A really long chapter this time, with a lot happening. Like, I could have easily split this in two, both in length and content. But you guys have waited far too long for an update, and once I finally started writing I got on a roll and knocked this entire thing out in a day.

Some other news, I do have a new job. I don't know yet how this will affect my writing going forward, it may lead to even more sporadic updates, or the upgrade to my life might just increase my happiness and by extension my motivation! I really could go either way. Just thought I would let you all know.

Anyways, favorite, follow, review, and as always, enjoy!

- Vengfulfate

Maxine was the first to wake up the following morning. Her eyes panned around Chloe's room, where they had escaped to after the previous night's adventures. She spotted Ruby, who had fallen asleep in the far corner of the room. Seeing the strange girl brought to mind what Maxine had been told on the ride back here. Ruby believed those monsters, the Heartless as Chloe had told her, were attracted to her power. That using her rewind was somehow summoning them. It wasn't a happy thought.

Hoping to distract herself, she continued visually panning the room, until her eyes eventually met the figure next to her on the bed. While Ruby slept on the floor, Chloe had insisted Max take her bed. Chloe then casually plopped down next to her, meeting the others' curious glances with a shrug and a "what? It's my bed." Being next to Chloe in bed, both last night and this morning, gave Maxine those same feeling in her chest she had been trying to keep pushed down ever since the two linked back up.

If only we weren't fighting so much…

Maxine forced herself to stop that line of thought, though she did at least allow herself to commemorate the moment. She picked up her new camera, intent on snapping a picture of herself and Chloe before the punk wielder awoke.

"Photobomb!" Chloe cried, suddenly appearing right at Maxine's shoulder.

Maxine nearly jumped, and kept her shock and her heartbeat down with a playful scolding. "Photo-hog." Regardless, she takes the opportunity to snap the selfie with them both awake and smiling.

The pair shared an idle chatter until Maxine decided to get up and rummage Chloe's dresser. Even with Ruby drying them off after the dip in Blackwell's pool, after spending a day running around, saving Kate, nearly getting expelled, breaking and entering, and sleeping in her day clothes, said clothes weren't exactly wearable right now.

"Sleeping at my place, stealing my clothes? You trying to make Blackwell think we slept together?" Chloe teased.

"Better than showing up to class reeking. Besides, it's your fault I'm a thief now," Max added with a smirk.

"I'm such a good bad influence," Chloe joked. "Hey, I think Rachel left some of her clothes here. She was… is… about your size."

Max found a torn flannel shirt and jeans that looked like something she had seen Rachel wearing in Chloe's photos of her.

"They're not quite my style…" Maxine noted.

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Max, you don't have a style yet. At least give it a try? You can always rewind back to your stinky T-shirt and generic jeans."

"Hey, I like my shirt and jeans," Maxine defended. "But it would be cool to try on Rachel's clothes, just to see if they fit."

"Stop second-guessing yourself, Max!" Chloe groaned, finally leaving the bed herself and approaching her old friend. "Put this on and let your inner punk-rock girl come out! You can afford to take chances! Whenever and whatever you want to try. For example… I dare you to kiss me!"

"What?"

"I double dare you. Kiss me now."

The strange feelings Maxine had been struggling to push down rushed back to the surface. Chloe's encouragements to let loose helped suppress her hesitations, and she couldn't stop herself from reaching up and standing on her toes to plant her lips on Chloe's. Even after all was said and done, Maxine would still find that she didn't regret it.

Chloe was stunned. She hadn't expected Maxine would actually kiss her. "You know you can't take that back, right? Even if you tried, I'd still know!"

Maxine only smiled, not trusting herself to speak without shaking, before turning around to dress out in Rachel's clothes.

Chloe chuckled at her friend's reaction. "Damn, you're hardcore after all!"

"As long as I'm being a bad good influence," Maxine joked. She was finally dressed, and just in time for her stomach to growl. "I feel like I haven't eaten in days…"

"Head on downstairs, I'm sure mom is already cooking by now. I'll join you in a bit." Chloe waved Maxine off.

