Work Text:
.
.
Amelia is ten years old.
It’s supposed to be her birthday. She’s known for months how this day would go. Her uncles would leave to pick up her gift and leave her alone with auntie for the day. She’d get to dig around in the offices while she waited. The investigators thought she was cute and she had no problem using that to her advantage. She could cause all types of mischief. If at any point she got caught all she’d have to do is pout and the whole agency was cooing over her.
Today she sits alone.
There’s rain fogging up the windows. The fireplace was a dying ember of what it was that morning. The only noise is the tiny golden pocket watch ticking away in her hand. She watches each hand on the clock turn. She feels out of place. Her world feels flipped upside down and dyed grey.
Ame, her aunt's voice rings in her head, they won’t be coming back.
“I could stop that.” She says out loud. No one answers her. There’s no one there to scold her or tell her stop, you’re not old enough to use that yet. It’s just her and their watch. Her watch. It’s hers now.
I could do it, her fingers shook, I could go back in time.
Except she’s never figured out how. She’s messed with the watch a few times but she’s never gone too far. Every time she time-traveled with it, she’d had supervision. This was new territory for her. It was frightening.
The front door opened before she could reach a decision.
“Ame!” Her auntie is home.
Amelia closes the watch and stuffs it in her pocket.
Later, she tells herself.
.
.
The house has become a ghost.
Amelia walks through the rooms feeling older than she actually is. Furniture is covered in white fabrics. The walls were bare of paintings and decoration. Coals had been cleaned out of the fireplace. Dawn was only just beginning to break. Amelia knows it’s 6:02 A.M. She’s painfully aware of it. She hasn’t slept a wink.
In a few minutes her aunt will wake up and they’ll be leaving this house behind. Amelia looks out the front window. The car was packed heavily with their belongings. She could spot her favorite blanket pressed up against one of the rear windows. The sight of it out there and not in her room makes her fidgety. She wants to run out and grab it.
“Don’t be childish.” She mumbles. She’s a big girl now. A full-time time traveler. Time travelers don’t cry.
She takes the watch out of her pocket. It’s warm to the touch. There’s a hum of something just beneath her fingers. It’s a lot of power for something so small.
Amelia takes in the foyer. The coat rack was missing. Her uncle had a table by the door that he liked to place his pipe on. That was gone too. The entire area was barebones. She had trouble recognizing it as home.
Will I ever come back? Her lip quivers. Is this really it?
Her watch trembles. Amelia blinks as golden electricity lances off of it. She barely has time to take a step back before her world is violently replaced with something else. Her watch, which had been whirling at high speed, abruptly halts. As if nothing had happened at all, it begins ticking again all the same.
6:02 A.M, it tells her.
Her foyer tells a different story.
Amelia opens her mouth in surprise. The walls were painted over into a mix of browns and yellows. There’s a lamp by the door with an umbrella stand right below it. She can’t ever recall having purple or blue umbrellas. The cute fishy designs distract her, but her gaze locks onto the next strangest occurrence.
Stairs.
“That wasn’t there before.” Amelia breathes. She’s certain this house doesn’t have a second floor. There’s the fireplace, the dining room and kitchen, and three bedrooms. The stairs lead up to an entire second floor.
“What…” Amelia grips her watch tightly. Time travel? She swallows nervously. She hadn’t the faintest clue how to fix this. She must have accidentally traveled… somewhere. The future? It’d explain the renovations. She doubts this place ever looked so fancy in the past.
Curiosity gets the better of her. This was her home, after all. Was my home, She grimaces, I’ll just... check out what they’ve done with the place. No harm. They won’t even know I’m here.
She pokes her head into the living room. The fireplace was still there, to her relief. She really liked listening to bedtime stories late at night when it was roaring beside her. She blinked in surprise at the giant flatscreen TV hooked up on top of it.
“Okay, jeez.” She mutters. Rich people must have taken this place. She felt less enthusiastic about adventuring around knowing a bunch of snobs owned her house, but she supposes it’s not so bad. The room is cozy. Couches are crowded around the TV and there are bookshelves hugging the walls. It looks like a good place to relax.
Amelia is reminded of how sleep-deprived she is. She rubs her eyes fiercely, “No time for that. C’mon, Watson, it’s your first case. Solve it with open eyes.”
