I have decided to start writing longer chapters and updates will now be every Friday-ish, probably (6/17/16). I drew something for the cover. I think I'll put it up soon (if I haven't already). It's hand drawn in colored pencil, not online or anything. I have to take a physical picture, upload it, edit it if necessary, and then make it the cover. Also, I'm not the best artist, so don't expect anything that's truly amazing. I tried, okay? Finally, I fixed a few things in the last chapter, so check it out if you want (6/29/16). Sorry about the late update. I wanted to write more of the next chapter before I got this one up (7/11/16).

Sky's POV

We sat in silence in the conference room. Each enveloped in his own thoughts. Occasionally, we would glance at each other, but other than that we were still and silent. I decided to break that silence.

"Okay, who is she."

And yet I was met with more silence.

"Nothing? Really? A kid appears out of this weird energy ball and then a woman in Seto's clothes walks out of his basement, but the kid is gone. There has to be a connection."

"Well…"

"Come on, Ian, anything will do."

"Wasn't the kid wearing glasses?"

"Yeah."

"And the woman was squinting?"

"I think she was about our age, but yeah."

"Okay, call me Derp Ssundee, but could they be the same person?"

I let out a small chuckle. "Whatever you say, Derp SSundee."

"No, no, no, hear me out. They looked the same, right? Same hair color, eye color, general facial structure, and they both needed glasses."

All eyes were on Ian now.

"I think they were the same person."

I was still skeptical, and by the look of it so was everyone else. So I asked a well formed and logical question. "How?"

Jason spoke. "Temporal displacement…"

I know I wasn't the only one completely lost, so I thought up another brilliant question. "What?"

"I've been studying with Seto sometimes so I can improve my jetpack on my own. We were just casually talking and he mentioned that if a living being is unable to age normally then it will rapidly age to it's proper age when it's free from the time lock. It creates a temporal anomaly, the person being the anomaly. So, it fixes itself."

"Not sure how that qualifies as 'casual.' Well, anyway, I guess she was an old friend," I said with a laugh.

Jason looked up. "The time lock explains her previous age."

"And current age," Ian added.

"Also, they must have met and created the time lock before TC formed, or at least before all of us became friends. That would be over twenty years ago."

"Okay, so she must have stopped aging around twenty, like us, which explains her current form."

Then it all clicked. "I think you're right Ian. Okay, to recap, the kid from earlier was stuck in a time lock. She came out but had to catch up with time, so she stopped aging with us around twenty. Therefore, the kid and the woman are the same person!"

By this point I was on my feet with both hands raised. Everyone seemed just about excited as I was. Well, everyone but Quentin.

"You're right, but Seto would've told us about her, right? I mean, it probably would've slipped out at some point."

I had sunk back into my chair. "Yeah, well, Seto's good with secrets."

"But he tells us everything."

"You're right." I rested my chin on my hands.

"Besides, there's something...off about her."

This peaked my interest. "Off how?"

"I don't know, but I feel like I should. Like this weird deja vu or something. I've seen her before, but I don't know where."

A sudden thought occurred to me. "Do we even know her name?"

Jerome spoke up. "No, but I swear it's on the tip of my tongue. Oh, and I've been getting this weird feeling about her too."

Chimes of 'same here' or 'me too' echoed around the room.

"I see…" And with that we were silently thinking once more.

Seto's POV

We walked out of the optometrist's office, just casually talking. Katie had her new glasses, which were practically identical to her old ones. They were the same color and the same basic shape.

"So, I take it the guys haven't changed much?"

"Not really. Sky still calls gold butter, Ty adores his headphones, Jason practically never takes off his suit, Quentin hates being called a fish, Ian becomes Derp Ssundee without his glasses, and Mitch and Jerome are obsessed with Hunger Games. We're all like one big, crazy, happy family."

I got a small laugh out of her with that last remark, and I smiled at it too.

"Where to now?"

"Oh, um, I was thinking a clothing store next, now that I can see."

"That seems good."

And with that, we walked on to the mall.

"This city has really grown up since you left."

"Yeah, last thing I remember about it is construction on the TC base, not many stores, and a few houses."