Once Maxine left, Chloe's confident facade fell. She was still processing Maxine's kiss. It brought on… confusing revelations. Feelings that Chloe wasn't sure she even wanted. She almost felt like she had betrayed Rachel… what was she going to do when they finally found her?

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

Chloe was startled by the sudden sound of Ruby's voice. She turned to where the young wielder had been sleeping and saw Ruby staring at her with concerned and thoughtful eyes. "What do you mean?" Chloe tried to play off.

"Chloe, I've been awake for a while now," Ruby informed her simply.

Chloe stuttered. "I mean, it's no big deal, right? It was just a kiss! I doubt it even meant anything to Max…"

Ruby decided not to comment on Maxine's tendencies to support Chloe's questionable decisions and ignore the punk girl's flaws as much as possible. Those things Chloe could still deny. Instead, she honed in on Chloe's undeniable unease. "Did it mean anything to you?" Chloe was silent. "The way you talk about Rachel-" she continued, only to be interrupted by Chloe.

"Look, Rubes, I get that you're trying to help, but I need to… uh… introspect on this. I don't think I'm ready to voice the mess in my head…" the punk wielder insisted.

Ruby frowned, but nodded. "Okay. Just don't let it fester forever."

Chloe remained quiet.

"In that case, any ideas on how to move forward today?" Ruby asked.

"Actually…" Chloe looked out her window, noticed a lack of a specific vehicle. "This might be our perfect opportunity to search David's so-called 'office'."

"Sounds simple enough," Ruby nodded.

"Yeah... I could keep my mom distracted with a little fight while Max snoops around. She's getting pretty good at that."

"Or… you can keep your mom occupied by having a nice breakfast with her and Max without starting a fight, while the person that nobody else in this town knows even exists, and who can easily break in from the outside, searches the garage?"

"But where's the fun in that?"

"I'm concerned that you find starting fights with your mom 'fun'."

Chloe groaned. "It's not that it's actually 'fun', but… I mean, how else am I supposed to act? All I want is for things to go back to normal, but she just wants to forget and pretend everything is all right now."

Having not met Joyce herself yet, Ruby couldn't confidently comment on her motives and actions. But she could continue to comment on Chloe. "Do you?"

"What?"

"Do you want things to go back to normal? Or do you want them to go back to the way they used to be? Because only one of those is possible." Ruby pointed out.

Chloe's fists clenched. "I know my dad isn't going to magically come back, but that doesn't mean mom had to invite that pseudo-military jerk into his place on their bed!"

"That doesn't mean she's forgetting your dad! She's just trying to move on, to live her life. She lost a husband just like you lost a father, you're not the only one grieving!"

"The world doesn't revolve around me, right…? Do you really think I don't know that?"

"That's exactly what I'm starting to think."

The silence that hung between them after that last comment was thick enough to cut with a knife. Chloe continued to stare down Ruby, and Ruby stared right back. She wasn't Maxine, and she wasn't going to relent.

"Fine, you win," Chloe finally broke eye contact with a huff and marched toward her door. "There's a door that connects the backyard and the garage directly. That's the one you should probably use."

"Thanks," Ruby nodded. "I'll sneak back out and knock on the front door when I'm done. You can introduce me as a new friend."

"Sure," Chloe shrugged off and slammed her bedroom door behind her.

Ruby flinched. She wasn't exactly happy with the way that turned out, but she didn't see any alternatives either, even in hindsight. She wanted to help her friend, but sometimes the only way to help someone was to call them out on how stupid they were being without holding back. She knew this wasn't over yet, but there was nothing more to do now. Instead, she focused on her next task of investigating David Madsen.

It was easy to sneak into the garage, not that Ruby imagined anything to the contrary. Conveniently, a laptop was sitting on a nearby countertop, open and powered on. The lock screen wasn't as inviting. "Looks like I need a password… Maybe there's a clue around here? Detective Ruby, activate!"