She really wants to check up the stairs, but she imagines horrible scenarios of stumbling upon the tenants. She tiptoes her way to the kitchen. There’s not a sign of anyone around, but that’s not nearly as worrying as the sight of two fridges.
What, Amelia wrinkles her nose, why the hell would someone need two fridges in their house?
She opens one.
She immediately closes it. Her heart hammers inside her chest. She can barely think around her brain screaming why is it filled with raw meat?!
“Did this house get purchased by a serial killer?” She whispers. She opens the fridge to check if she’s hallucinating. No, the fifty packages of raw meat are still sitting in a neatly organized mess throughout the fridge. There are sticky notes attached to a few.
- Save for Friday, Kiara’s roast dinner
- Gura snack
- Also Gura snack
- Calli BBQ
- Gura snack
Amelia slowly closes the fridge. Curiosity is driving her to open the second fridge. She’s relieved to find it’s completely normal in comparison to the other one. Milk, eggs, everything that’s to be expected of a fridge.
Do they own a bunch of dogs? She wonders. Maybe there’s a man-eating animal somewhere.
She’s distracted by the magnets. There’s a bunch of drawings that look remarkably well done. There’s one of a beautiful woman with fiery hair. She’s throwing a peace sign up. Little flowery words are saying happy birthday Kiara!
Another is drawn with amusing stick figures. A pink one is beating up a blue one. Don’t touch my ham Gura, it says. A sticky note is attached to it with a winking shark. Amelia looks through each drawing in wonder. She feels like she’s reading a storybook. She doesn’t know the characters, but she’s hooked on curiosity. She wants to know more.
She leaves the kitchen in search of answers. The stairs call to her, but she wants to know what’s become of her former room. She walks her way down a familiar hall. The walls are decorated with newspaper articles. Amelia frowns at them as she passes. Why would cold cases solved decades ago matter to this family?
It reminds her of her uncles. She doesn’t like that thought process. She pauses, aware the bedroom she’s about to pass is…
No, she marches past it with a frown, I won’t.
She cracks open the door to her room. She doesn’t know what she’s expecting. Some part of her is scared to find another little girl there, happily living her life in a better house. She isn’t expecting the room to be completely dismantled. Amelia slips inside, frowning at the lack of any bed or closet. It’d been converted into an office. There are chairs and filing cabinets, bookshelves and- ohhh a fish tank. She stands on her tiptoes to look. Colorful.
“Well,” Amelia huffs, “I guess the fish are cool. Everything else is lame though.”
Rich people jerks, she sulks. She’s had stuffed animals here. Now it’s all boring paper. She looks over the documents on the desk critically. More newspapers. Case files? Amelia raises an eyebrow. There’s a burn in her chest, a spark of anger. The audacity of some rich jerk using her uncle's house for the very same profession…
Angrily, Amelia grabs the documents. She doesn’t think. She stands on her toes and dunks them into the fish tank. She watches the fish scatter and hide. There’s no satisfaction in watching the paper sink into the water. She only feels the painful urge to cry.
Not now. She shakes her head. You got a case to solve!
She walks out of the room with a rain cloud over her head. She isn't thinking when she closes the door behind her. The resounding click echoes down the hall louder than she intended. Her spine goes rigid when the door to her uncle’s room opens. She can’t even move a muscle in her body as a woman steps out.
She’s pretty, is Amelia’s first thought. The long dark hair is pulled back into a ponytail. She’s wearing an apron dotted with paint stains. Her bangs look strange, but topped with a beret she looks like an artist.
An artist who was staring at her with huge eyes.
Amelia makes a choked noise. Hide! Her brain works faster than her legs and she ends up smacking headfirst into the door she just closed. She freezes against it, her nose bruising as this stranger openly gapes at her.
“...A...Ame?” The girl squeaks.
Amelia pales. They know her!
“I’m not here.” She yelps, clawing for the doorknob. “You didn’t see me! I’m just a figment of your imagination!”
“Oh my god,” The woman has to grip the wall for support. She’s hiding her face behind her hand like the sight of Amelia is hurting her, “You’re… you’re tiny!”
