98. [Action for Saffron City, backdated to Friday]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[It's funny, because these sorts of weekends have come to be ones that Heather dreads, clear memories or no. She doesn't remember much of them when they roll around, but she remembers enough, and usually what she remembers is bad.]

[So yeah, she's sort of been walking on eggshells, waiting for this to happen.]

[BUT... between all the craziness going down throughout November... bundling over to Kanto with the rest of her family to cheer Crow on during the Tournament, spending Thanksgiving in the packed-to-bursting household of a grumpy FBI agent and the enormously large family unit he seems to have somehow gathered (despite... being himself) ...]

[It drives weird dreamy weekends filled with amnesia and horror and the Koolaid Man bursting through the wall out of the mind, a little!]

[.... Which is why, yeah, uh, she's out taking Cooj for a nighttime walk on Friday night, and doesn't quite notice anything's up yet.]

[Or the pink bunny following her around.]</sub>





[OOC: Tags may be horrendously slow due to NaNo, but I had to hiatus-break at least a LITTLE for 4th Wall! Robbie the Rabbit will be lingering in the background of any given thread, but feel free to throw anything at Heather and not bother with the spooky pink bunny chillin over there.]

Comments

[foolishwren]

I-- ... uh...

Heather.

<sub>[... DAMMIT. Like a split second after she offers her second name it occurs to her that she had the perfect opportunity to straight up say her REAL one. Jodie said her family was here. SHE KNOWS. Somehow. Not sure how. But she does.]

[So now Heather is mentally punching herself in the face.]</sub>

... Mason.

_{[THERE. NOW THE WHOLE SITUATION IS EVEN MORE CONFUSING. Good job, kiddo.]}

[adoptivemother]

[You take after your father so much dear. Jodie meanwhile, has been travelling around a while and had actually gotten in touch with Harry before this.

Which is one reason she's looking at you closely now. Because yeah there could be another teenage girl with the last name Mason here but at the same time...]

Cheryl?

[foolishwren]

<sub>[FORTUNATELY FOR HEATHER, because dear god, could she fudge up this introduction any worse?]

[At least it's not as bad as the time she 'met' Harry, long before the one from HER time period ever arrived in Johto.]

[She'd been hungover. And cursing loudly on the public network.]

[It hadn't gone well.]</sub>

... Mom.

[adoptivemother]

[Being told that your daughter is suddenly years older then you thought she should be is one thing. Actually coming face to face with said older daughter is another thing.]

[Her look of confusion however turns into a teary smile and you are getting a large hug now.]

It is you. Cheryl...I can't believe you're all grown up now. My little baby girl.

[foolishwren]

<sub>[Hugs banish all awkwardness.]

[A little bit stunned, Heather brings her arms up to return it. There's literal tears springing to her eyes, but she doesn't quite know what to do with them.]</sub>

... Mom, I...

Did... did you already see dad?

[adoptivemother]

I did. Before randomly appearing in a few other places, but he said he was in this town.

[Just happy tears, you get a very long hug before she figures your probably want to breath.]

Oh look at you. You're a beautiful young woman.

[foolishwren]

<sub>[She steps back a little automatically when she's released, although she leaves her own arms around the woman who she last saw more than twenty years ago.]

[Hell, she had never even seen Jodie with these eyes.]

[It's weird as hell to think about... and sad.]

[When Jodie speaks on, Heather finds herself blinking a lot. It's not entirely what she'd have expected to hear from someone who last saw her as a cute little toddler in overalls and a puffy sweater.]

[Nobody expects their doe-eyed little daughter to grow up into a shaggy, short-haired scarecrow of a young woman in tank tops and jeans with busted knees. And most people probably wouldn't be HAPPY about it, either.]

[She doesn't respond to that directly (she's not sure she CAN), but her voice is slightly croaky when she speaks.]</sub>

... We missed you a lot. I mean--

... we never forgot.

_{[About you.]}

[adoptivemother]

[Nope, but you're still her little girl. You'd be beautiful no matter how you turned out.]

Sweetie....

I wish I could have been there.

[foolishwren]

_{[;-; MOM...]}

... Well, you're... you're here now! Right?

_{[... But for how long? ... Heather's not sure she wants to think about that.]}

[adoptivemother]

I can't believe it...

[Just smiles more.]

We should go find your father.

[foolishwren]

We should?

... We should!

He's-- uh, he's probably back at uh, the place we're staying!

It's not far, it's-- ... actually it's all the way on the outskirts of the city, but--!

_{[She starts to walk. Now that the initial ... emotional reunion is past, excitement is starting to fill her from head to toe.]}

[adoptivemother]

[Walks with her.]

Have you two been here long?

[foolishwren]

I, uh...

Dad's been here about a year and a half.

... I've been here almost three.

[adoptivemother]

Three years? And you've been by yourself for most of it?

Oh sweetie, I'm sorry.

[foolishwren]

No! No, it was...

_{[She bites her lip. It may not be best to mention that she'd been alone before she'd come here... and that here had been an improvement.]}

... It wasn't so bad.

... I had... I had Cujo.

_{[And others. Who Jodie would meet! ... But later, once they got back.]}

[adoptivemother]

I suppose....

[Well that's better then nothing, but still...]

[Also yeah. The whole Harry is also dead now, isn't something she knows about. Or the town, or anything about that stuff really.]

Well we're all together now at least.

[foolishwren]

<sub>[Fortunately, Heather's... not gonna mention that. Jodie doesn't need to know. She doesn't need to think about the fact that the child she left behind is now an orphan in every sense of the word.]

[No, Heather just wants them to be together. Together as best as they can.]

[Because she already has the ominous sense that this is very, very temporary.]</sub>

Yeah! Yeah.

... Mom, you... uh, you uh... how much do you know about this place?

[adoptivemother]

Not that much. Just a few things I've managed to pick up here and there. The technology seems futuristic here.

[foolishwren]

Futuristic? ... Yeah, it's pretty advanced... <sub>[She had to take a minute to think about that, because she's gotten so used to it that it doesn't seem so futuristic to her anymore. But not only is Jodie new to all this, she's also from a good two decades earlier than Heather.]

[... Hell, SHE'S NEVER SEEN A CELL PHONE BEFORE. That is crazy.]</sub>

Have you seen any of the wildlife?

_{[Aside from Cujo, anyway. Because if not, oh boy is she in for a surprise when they get to the hotel.]}

[adoptivemother]

A few ...actually I found one that won't stop following me.

[She pulls out a pokeball and suddenly this guy is sitting on her shoulder.]

Cheryl, this is Ellen Neel.

[Your mother is an art nerd.]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[At first Heather looks a little startled, but a slow grin creeps onto her face.]

[She may not know much about her mother that wasn't gleaned from the contents of the boxes that had mostly remained shut until after Harry's death... but she knows that starter is perfect.]</sub>

It suits you.

[adoptivemother]

[She pats the pokemon's head before it goes back into the ball. Ellen is shy.]

It was nice to have company. However odd it might be.

[foolishwren]

Heh... it only gets odder from here...

_{[At last, the hotel comes into view around the corner. It's a big, tall one like the one in Goldenrod.]}

Um... Dad and I are staying here...

[adoptivemother]

I can imagine.

[Because this place is nuts. Also ...Yay.]

Oh good. He's probably worrying about us right now. He is such a worrywart.

[foolishwren]

_{[Well, some things sure don't change...]}

Probably even more now than you remember.