want to know that the damage is treatable. I just want to know if I will be okay at the end of my life.
The feeling of a hand on my shoulder makes me tense. Turning my head, I see it is only Mom, so I relax. Mom looks at me with loving eyes and silently guides me away from the projector. Resistance is not worth the energy, so I let her lead me. She walks me out to the living room and sits with me for a long time. Neither of us says a word to the other, but the silence is reassuring, in some twisted way. It lets me know that Mom is not prying into my mind and is letting me keep my thoughts all my own.
Eventually, Mom stands up and leaves the room, so I am left sitting alone. Komodo and Fisk join me in the living room some time later; the three of us stare at each other for most of the time. Fisk's ears twitch, and he hurriedly gets up and races out of the room, leaving me and Komodo alone. I look over him and try to find obvious answers to questions I have about him. However, he exits the room before I get the chance to ask any of my questions. Naturally, the one question I am dying to ask pops in my head after he leaves.
Zon and Zak zoom through the room a few minutes, but neither of them says a word to me. I wonder where they are off to at such a high speed. Then I go back to relishing the silence. The window in the living room provides a clear view of the construction outside, so I people watch. Where is everyone going?
Uncle Doyle emerges from his room after an hour or so, and he plops down in one of the living room chairs. His mohawk is flat today, and he seems oblivious to the world. He sits in total silence, and I do not bother him. I wonder how he does it. He puts on a brave face for everyone when he has to be one of the most people hurt by Father's Doyle is a much better person than I because he at least feels something about Father's death, but I, I do not. I am cold and callous; I am insensitive to death of the only family I had for the first seven years of my life. What kind of monster am I?
Uncle Doyle's phone rings, so he leaves the room to answer it. Dr. Saturday comes in a few minutes later and eases himself into the exact same spot Uncle Doyle was just in. Dr. Saturday stares at me, emotionlessly. I open my mouth to ask him a question, but I shut it quickly. Some questions are better left unasked.
Dr. Saturday soon leaves, and I realize that we were in a shared space together without fighting. Maybe things are looking up.
I go to sleep tonight with the day's events replaying in my mind. Though I do not know where everyone was off to, I am glad that Dr. Saturday and I can now coexist.
Ulraj and Wadi are over when I wake up the following morning. Fisk and Wadi are competing with one another for Zak's attention, and poor Zak looks as if he does not know what to do. I try to go and help him, but Uncle Doyle stops me. He says with a laugh that Zak needs to figure this dilemma out if he is going to have a girl in his life. I suppose Uncle Doyle is on to something, even if it does not make complete sense to me.
"Uncle Doyle, I-"
"Just call me 'Doyle,' okay, Demi-Drew."
"Okay, and I like the new nickname." There is a moment of pause between us as we watch Zak, Fisk, and Wadi sort things out. "Doyle, do you miss him?" I ask.
"Miss whom?"
"Father."
"Yeah, but I'm grateful for what his sacrifice saved me. And I'm grateful for what his sacrifice has brought this family." Silence settles between us. "You miss him, don't you?"
"Yeah. I mean he was the only family I had for the first seven years of my life, and despite being in Argost's hands for the last six years, he was still family."
"You know, Iris, I was about two years older than you were when you landed in Argost's hands, when my parents died. I don't talk much about it, not even to Drew, but if you ever want or need an ear . . ."
"Thank you, Doyle." I give him a quick hug, but he seems surprised by it. Then he puts his arms around me. The hug ends shortly after that.
Ulraj approaches me and asks if I would like to go on a walk, and I happily accept his offer. We walk around in the forest outside the airship, being mindful of the construction; I cannot wait until the house is finished. Ulraj and I talk about every subject under the sun. I do not know what possesses to ask this, but I ask him about how he came to be king at such a young age. Ulraj looks away for a moment and turns back to me.
"Argost murdered my father and took over Kumari Kandam, my kingdom. My father's dying words were to flee, so I did. The story complicates from there, but long story short I met the Saturdays, we fought Argost, and I regained my throne."
"I am sorry about your father, Ulraj."
"It is a part of life. I think I would have remembered you the first time I met the Saturdays, Iris. How did you come to find them?"
"Long story short, as you put it, my adoptive father died, my 'mentor' died, and my adoptive father's will gave the Saturdays custody of me."