Amelia stops. A childish anger is rearing up- who is she calling short?- but more importantly, it sounded like this woman knows her. Amelia squints at her. The woman's shoulders are shaking and she looks like she’s two seconds away from buckling over and falling to the floor.
I’m being laughed at. Amelia realizes. A mix of fear and anger keeps her rooted in place. The woman lowers her hand away from her face to reveal pretty blue eyes. She’s giving Amelia a fond smile.
“I’m sorry.” The woman laughs, “I was surprised.”
Amelia narrows her eyes, “But not that surprised.”
The woman smiles at her. Amelia straightens. She’s not used to being smiled at like that. It's a softness usually reserved for family and friends. She has no idea why this girl is smiling at her like that.
“You’re from the past, right?” The woman crouches down to her level. Her eyes are still shining, “Gosh, you’re adorable.”
Amelia frowns, “I’m a time traveler. We aren’t adorable.”
Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say. The woman has to recover again, her hand hiding her face like she’s personally embarrassed on Amelia’s behalf. Amelia huffs, crossing her arms. She’s less afraid than before. This stranger doesn’t appear that dangerous when she’s fawning over Amelia’s height.
“Ah, um,” The woman hides giggles behind her hand, “how old are you?”
Amelia isn’t amused, “Ten.”
“Cute,” The woman sighs like she’s about to faint, “cute, cute, cute.”
“Okay, stop it!” Amelia glowers at her. The girl isn’t affected at all. “I’m from the past, which means you know me in the future, right?”
“Yup.”
“Do I…” Amelia hesitates. She’s reminded that she’s technically trespassing. She fumbles with her words, “um… Do I live here?”
The girl's eyes soften, “Mhm. Would you like a tour?”
Amelia perks up. Sneaking around wasn’t so bad, but she’d gain a lot more knowledge if someone showed her around. Her brain ends up tripping over itself. This would mess up the timeline? No, wait, that doesn’t happen. Right? She can’t remember what her uncle taught her. The stranger is holding out her hand.
“My name is Ina.” She greets. “I’ll show you around.”
Amelia is grabbing it on autopilot. She feels a mix of happiness and regret. Happiness, because this reminds her of all the time she held onto her uncles hands. Regret, because… well…
“That room,” Amelia mutters, “that used to be…”
“Oh.” Ina is propping open the door. Amelia peeks inside. This room too had been dismantled. She remembers the bed and the desk, but it’s all gone. It’d been converted into an art studio. “Future you made a studio for me. I do all my painting here.”
Amelia doesn't feel as upset when she hears this. It lifts her spirits. Plus, some of the paintings on display were beautiful. She couldn’t be mad when the room looked so well taken care of.
“Okay.” She mutters. “Lead the way.”
Ina smiles down at her. She takes them across the hall to the last bedroom. Amelia doubts what she’s going to find is an actual bedroom. She’s only dreading it a little since this is apparently still her house. Ina knocks.
“Calli.” Ina is calling. “May we come in?”
“Oh, hey.” A voice replies, “Sure. Whose with you?”
Ina opens the door. Amelia feels her jaw drop. It’s a musician's dream come true. Instruments from guitars to electric keyboards are organized around the room. The walls have vinyl on display. Amelia takes it all in, her heart stuttering up in her throat. This is…
The girl in the middle of the room is at a drum set. She’s got a box of takeout in her lap that she’s balancing with one hand. There are music sheets in her other hand. Amelia likes her pink hair. She looks fashionable if a little awkward with her hat tilted sideways on her head.
The girl’s eyes go huge. She stands up so quickly the drumsticks clatter and fall. She’s scrambling for them and dropping her box in the process, “Oh shoot, shit, god damnit.”
“Uh,” Ina is giggling, “you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m-” Calli is spinning back to them, “Wait, Ina, that’s-”
“It’s little Ame!” Ina introduces her by throwing up jazz hands. Amelia feels just as flustered as Calli. She must be a musician or something. Amelia shyly hides behind her bangs. That explains why this place is so fancy.
“Oh, um…” Calli is scratching her neck. She has a nervous smile. “Wow, this is weird. You’re from the past?”
Amelia frowns, “I guess my time traveling isn’t that big of a secret…”
Ina blinks at her, “You never hid it.”
Never? Amelia can’t comprehend that. Do I grow up to become a head case?