Ruby found a number of clues while searching, and not just about possible passwords. You could learn a lot about someone's life by rifling through their drawers, and Ruby found plenty. A photograph of David in full military uniform, a fully stocked gun cabinet, and a concealed firearm permit told her he was capable of handling himself just fine. Even more assorted mementos from his military career left Ruby believing David was proud of his service.

And of course there were items that connected David to the others living in this house. A wedding photo, a receipt from Joyce's diner with an elaborate flirt written on it, and even a card seemingly meant for Chloe on her eighteenth birthday. For all his faults, assuming Chloe wasn't exaggerating them in her retellings, he did seem to truly care about Joyce and Chloe. He was just doing a very bad job at showing it, especially to the punk teenager.

And Ruby did find reason to believe Chloe wasn't exaggerating, despite the girl's behavior recently. On a shelf near the laptop she found a book about returning home after military service that was very well worn. Ruby wondered if David was having trouble re-integrating with civilian life. That would certainly explain some of his actions. Perhaps it even had something to do with how he was apparently involved in the drama Arcadia Bay seemed caught in…

In the end, it was the receipt from the day Joyce and David met that proved to hold the password. It would be a very important date in the life of a soldier struggling to be a civilian once more. And with the laptop broken into, David's secrets were laid bare.

And the first file would do little to heighten Chloe's recently soured mood. It seemed that Rachel and Frank were indeed meeting without Chloe's knowledge. Whether just to score drugs or something more, Ruby wasn't sure. But with the attached photo backing up the document, she had little reason to doubt those words. At least now she knew what the two of them actually looked like.

The next file was sure to infuriate Maxine as well. Surveillance on the girl who almost jumped, Kate Marsh. David's notes were full of unfounded accusations and no real evidence to back them up. It seemed that David's mere suspicions were all he needed to pronounce someone guilty. As a peacekeeper herself, this blatant miscarraige didn't sit too well with Ruby either.

And finally, a file on Maxine herself, with a copy of her student ID and class schedule. Ruby was aware David was the security officer for Blackwell, but should he actually have access to this information? It seemed like an overstepping of authority, and even more evidence against David. It looked more and more like anyone who was close to Chloe got targeted and unjustly accused.

Ruby covered her tracks by locking the laptop and made her way back out the backdoor, locking it on her way. She hopped the fence as was walking toward the front door when a car pulled into the driveway. She recognized David from the photograph of his and Joyce's wedding, and she noted that he immediately eyed her with suspicion. She decided against knocking on the door right away and instead waited for David to get out and approach her. She doubted she would get another opportunity to talk to David unbiased and alone again.

"And who are you?" David asked, his voice aggressive and accusatory.

I guess 'unbiased' was the wrong word.

"I'm a friend of Chloe's."

"The last thing Chloe needs is more 'friends'," David shook his head and walked past her toward the door.

"I think a good friend is just what she needs," Ruby countered. "Someone to actually understand her and try to help, not just command her to be better like some probee recruit."

David stopped with his hand on the knob to turn and shoot her a stink eye. Ruby was unfazed. He scoffed and stepped inside the house. David shut the door behind him, but Ruby didn't hear him lock it. Ruby took that for as good as an invitation as she was going to get, and followed him inside the house.

After leaving Chloe in a sour mood earlier, Ruby was surprised to see that the breakfast table was quiet, and even seemed to have a positive energy. Maybe Chloe had taken some of Ruby's words to heart after all. Or maybe Chloe just didn't want to cause a fuss with Joyce and Max while Ruby trespassed in the garage. The punk girl's stubbornness reminded Ruby not to get her hopes up.

"Nice breakfast," David commented to announce his presence.

Joyce looked up in surprise. "You're back already?"

"I had to take a nap after writing up vandalism reports last night," David explained. He turned to Maxine, looking over her clothing choices. "Figures you'd be here. Is that your Rachel Amber Halloween costume?"

"You would know," Ruby couldn't help but goad, already frustrated with the man after meeting him only seconds before.

"No, you teenagers just think you know everything!" David responded.