Our conversation ends there, and we walk back to the airship in comfortable silence. When we enter, we find Fisk, Zak, and Wadi are still in an argument, and Zak makes a choking motion to me; I laugh. Ulraj takes one look at the mess, winks at me, and sneaks up behind Zak. I watch, stifling giggles as I do, as Ulraj jumps on top of Zak, scaring everyone around him. Komodo stands next to me and looks at Ulraj's kelp necklace. I smile and nod. Why not?
Mom invites Wadi and Ulraj to stay for lunch, but Wadi says that she has to go home. We say goodbye, and Mom offers to take Wadi home; how Mom does she so quickly, I have no idea. Ulraj, however, can stay.
Lunch passes by pretty quickly, with only a few disagreements between Fisk and Komodo; I swear the two do it just to annoy everybody. Afterwards, Zak asks Ulraj if he would like to do a few rounds of combat practice, but Ulraj says he would much rather spend time with me. I am shocked, but I try to keep my composure. Zak looks a little hurt, so I shrug my surprise to him; his expression eases. Then I hurry to catch up with Ulraj, who has since made it out the door.
"Iris, what do you think of the sea?" Ulraj asks once I finally catch up with him.
"The sea? Well, it is beautiful and majestic. It is wild and free. It-"
"Would you live in it?" Ulraj interrupts.
"Live in it? Like underwater?"
"Yes."
"Perhaps. It would depend on the place, my neighbors, and how lonely I am." I pause. "Would you live on land?"
"If I were with you, yes."
I hardly got any sleep last night, but I do not sleep late this morning. In fact, I am moving around the airship as quietly as possible at five in the morning. Though my steps are light, my thoughts are heavy. How much time is left in the truce? Will it be enough time to unravel the mysteries? What about Dr. Grey and Ms. Grey? What did Ulraj mean by his comment yesterday? What happened to the woman I grew to love? What became of her? Why does Dr. Saturday hate me? Doyle said my nickname is Demi-Drew. What is that supposed to mean?
I am so focussed on my thoughts that I do not notice Dr. Saturday in the living room. He frightens me when I do notice him, but I pull myself together quickly. Dr. Saturday, however does not seem fazed by my presence. I sit down on the couch and watch Dr. Saturday as he reads his incredibly thick book.
"What are you reading, Dr. Saturday?" I ask with a yawn.
"A book about the history of mathematics, science, and engineering."
"Is it any good?" I am trying to make conversation.
"If you're into STEM, it's excellent."
"STEM?"
"Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics."
"Thank you, Dr. Saturday. May I read a page or so?" Dr. Saturday hands the book to me, and I start reading it. Rather, attempting to read it, but hardly a word of it makes sense. When I try reading a passage out loud for Dr. Saturday to explain, I find that I struggle even more than I did while reading to myself.
"Iris, you might be behind in grade level reading. Did you ever read books at Argost's?"
"No, sir."
"How good are your math skills?"
"Lacking."
"If you want, I can tutor you until you are all caught up," Dr. Saturday offers.
"You would do that, even though you do not like me?"
"Yes. Now, you had better try to get some sleep."
I return to my bedroom and climb into bed, hoping to fall asleep instantly. That does not happen, so I stare up at the ceiling. I do not know how long it takes, but I eventually enter the dream world, and no one comes to wake me up; I guess Dr. Saturday told them I was up so early this morning. My sleep is deep but not peaceful. I have nightmares about Argost, WeirdWorld, and Father. My nightmares remind me of the psychological damage I suffer from, but they also make me realize that my paranoia is not as bad as it could be. I trust people more than some paranoia sufferers, and I do not feel like everyone is out to get me. My only symptoms are anxiety from feeling like someone is watching me, and the fear that everyone whom I do not trust is trying to do me in.
When I wake up, I want nothing more than to be assured that I am all right now. I never want to see WeirdWorld or Argost again, nor do I want to be reminded of how I ended in this situation. It is bad enough there are so many mysteries, a decreasing time limit, attackers, and tensions. Everytime I close my eyes, and even when they are open, memories of the past six years and even this summer replay vividly in my mind. It may be because of my memory powers, but I am starting to doubt that. I am starting to doubt if I actually have memory powers, to be honest.