Calli is smiling at her. It’s different from Ina’s. Something shy but proud. Amelia shrinks, unsure why such things would be directed towards her. She’s getting a weird feeling. She’s starting to wonder just how close these people are to her future self.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Calli says gently. Her expression brightens, “Hey, do you wanna play on the guitar?”
Amelia gasps, “Wait, really? You’d let me?”
“Sure thing! C’mere, I’ll show you.”
Wait. The tour. Amelia looks up at Ina. The artist is letting go of her hand and nudging her forward.
“It’ll be cool.” She winks. “You’ll love it.”
Amelia grins. She’s never held a guitar before. She’s running over to Calli, eagerly attaching herself to the next adult she’s met in this future. The musician doesn’t mind. She crouches down with a wicked black guitar. It kind of looks like a scythe. The sleekness of it made Amelia nervous. It had to be expensive.
Cool. Amelia holds it reverently. So freaking cool.
“Now you hold the pick like this.” Calli is instructing her. “And you just…”
It sounds awful. Amelia winces at the whiny notes she makes. Every strum of the guitar ends up hurting her ears. She doesn’t know what she was expecting. Maybe some cool death metal noises. It sounds more like a dying possum. Calli is laughing.
“Aw, man, this brings me back.” She’s fondly ruffling Amelia’s hair. “You’ll get it someday. It takes a lot of practice.”
Amelia smiled bashfully, does she teach me…?
Calli is standing up with a stretch, “Hey Ina, got room for your boy on this tour?”
“I’ll have to talk to the supervisor,” Ina says seriously. She’s glancing at Amelia with playful eyes. “Her decision is final.”
Amelia can barely contain her excitement. She’s nervous but happy. She unthinkingly reaches up and tugs on Calli’s hand.
“Yeah, yeah, come with!”
“Uh oh.” Calli is smirking at the artist, “I think she has a new favorite.”
Ina holds her chest like she’s wounded, “My heart…” She recovers instantly to say, “We both know Gura is going to be her favorite.”
“Definitely.”
Amelia tilts her head at this. The adults guide her out of the studio. Calli is still holding on to her hand. Amelia feels her face burn, but it doesn’t seem the musician cares.
“Where to?”
Ina gestures to the stairs, “I thought about showing off the bedrooms.”
“Oh right.” Calli nudges Amelia. “This was your childhood home, right? You’re probably dying to know more.”
They know. Amelia smiles. “Mhm! I’m really happy it’s not gone.”
For a moment, the adults share an uncertain look. Ina says softly, “Yeah…” Amelia doesn’t think much of it. They’re ascending the stairs and she is distracted by the photographs along the wall. There are many restaurants- multiple restaurants, not just one. Each one has the fiery woman on it and she’s holding up an assortment of signs. ‘Healthiest Fast Food Chain’ and ‘Critic Approved’ and ‘Not a Cult’. Amelia smirks at this.
Calli notices, “Oh yeah. It’s a running joke around here. You see-”
“Wh-Why don’t we continue the tour?” Ina stutters. She gives Calli a pleading look. “Your room is first.”
“Oh. Sure.”
The tour of the bedrooms feels like she’s stepping into wonderland. Calli’s room feels much darker than her person. The bed is extravagant, a mix of reds and pinks. There’s a body pillow she’s kicking under the bed with an unimpressed glare.
“Should have probably given the room a look over first,” Calli mutters. There’s a dusting of pink over her cheeks.
Ina giggles, “I’m sure there’s nothing bad.”
The next room is blue. There’s a giant pool taking up an absurd amount of the room. The bed is built right next to it, flat to the ground and swallowed up by fluffy pillows. Amelia wants to dive in.
“This is Gura’s room.” Ina is saying, “She really likes swimming.”
Calli snorts. Amelia wants to be in on the inside joke. She forces down the pout and lets her be led to the next room. The minute Ina opens the door a waft of heat hits her. This room has an insane temperature difference. The room itself is painted bright golds and oranges. A cat meows at them from the bed.
“Sorry for bothering you.” Ina laughs, closing the door. “That was Kiara’s room. We try not to let the cats out because they don’t get along well with the dogs. Sometimes, not often.”
Amelia perks up, “Dogs?”