"Leave them alone, David," Joyce defended, "stop threatening students." The way Joyce spoke with finality made it sound as though David had gotten in trouble for this before.

"I'm not threatening anybody," David resisted.

"You so are," Chloe pounced. "Like you threaten the Blackwell students with surveillance, to spy on everybody. Like you already spy on people here!"

"We found your cameras," Maxine supported, thinking back to the 'sketch stuff' she had found previously.

"Cameras?" Joyce questioned.

"Don't start!" David warned the teenagers.

"Start what?" Chloe pressed. "You're the one that started! Started harassing students, shadowing me. Max told me all about how you accused Kate Marsh, how did that turn out, detective? It's a wonder anyone trusts you at all."

"You could have helped Kate," Maxine piled on, "but all you did was bully her. Everyone at Blackwell is a suspect to you, except Nathan Prescott for whatever reason. You even harassed me, and I bet you harassed Rachel Amber too!"

"You don't know as much about Rachel as you think, any of you!" David argued.

"Care to tell everyone why you're so sure?" Ruby interrupted with a quick look to Chloe to silently communicate that this what she learned in the garage. "Care to tell them about the files you have for Rachel? For Kate and Max too? Full of illegal photos and private information."

"What?" Joyce cried. "David, is any of this true?" The look in his eyes was all Joyce needed. "I find all of this very disturbing!"

"I do not have to take this kind of interrogation," David shouted, "not from you punks!"

"Hey!" Chloe jumped up, "call me whatever you want, but do not insult my mother!"

"Oh, now you two get along!" David flared. "I see how it is… you women always have to stick together, huh? Well, screw you!"

Joyce sighed. "David, I think you better get a hotel room while we deal with all of this…"

"You can't kick me out of my own home!" David shouted.

"It's my home, paid for in my name," Joyce reminded him.

"I won't stand for this!" David argued

"Well it's not up to you!" Chloe took another step closer to David.

"All I've tried to do is provide stability and order!"

"By breaking the law!" Chloe pointed out. "You get upset at me for a little pot I haven't even smoked, while you're literally breaking the constitution!"

"I've had enough of your backtalk!"

Three things happened in quick succession. First, David moved to backhand Chloe. Second, Chloe reacted by stepping back just in time for the strike to miss, before summoning Rebel Soul and pointing the tip directly at David. Third, Ruby intervened, jumping between the two and knocking Chloe's weapon aside with her own, guarding the former soldier with her own body.

The room froze. No one know how to react, especially the two adults who had yet to see anything like what Ruby and Chloe had just done. "Cool your head, Chloe," Ruby demanded softly. Chloe balled her fist and stormed away, stomping all the way out the front door. Thinking quickly, Ruby left before any questions could be raised, and Max followed shortly after.

Outside, Chloe had just opened to door to her truck. Ruby rushed forward and slammed the door closed. "We need to talk."

"You know what, I actually agree," Chloe spat, turning to face Ruby. "Why the hell did you defend him!? I thought you were on my side!"

"I am on your side! I'm not defending anything David has done, but you took it too far! We do not use the Keyblade to threaten civilians, Chloe!"

"I was trying to stand up for my mom! Didn't you just tell me about how I should be more considerate?"

"Well, yes, but threatening David with a magic sword we are supposed to be keeping secret isn't what I had in mind."

"Well, what was I supposed to do?"

Max stepped forward, offering her own advice. "Well, you had already dodged his attack, pretty cool move by the way. That on its own would have been enough for Joyce to see how David is willing to physically abuse his step-daughter?"

Chloe crossed her arms. "Great, even Max is ragging on me. I guess I'm completely in the wrong, again."

"Chloe…" Max reached out.

Chloe stepped back. "Whatever, let's just drop it for now. Did you actually learn anything new in David's creep-stash?"

"Well, since you're already in a bad mood… it looks like Rachel and your dealer knew each other after all. It almost looked like they were close," Ruby informed the two.

"Bull," Chloe stated plainly. "There's no way, Rachel would have told me if they hooked up."