"Well, the construction's done, there are tons more stores, and the population has increased as well. Sky founded this city and basically rules this place, hence the name of Buddertopia, but most of the decisions are made through the council. However, Sky has it set up so that he can still overrule them. He has also set us specific tasks. Aside from being Sky's go to guys, Ty is head of communications between other cities and ours while Jason watches over the power plants and power usage as well as looking for any unidentified aircrafts. Ian looks over how much supplies we need and have used. Quentin watches the water supply as well as sees what needs to be built or demolished where and when before sending the information to Sky. Mitch and Jerome head the major armories when the others are busy as well as keep the weapons' vaults stocked and secured. Finally, I aid in the people's general health if the doctors can't figure it out and address any magical disturbances."

"That's actually really well set up."

"Yeah, Sky can be serious when he needs to. He's not the immature goofball you left behind. Well, not as immature."

"I see…" Her voice dipped down in pitch.

Oh no, I think I just upset her. She must miss the old us, how it used to be. No secrets or deception, just a bunch of honest kids.

"Uh... Oh! Well would you look at that. We're here."

We stood outside of the mall.

"Now, considering you don't have any money, I'll gladly pay for everything."

"Thanks, Seto. I hadn't really considered payment yet."

"It's no problem."

Really, it wasn't. I just got my friend back and I'm going to do everything in my (practically endless) power to make sure she's okay. We walked into the mall and entered various stores. Katie only picked out a few things, enough clothes for about two weeks then she has to wash them. She found a few jeans, some shorts, solid color t-shirts, sneakers, and so on. Most of what she picked were in varying shades of blue. I paid at the shops and then we left the mall with bags in our hands.

"So, you still like the color blue?"

"It's still my favorite color. Always has been, always will be."

She was still wearing my robes.

"Hey, those robes seem a little big on you."

"They are, just a bit."

"So, do you want to change?"

"That would be great, but where would I go."

"We could step down an ally and I could cast a quick invisibility spell."

"Sometimes I really do forget what you can do."

I let out a quick laugh at her embarrassed face.

"Hey, don't worry. Sometimes, everyone else does too. I even forget on occasion."

We pulled off of the main sidewalk and into a damp ally. With a wave of my hand and the whispered spell 'invisibilia,' I could no longer see her.

"Okay, I can't see you at all now. Anything that you put on will become invisible and vice versa. So grab what you want so I can teleport everything else to my house."

A faceless voice called back. "Okay."

Even though I couldn't see her, I still looked away once I began to see clothes drop to the floor. Partially because of respect, and partially because it would make both of us uncomfortable. A few minutes had passed and then she spoke.

"Okay, I'm done."

I turned back around and waved my hand.

"Visibilia!"

She stood there holding my robes. She wore an ice blue t-shirt, a pair of jeans, and light gray and dark blue sneakers.

"So, what do you think?"

"It suits you. The colors, I mean."

"Thanks."

With a smile she grabbed the bags and walked over.

"Oh, don't bother with those."

She stopped, confused, but set them down.

"Why not?"

With a small smile I dramatically raised my right hand and snapped my fingers, sending the bags to my house and my robes to the laundry room, also in my house. I then wiggled my fingers. "Maaagiiic…" She laughed and mirrored my movements while copying my voice.

"Over dramaaatiiic..." I laughed too. We walked out of the alley and back onto the sidewalk.

"So, where to now?"

"I need a watch, and a haircut." She blew a stray strand of hair out of her face.

"Lucky for you we are literally standing in front of the jewelry store, which just so happens to be adjacent to the hair salon."

"Talk about timing."

We went into the jewelry store. She picked out a waterproof digital watch with the strap matching her glasses color, a deep blue. While in there she found something else.

"You don't mind, do you?"

She held out a sailor knot bracelet. Two of the strings were tan while the middle one was a very light pink.

"Don't even ask that question. I am happy to pay for anything you need until you have money. And don't even think about paying me back." My voice was stern.

"Okay then. Thanks, by the way, for everything."

"It's no problem."

I paid once again and we left. Just then, something occurred to me.

"You need a cell phone."

"Why?"

"Do you have anyway to contact any of us?"

"Good point."

And with that, we walked on to our next stop, the hair salon. She got her hair cut to shoulder length and her bangs just above her eyebrows. We exited the building and I became a tour guide, pointing out all of the major buildings as we went to go get a phone.

All criticisms are welcome.