Rolling out of bed, I step in the bathroom and get ready for the day. While I change, I notice the scabs on my legs, my stomach ties itself in a knot and pulls taut. Those will turn to scars, I know, and I regret doing it to myself. But no one will ever find out because of their location, the fact that they match my other scars, and the fact that this is a secret I will take to my grave. So long as I do not breathe a word to anyone, and as long as I do not move to my arms, then no one will learn about this; my wrists are too obvious.
I step out of my bedroom, and find the airship to be bustling with life. Mom is the first to notice me, and she calls me over. I have no idea what is going on; I do not care.
The morning after yet another sleepless night, Dr. Saturday starts to tutor me. I get so frustrated that I burst into tears; none of this makes a bit a sense to me. Dr. Saturday tries to convince me that frustration is normal, but I stop listening after a certain point. Then Zak comes in, works the problem like it is nothing, and leaves as quickly as he came. Watching Zak do it with such ease makes my frustration and lack of self-confidence far worse, and my tears pour in torrents. Now I know that I will never be as good as Zak at anything.
"Iris, don't let Zak get to you. Calm down, and we can work through this, okay?"
"I fell behind, and now I will never catch up. I am sorry, but you are wasting your time, Dr. Saturday." My voice breaks so many times during that sentence, it is a wonder Dr. Saturday can understand what I am saying.
"Yes, Iris, you did fall behind; your knowledge ends at that of a second grader, but you can and will catch up. Zak is doing precalculus because of the way Drew and I have taught him, so do not compare yourself to him. You are smart, Iris. All that needs to happen is we need to break the barrier in your mind." Dr. Saturday's pep-talk does little to help me, but I pull through and finish the lesson. Then I disappear into my room for a few hours to cry and hide my frustration. I cry for so long that fall asleep.
Mom is sitting on the edge of the bed when I wake up. She tells me that it is almost dinner time and just sits for a while. I ask her why I am such a bad learner, and she shakes her head, explaining that there are no "bad learners," only scholars who have to work harder to understand. Mom's words help me feel a tad better, but I still feel awful about myself.
Mom coaxes me out of bed, and she brushes my hair; I am too tired and upset to object. Next, she walks me out of my room and sits me down at the table. The stares of Zak, Zon, and Fisk prick at my skin like a thousand needles. I make eye contact with my plate for the entire meal. No one tries to make conversation, but I wish someone would at least try; the silence is lethal.
After dinner, I return to my room while the others have a movie night. I take a shower and start putting on my pajamas. An impulse overwhelms me when I catch a glimpse of my legs. One slice will not hurt. You will feel better. Come on, Iris, think of the art you can create with a blade as your brush, your skin as a canvas, and your blood as the paint. It will be wonderful. I reach for the razor, hands shaking, but I stop once my fingers close around the handle of the razor. No. I place the razor back in its place and finish getting ready for bed.
When I walk out of the bathroom, Mom is sitting on the bed, one leg crossed over the other. I climb on the bed and sit next to her. She rubs my back for a few moments before stopping and losing herself to her thoughts.
"You know Doc doesn't hate you, right?"
"I am starting to see that."
"He wouldn't be trying to help you if he did hate you."
"Then what does he have against me?"
"You arrived suddenly and without warning. Doc doesn't like things to happen like that."
"That is why?"
"Yes." Mom and I talk a while longer before she says goodnight and leaves. I eavesdrop on her conversation with Dr. Saturday for a while. Nothing interesting comes up for the most part, until things go quiet.
"Doc, are you sure we want to go through with this?"
"Not anymore. Are you?"
"No." There is a long silence. "Doc, I'm sorry."
"I am too."
"Our marriage is worth saving, and I think we can save it."
"Another visit with Daniel?" Dr. Saturday asks. My heart races just like my thoughts. Is this really happening? Are they really going to try and save their marriage? Zak and everyone else will be so excited! I almost leap out of bed, but I decide not to, after seeing the time.
"Who else?"
AB: (Calling to characters.) Not funny, you all! Where are you?! (Speaking to readers.) I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and the news at the end. Note that I have the story taking place in 2010 (the year the show ended), so STEAM was not around; it was still STEM. There really is not much happening here, so I will end the chapter. Don't forget to follow, review, and favorite! I want to know what you all think of how the story is playing out. Thank you so much for reading; I love you all!