"I hate to ask this, but are you sure? There was a picture, too… they had met up at some point without you," Ruby elaborated.

"No. It can't be… I bet she was just… posing! There has to be an explanation."

"I mean… it would also explain the bracelet?" Maxine suggested.

Chloe didn't like that thought any more than she had like any other thought she had so far this morning. "Well, I guess we know where we're going next."

"Do we?" Ruby questioned.

"Frank's RV is both his home and office. If there's anything more to learn, it's in there," Chloe rationalized.

"And we're going to, what… walk right in?" Ruby pointed out.

"Why not? Frank's usually just waking up about now, and there's only one place in town for a drug dealer to get a decent breakfast," Chloe explained. "Not only should the RV be right at Two Whales, it should also be nice and empty for us while he's in the diner."

Ruby looked to Max, who only shrugged. "It seems solid enough," Maxine supported.

"All right, it's at least worth seeing if the RV is there and empty," Ruby agreed. "And I do not want to be here when David or your mom find the courage to come out here and ask questions."

Frank's RV was indeed unoccupied. Ruby supposed she shouldn't have doubted the word of a customer with a three thousand dollar debt. As they used the Keyblade to open the door and a sleeping spell on Frank's dog, Maxine idly wondered just how much these two were saving her from using her rewind powers. If there was any truth to the Heartless targeting her for them, then she was eternally grateful for the assistance.

The three girls could already hardly fit in the RV all together. The fact that the RV was an absolute mess didn't help things at all. "Damn, I thought my room was a dump," Chloe quipped.

"You're not a creepy drug dealer," Maxine pointed out.

"Frank has issues, but he's not creepy," Chloe defended. After a moment, however, she appeared to reconsider. "At least, I didn't think so until I saw him with Rachel's bracelet."

Chloe went to work on Frank's laptop while Maxine searched the RV itself. Ruby remained by the door, making sure that the dog stayed asleep and that Frank was still in the diner. The longer they took, the tenser the air got, until Maxine finally used a kitchen knife to pry open a vent where she found what they were looking for. And what Chloe was hoping not to see.

Maxine laid out a logbook for the other girls to see. The book itself was coded, but that wasn't as important as the pictures and notes also held within. It seemed Rachel and Frank spent quite a lot of time together after all. Some of the photos even gave off the feeling of a happy couple. And the notes, talking about spending nights together and escaping Arcadia Bay, just the two of them.

Every word made Chloe's eyes turn darker. "It makes me ill that Rachel posed like this for Frank. Or wrote him love letters. I can't believe her! Rachel straight up lied to my face, why didn't she say anything!?"

"Because she knew how you would react," Maxine told her.

"Then she wasn't much of a friend, huh? Just another person who craps all over me…" Chloe fumed. "Why does everybody in my life let me down? My dad gets killed, you bail on me for years, my mother gloms onto Step-Sargant, Ruby has done nothing but argue with me since she came here... now Rachel betrays me…"

"Chloe, Rachel is missing. Nobody betrayed you," Maxine insisted.

"Yes they have, everyone has! Screw all of you!" Chloe stormed out of the RV. Maxine and Ruby could only barely keep up. Chloe jumped into her truck and reached for the ignition without bothering to wait for the other two. Maxine leapt forward, quickly jumping into the passenger seat before the truck peeled out. Ruby was left behind, coughing up the rubber smoke that crowded her face.

As they picked up speed, Maxine turned back onto Chloe. The smitten girl had finally reached her wits end, crushes be damned. "You can't keep blaming me and everybody for everything wrong in your life!"

"I gotta blame somebody, otherwise it's my fault," Chloe rationalized.

"So now it's Rachel's fault too?" Maxine honed in on Chloe's weakness, hoping it would help her make her point.

"Jesus, she was lying to my face, Max! For how long!? I can't trust anybody again! Everyone pretends to care until they don't. Even you."

"After everything I've done with you, for you, since we got back… you have no right to accuse me of not caring, Chloe."

"One person. Big fucking whoop, one person manages to care among the dozens of leeches, sucking away my happiness, especially-!" Chloe had cut herself off.