Calli’s hand is resting on top of her head, “C’mon Ina, don’t spoil everything.”
“Sorry, sorry.” Ina smiles. “This is my room.”
It’s a deep purple. It feels more like a library than a bedroom. There’s a bed built on top of a flat bookcase. There’s a bunch of blankets on the floor in a crumpled mess. A mess of chip bags and soda cans is buried in them.
“I didn’t clean up after last night.” Ina scratched behind her ear sheepishly. Amelia’s attention is drawn to how unnaturally sharp it is. Huh… “I had a sleepover with Gura and Kiara.”
“Sleepover?” Amelia echoed. She’d never had one of those. “Was it… fun?”
Ina blinks at her, “Yeah. We just stayed up late chatting before heading to bed. It wasn’t anything crazy.”
Amelia wonders if that’s how sleepovers are supposed to go. It sounds boring. Does my future self have sleepovers too? She feels a little jealous of that. When they leave the room, Amelia is surprised they’re leading her back towards the stairs.
“Wait,” Amelia looks back. There’s still one unexplored door, “Wait, we missed one.”
“No spoilers.” Calli is ruffling her hair again, “Whose room do you think that is? We can’t give everything away.”
Her room. The idea of looking at where her future self lives is enticing. She hops up and down, tugging on Calli’s sleeve, “Please! Just one look!”
“Oh god, Ina help.”
Ina is walking faster, “Calli, she’s ten thousand times cuter like this. I can’t help you. You’re on your own.”
“Ina!”
Amelia laughs at their ridiculousness. They reach the top of the stairs when the front door opens. Amelia can see it from this angle. The front door swings open and two women are walking in. One of them is the fiery lady she’s seen so much. The other one is short with snowy hair.
“We’re home!” Fiery lady is yelling, “They sold out of the batteries you need, Calli, we’ll have to try again tomorrow!”
“That sucks,” Calli says. “Thanks for trying, Kusatori.”
The fiery woman looks up at them in surprise, “Oh, you’re right there. Hi Ina! Hi…” She trails off. Her eyes zero in on Amelia. Amelia can’t help but feel amused as she watches the woman process what she’s seeing. Her eyes blow wide and the groceries in her hands drop to the floor.
The blue one jumps in surprise, “Kiara, watch it!”
“Oh my god!” Kiara is running up the stairs. Amelia flinches in surprise, but Calli’s hand prevents her from fleeing. When the woman reaches the top of the stairs, she hooks her arms around Amelia and lifts her up like she weighs nothing. Amelia squeals, clinging to Kiara’s arms. She didn’t like being manhandled, “Ame, you’re so so small!”
“Easy, kusatori.” Calli is chuckling, “Small means she’s extra fragile.”
Amelia is being hugged. Embarrassment is hot over her face, but this kind of fierce hug isn’t so bad. Kiara is nuzzling the top of her head and making happy noises, “Small Ame, small Ame, so cute! Look at her tiny little hands, I’m going to die.”
“I think you’ll kill her first,” Ina warns.
“Oops.” Amelia sighs with relief when she’s set back on her feet. “Heh. You weren’t complaining much there, lil’ Ame. Do you like my hugs?”
Amelia darts behind Calli’s legs. She peeks out to glare at Kiara. The orange girl laughs at her. There’s the sound of more footsteps and the shorter blue girl is joining them. She’s looking at Amelia with surprise.
“Woah.” She breathes. “She’s…”
“Small.” Amelia bites out, “I think I heard it the first time.”
The blue girl grins with very sharp teeth, “Glad to see your sass was always there, Watson.” Movement behind her draws Amelia’s attention. She quints at it. Is that…? That’s a tail. A shark tail.
“Oh boy.” Ina whispers. “Watch out Gura.”
Gura doesn’t look scared. She’s crouching low for Amelia with a big smile, “Ohhh, now you wanna be my friend. Wanna come say hi to sharky?”
Amelia hesitates. The shark tail, the teeth, it was… cool. Unbelievably cool. She’s leaving her hiding place to venture closer. Gura bonks her forehead against hers.
“Ow, hey!”
“You’re right,” Gura says. “She’s adorable.” Gura opens her arms for her. Amelia frowns, not sure if she wants to accept a hug from someone who just headbutted her. But this is also a shark girl. Cool. She steps into the hug and Gura lifts her up off her feet. Amelia is more prepared this time and loops her arms around Gura’s neck. She’s not that far up off the ground in comparison to Kiara’s height.
