ToL: Chapter 6

[Time Alone]

It was now 10:30 p.m. in the little town of Peach Creek. We zoomed in back on Eddy's house, where we could see Eddy in his bed; he had passed out from stress and exhaustion because of everything that had happened. He could feel himself starting to wake back up after taking a nap, propping himself up before looking at the time on his clock.

"Freaking great, I didn't mean to nap for that long," Eddy grumbled.

He then remembered that Katrina was probably still here; that is if his parents allowed her to stay for the night, 'I should check up on her,' he thought.

Eddy walked back to his living room, only to see a single lamp still lit next to the couch. He could see Katrina sleeping on the couch, using one of the couch pillows to rest her head on while lying underneath a blanket. He smiled at her before going into his kitchen to take a bottle of water out of the fridge.

It was as he was walking back into his living room that Eddy noticed Katrina was moving a little before sitting up; he must have woken her up, "Hey there," he greeted her.

"Hello Eddy," Katrina yawned to him.

Eddy walked over to her to sit down next to her on the couch, "I guess you and everyone else explained what's going on to my folks, huh?"

Katrina nodded her head, "Yeah, we did," she replied, "They also said I can stay here for as long as I want, but they did call the orphanage to tell them I was staying here for the night."

"Wow, isn't that nice of them," Eddy muttered in sarcasm to himself before brushing his comment aside, "So? What did you say?"

"As nice as it would be to stay here until we leave, I declined their offer," Katrina stated with a small sigh, "I feel like I would get in everyone's way… I've always felt this way."

Eddy was surprised to hear her say that, not sure how to respond to it.

"I told you this already, but I live in an orphanage. I've lived there all my life," Katrina started to say, "My parents abandoned me, leaving me on the doorstep of that orphanage along with a note that had my first name on it and why they took me there; because of my eyes. My eyesight was very bad, even back then when I was young… And now we know the reason why; it was never genetic."

Eddy narrowed his eyes, remembering the events and the information he learned about a few days ago, "Right… Belindra stole Irene's ice powers to save himself 3000 years ago, causing you to be born that way."

"Yeah," Katrina replied, "I'm still unsure why my eyes were connected to my ice powers to begin with; I guess that's something we'll never really know the answer to."

"At least that's not a problem for you anymore," Eddy stated, "You can see everything now!"

Katrina smiled at that statement, "I know."

A few seconds passed by before Katrina spoke up again, "You know, I'm jealous of all of you."

"… Huh?"

"Besides Shayla's dad, it seems like all of you have such loving families," Katrina stated, lowering her head a little, "It makes me wonder what that feels like; to be a part of a family."

Eddy was silent to Katrina before responding, "Why does any of that matter anyway?" he asked before taking her left hand with his right, blushing a little, "If it makes you feel any better, just imagine all of us as your new family… or something cheesy like that."

Katrina widened her eyes at what he said, turning to Eddy in surprise before being caught off guard by a kiss from him. They stayed like this for a few seconds before separating to hug each other.

"Katrina, I'm not going anywhere without you and everyone else; you're all stuck with me," Eddy stated to her, "I just want you to know that."

"… I know," Katrina replied to him, hugging him tighter.

They stayed like this for a few minutes before letting each other go.

"Umm, I guess I should go back to my room," Eddy stated, remembering what time it was. He got up from the couch and grabbed the bottle of water from before, "Sorry that I woke you up."

"It's alright," Katrina stated with a smile, "I wasn't asleep for that long, so it's no big deal."

Eddy turned back to her for a second, "Night Katrina."

"Goodnight."


A few hours later, around 1 a.m., we zoomed in on Double D's house, where we could see him asleep in his bed. Eventually, we see him starting to wake up, getting out of his bed as he does. He walked to his bathroom to quickly use it. It was after he was done and finished washing his hands that he heard a weird thump noise coming from downstairs.

'Is Shayla awake?' Double D thought to himself as he started walking towards the stairs, going down them to his living room.

When Double D got to his living room, he saw Shayla getting up off the floor. She had fallen off the couch in her sleep, "Ouch…" she muttered, rubbing the side of her head a little.

"Are you alright?" Double D asked her as he walked over to her.

Shayla looked at him with a bit of surprise, "Oh, hey there…" she replied, sitting back on the couch as she did, "Did I wake you up?"

"Not at all, I got up a moment ago to go to the bathroom," Double D stated before turning back to the stairs for a second, "If everything's okay, I guess I'll—"

"W-Wait!" Shayla suddenly yelped, latching onto his right hand to prevent him from leaving.

"Shayla…?"

"Can you stay here for a moment?" she started to ask, "I… I had a bad dream just now."

Double D blinked at Shayla before replying to her with a small smile, "Of course."

He sat down next to her on the couch, "If it will make you feel any better, maybe you can tell me what it was about?"

Shayla stayed quiet for a few seconds before nodding her head, "A-Alright," she stated, letting go of his hand.

She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself, "I was standing back in Atlantis; everything was still in ruins inside the castle throne room. I looked towards the throne to see if Belindra was there, and I… I saw you standing there in front of Belindra. I could also see someone else was with me; a girl with blue hair. We both tried to shout at you to get your attention, but when you turned around, you… Y-You attacked us with your Keyblade."

Double D widened his eyes in shock at what she said.

"I kept dodging most of your attacks before I was hit by a spell that made me fall to the floor. I was in so much pain, but then you came up to me and…" She stopped for a moment to clutch her chest before saying, "Y-You held your Keyblade to my chest before stabbing me; the girl that was with me screamed at you to stop. I saw something float out of me after you did that, and… And then I woke up when I hit the floor."

She could feel herself starting to tremble in fright, "What if it was a vision of the future?! I—"

"Shayla!" Double D started to say to her as he gripped onto both of her shoulders, trying to calm her down, "Everything is okay now, it was just a dream," he made a reassuring smile to her before embracing her into a hug, "I promise you; nothing like that will ever happen, okay?"

Shayla stayed silent for a moment as she hugged him back, "I-I know that. It's just that the dream felt too real…"

They separated from their hug before realizing they were both staring at each other. They could feel their hearts beating faster and faster.

'Oh, come on Eddward, you fool!' Double D's inner thoughts screamed to himself, 'She's right there in front of you! Now is the perfect time to tell her!'

"U-Umm… Shayla?"

"Yes?"

Double D could feel himself getting nervous at what he was going to say, "When we first met, I wasn't expecting us to become close friends like this, let alone learn about the past lives we had and how important they were to each other."

He reached out to grab both of her hands with his, "Since then, I've realized how important you are to me; and it's not because of Dimitri's feelings for Astra," he could feel his face becoming redder, "I know now that these feelings for you are my own and not my past self…" Double D made a big smile to her, "I love you."

Shayla also made a big smile to him; he finally said it to her, "I love you too," she replied.

They both leaned in, kissing each other on the lips for a moment before finally separating. They sat there for a few moments before realizing something.

"I forgot how late it is now. I should go back to bed," Double D stated before getting up off the couch. He turned to Shayla with a smile, "Umm, I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Double D."


Author's Note (August 28th, 2023): Oh hey, that was fast. I guess this really is the final filler chapter before they leave for Radiant Garden. Oops. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