"Especially who?"

"ESPECIALLY MY DAD, OBVIOUSLY!"

"You really blame William?"

"Of course I do! He chose to walk out that door and leave me forever!"

"Your dad didn't choose to leave you, Chloe!"

"What difference does it even make!? He's gone, and ever since then my life has been hell!"

"And you've been wallowing in it! What have you actually done to make things better!? You talk crap about me running away, but what exactly do you think you're doing!?"

"Well, maybe if the world actually gave a shit, I wouldn't have to run at all!"

"The world doesn't revolve around you, Chloe!"

"And there it is! The sacred line! I keep hearing that, but you all miss the part where I'm well aware the world doesn't care!"

"You missed the part where the world doesn't hate you either!"

Maxine took advantage of a lull in the argument, taking a deep breath before lowering her voice. "You had some shitty things happen to you. No one is trying to tell you that you haven't, or that your pain isn't worth feeling. But the world isn't out to get you. And maybe, if you pulled your head out of your ass, you'd see how other people are in pain as well. You lashing out only makes the pain worse for everybody."

Chloe remained quiet. Having run all out of rage for once, she could only soak in Maxine's words. The uneasy silence lasted until Chloe reached Blackwell. After dropping Maxine off for classes, the silence somehow grew even worse. Chloe was learning that she hated being alone with her own thoughts.

She took off again, with only one destination appearing plausible to her mind. She certainly couldn't go home, the ensuing conversation with her mom was not one she was prepared for. The diner was a bust, she didn't want to be near Frank. And the lighthouse seemed a bit too calm and peaceful for how she was feeling right now. That just left…

Ruby arrived at the junkyard. Chloe's truck confirmed that her guess had been accurate. It was either here or the lighthouse, and the lighthouse seemed a bit too relaxed for how chaotic Chloe's thoughts must be right now. She walked amongst the piles of rubbish, quickly finding Chloe sitting with her knees pulled up to her face and her eyes locked on Rebel Soul stabbed in the ground a few feet away. Ruby elected to say nothing yet, and settled onto the ground next to her friend.

"I figured you'd be here at some point," Chloe broke the silence.

"I waited at the school. Max told me what happened," Ruby explained.

"Here for a good old 'I told you so'?" Chloe asked.

"No. I never wanted to hurt you and rub your face in it. I only wanted to help. You were just… too stubborn for me to do it nicely."

Chloe chuckled weakly. "You know, I kind of wish you were just here for an 'I told you so'. Reaffirm my old worldview and allow me to slip back into just being a jerk to everyone. It would make everything less complicated."

"I keep thinking about our friendship on the Land of Departure. You always bent the rules and did things your own way, but you always seemed considerate of the rest of us too. I just… I knew you could be better."

"You knew me that well, huh? From a few months at some magic school in the sky?" Chloe snarked.

"Maybe not…" Ruby conceded. "But there's this," she reached out and tapped Rebel Soul with her foot. "The Keyblade doesn't choose its wielders lightly. If The Keyblade thinks you're worthy, then I trust you too."

The words didn't seem to have any effect on Chloe. She continued to stare at her magic weapon. "And… what if the Keyblade didn't choose me?"

Ruby looked between Chloe and Rebel Soul, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Did I ever tell you about my dive? I wasn't alone in my heart when it happened…" Chloe explained. "Rachel was there. Her heart, or maybe just her spirit… She fended off the shadows, not me. She handed me her earring, and it turned into that. Even the shape? All that nature crap isn't really my style, but it would have looked totally at home in Rachel's hands…"

Ruby took in the information, thinking for a few moments. "Well… it's definitely a unique experience. But, it sounds to me like even if the Keyblade didn't necessarily think you were worthy, Rachel at least did."

"And why should Rachel even matter!?" Chloe suddenly shouted. This was clearly the crux of what she had been struggling with since dropping Maxine off. "She lied to me. She cheated on me. She had plans to get away from Arcadia Bay without me! My entire motivation for everything just went up in flames. Why should I care for one second what Rachel thinks!?"