“Why are you short?” Amelia asks.
Everyone is snickering. Gura rolls her eyes, “Oh, haha, you drop in from the past to bully the shark. I see how it is.”
Amelia giggles. Gura preens at this like she was aiming to make Amelia laugh. Kiara is leaning down to say, “You must be hungry after traveling so far, right? You’re like, what, six?”
“I’m ten,” Amelia grumbles.
“Well I’m an eleven,” Kiara carries on, “and my groceries have ice cream in them. Want some?”
Amelia perks up. Gura is snickering in her ear, “She’s already getting spoiled.”
“We can spoil small Ame.” Ina winks, “It’s the older one that needs less spoiling.”
“Agree to disagree.”
Amelia can’t hold back anymore. She turns to the adults surrounding her as best as she can in Gura’s arms. She asks, “Do you guys like me?”
“Are you kidding me?” Kiara snorts, “You’re-”
“Not me, um,” Amelia ducks her head shyly, “...future me. Are you guys my friends?”
There’s that look again. It’s translated across every single one of their faces. This softness, the same kind in Ina’s smile and Calli’s eyes. Amelia feels out of her depth. She can’t possibly comprehend how she makes friends with these people.
“Yeah.” Calli murmurs, “We’re your friends, Ame.”
“No doubt.” Gura’s voice is equally quiet, “Like, don’t mean to be mushy here, but you’re kinda the reason we’re all friends to begin with.”
Amelia blinks, “I am?”
Ina pets her hair, “Whose house do you think this is? You invite us here.”
Amelia hides her face in Gura’s jacket. She’s overwhelmed by giddiness. Her future self sounded so cool now. To live in her dream house surrounded by caring friends… sounded like a dream come true.
The front door opens.
“Uh oh,” Calli says.
Amelia looks up over Gura’s shoulder. She watches in slow motion as the door opens. A woman is entering, her expression hidden by the hat on her head. She pauses at the sight of the groceries on the floor.
“Uh.” She says loudly. “Guys? Did the rapture happen?”
“Ame,” Ina calls.
Amelia watches her, her future self, look up at them. She can recognize those eyes in her mirror. Her future self doesn’t seem surprised. When she spots her, older Amelia is smiling.
“About time you showed up,” Older her says, “I was about to go get you.”
Amelia can barely breathe, “...Me? Why?”
Future Amelia smirks, “It’s your birthday, dummy.”
Amelia gapes. Gura makes a noise, “No way. Is that why you had us pick up ice cream? You knew?”
Kiara gasps, “Ame! You sly dog!”
“I’ve known for fifteen whole years.” Older Amelia is scooping up the groceries. She winks at them, “Now c’mon, will ya? I remember having a good tenth birthday.”
Amelia is carried into the dining room. Her brain is barely functioning. Every time she sees her future self, she can barely comprehend that it’s her, that’s going to be her. Gura deposits her in a chair and then runs for the fridge. There’s a scuffle where Kiara stops her and says bad shark, don’t ruin your appetite. Calli and Ina sit across from her, chatting away.
Older Amelia is placing her hat on her head. Amelia startles, reaching up to touch the bill. The room has gone quiet. Older Amelia doesn’t look bothered as she sits down next to her.
Amelia whispers, “Is this okay…? Giving me this?”
“It’s your birthday present.”
“Your hat?”
Older Amelia smiles as she starts opening ice cream cartons, “You have to start somewhere, detective. Congrats on solving your first case, by the way.”
Amelia is nearly vibrating in her seat. She’s so happy. She wants to tell people about it. She looks at Calli and frantically gestures to her hat, look it’s so cool! Calli looks like she’s holding back laughter when she gives her a thumbs up.
Amelia spends her tenth birthday in the future. She watches Gura inhale food to an insane degree. Kiara tells her stories of their group, funny moments, and hilarious tales. Ina is giggling so hard she has to hide her face into the table. Calli has to hide her face because she’s embarrassed. Future her is a constant presence at her side.
The ice cream is good. The company is warm. Her sleep deprivation is back with a vengeance. She can feel herself nodding off. Older her stands up and says, “And that’s my cue to get this one home.”