Ruby was silent again, contemplating. "I can't tell you how or why to move forward. That's for you to figure out. What I can say is that Rachel did care about you. Her being in your dive is proof enough. Maybe she didn't care about you in the way you wanted, and maybe she wasn't the perfect angel you built up in your head. But she did care. So does Joyce. So does Max. So do I. Hell, David even cares, in his own way. He's just really bad at showing it."

That last part finally made Chloe chuckle. "No duh, huh? The weirdest part is, after actually thinking about it… I can almost see what mom saw in him. At least until the hidden cameras and whatever. That's still unforgivable."

"You're not wrong about that. But I think he never properly adjusted to being home."

"You mean, like from the army? That would actually explain a lot… but that doesn't excuse him either. He's still our prime suspect, alongside Nathan."

"So you still want to do this? Figure this whole thing out?"

"I do. When we find Rachel… if we find Rachel… I don't know what I'm going to do anymore. But we've gone too far to stop now. Not to mention Kate, and if there's any chance this is connected to Max's powers… Oh, crud, Max…"

"What's wrong?"

"Plenty. I've got to apologize to her."

"That's a good first step."

"The first of many…" Chloe added as she got to her feet.

"So you've found a reason to move forward?"

"I honestly have no idea," Chloe admitted. "But I gotta pull my head outta my ass. My life won't get better until I get my crap together." Chloe grabbed Rebel Soul, pulling it free and looking the weapon over with renewed respect. "And I've got a clear path right here. I might as well take it as far as it will take me. I've always fought for myself anyways, I just won't lie to myself about it anymore. I'm going to embrace it."

"That's a very 'Chloe' reason," Ruby smiled, "I like it."

At her dorm in Blackwell, Maxine looked over an old photo Joyce had given her that morning. A picture from the day William died. Chloe looked so different. Younger, blonde, and, most importantly, happy. That's all Maxine had wanted, all she had ever wanted, since she got back into her old friend's life. But everything had become so crazy, so quickly…

As Maxine stared, the photo itself started to shift as the world around her blurred.

"Get a close up of Max!"

"Knock it off Chloe!"

The laughter faded as the world returned. Maxine knew those voices… they were her own and Chloe's, but from five years ago. From that very day the photo was taken. Possibilities flooded her mind. Was this some new aspect of her power? Could she go back that far? Could everything that had happened be avoided?

Could the punk girl she was falling for finally be happy?

Thoughts of consequence never entered Maxine's mind as she focused on the polaroid once again, and the world faded around her.

"You think Max is out of her classes yet?" Chloe asked.

"Have we actually been here that long?" Ruby wondered.

"I don't even know if she had an actual class and not just homework, honestly," Chloe admitted. "It's also possible she just wanted to get away from me for a minute…" she added somberly. She shook the thought from her head, "I mean, it's not like when you're in high school with classes for eight hours a day, every day."

"Fair enough, we might as well go check it out." Ruby finally stood as she spoke.

And then the world changed. Chloe and Ruby both doubled over with the most intense headaches yet. Ruby looked up, and she could see the spell across the sky brighten with the enormity of this change. Her vision appeared to double, although she did notice her own hand remained as one to her eye. And then there was Chloe. She seemed to be slipping away and fading in and out of existence.

Finally Chloe vanished, the world stopped shaking, and the headache passed. Ruby collapsed. She looked around for any sign of what had changed, and saw plenty. Nothing obvious, but there were little changes. A Junker car that wasn't there anymore, a few new piles of garbage, even the air itself seemed stale and static.

Ruby could feel that something had gone very wrong. Her magic and her instincts screamed at her, a feeling in the pit of her stomach like a black hole radiating discontent. There was only one explanation. Maxine had made a change, the largest one yet. And the Heartless would be drawn to her like a beacon. Maxine is also where Ruby would get answers of what exactly happened and what Maxine could have possibly been thinking. Her course was set, and she jumped onto her glider toward Blackwell Academy.