“Aw.” Kiara whines, “Can’t we keep her?”
“She’s not a pet.”
Gura snickers, “I beg to differ.” She gets ice cream flicked at her for that. Amelia feels herself being lifted into a pair of arms, her arms. This was super confusing. Wild. She’s having so much fun she doesn’t want to leave. She doesn’t want to go back to that empty house.
She yawns, “Can I stay?”
Older Amelia pokes her nose, “Nice try. I’m immune to your tactics, you little shit.”
“Bye, little Amelia.” Calli is waving.
“Safe travels, detective!” Ina says.
Kiara is adding, “Come back anytime, every day if you want to!”
“Oy.” Older Amelia points at her warningly. Kiara laughs and dances away into the kitchen. Gura is close enough she reaches up to ruffle Amelia’s hair.
“Stay sharp, kiddo.”
“I’m not a kid.” Amelia mumbles. She bats the hand away, “Dumb shark.”
“Okay, alright, I’m with Kiara. Can we keep her? That was cute.”
“Okay, enough.” Older Amelia laughs, “I’ll be back down in a second.” Amelia waves over her future self’s shoulder. The four future friends wave back. She watches them disappear, loneliness gripping her chest as she’s taken up the stairs. She momentarily forgets it as she’s taken into her room. Her future self’s room.
It’s cozy. There’s a lounge captured by a circle of bookcases. A comfy plaid bed and an arrangement of posters on the wall from different time periods. Amelia squints at them.
“Did you time travel to visit bands in the past?”
“Yup.” Older her snickers, “You didn't get that idea from me. I don’t take any responsibility.”
Amelia smiles, but it disappears when she gets set on her feet. She knows what comes next. Older Amelia crouches next to her, her smile not as bright as before.
“Listen.” She says. “They probably didn’t tell you about this place. In a few years from now, in your time, this place will get demolished.”
Amelia feels her stomach drop to her toes. Her legs shake, but she holds firm. She tilts her chin up to stop herself from crying, “But… but it’s right here…”
“I had to build it back up, brick by brick.” Older Amelia looks around. “It wasn’t easy. It’s not going to be easy. I thought I’d give you a warning.”
Amelia frowns. How on earth can she rebuild her house? It sounded impossible. She’d need money and people, she’d have to remember things she couldn’t possibly know. There was so much she had to do. Her watch buzzes warmly in her pocket.
No, Amelia grips it tightly, I get it done. It’s right here, in the future. I’ll do it.
Older Amelia smirks, “I know that look. Ready to head home?”
Amelia hesitates. She takes in the room around her one last time. This room doesn’t exist in her time. Not yet. It’s barren and soon to be destroyed. I’ll buy it back. She resolves. I’ll take on so many cases and I’ll buy it back.
“Yeah.” Amelia nods. “I’m ready.”
Older Amelia holds out her watch. Amelia does the same. Both watches shake with golden magic. Electricity swirls around them. Amelia watches her surroundings fade in a maelstrom of bright light.
“Wait.” Amelia startles, “Wait, how do I find your friends?!”
“Don’t worry about that.” Older her sounds far away, her voice echoing down a tunnel, “They’ll find you.”
The light fades. Amelia stares at the door in front of her. Her watch calms back down to a steady ticking. Outside the window, she can see her aunt's car. Her favorite pillow. She checks the time.
6:02 A.M.
“Oh.” Amelia breathes. Hot tears are building in her eyes. She wants to jump into time again. She wants to find those precious people in her life. She knows Older Her will just send her back, but she wants to see them again.
They’ll find you.
“Okay.” Amelia sniffles, “Okay.”
“Ame?” Her aunt's voice calls from the other side of the house, “Are you awake yet? We have a lot of distance to cover. Are you ready to go?”
Amelia closes her eyes. She holds on to that memory of her friends. Ina’s smile, Calli’s eyes, Kiara’s laugh, Gura’s voice in her ear- She holds onto it close to her heart. Her hand flies up to the hat on her head. It reminds her that it’s real. The future that she loves is out there waiting for her.
Soon, she promises herself, I have cases to solve.
“I’m ready!” She calls back and leaves the house behind.
.
.
END