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Moaning softly, Jeneta slowly opened her eyes to the bright light and looked around. Somehow..for some strange reason, she expected to find herself in another small room, filled with furniture and clothes from a time that was long over...the Middle Ages, but just beginning on Cyphyrus. She expected to see the faces of her friends sleeping in beds beside hers, and she especially expected to see Djoser smiling down on her, softly saying "Good morning," to her as he usually did.
But instead, she found herself in a hospital room as she sat up...a large hospital room where there were bright bulbs overhead and pulsing, beeping machines all around. For a moment...for just one single moment, she felt out of place, as if the modern equipment and lights were alien to her. She had gotten so used to the life on Cyphyrus that the modern world was a tiny shock to her. But it only lasted for a moment, and the memories of Earth and everything she experienced flooded back into her.
She sighed and gently laid back down on her bed, sadness washing over her once more. Djoser....Tao, Kondolar..Master Yelsnid...everyone, they were gone now. Back on a world so far away, she could barely fathom it. Before she could even help it, her eyes misted with tears and a small sob escaped her. She missed them all already...especially Djoser!
But she had no more time to dwell on that as the half-drawn bed curtains around her were suddenly drawn back, and her mother appeared at her side, her face filled with worry. "Jeneta? Oh sweetheart, you're awake!"
Jeneta looked up at her in surprise. "Mom?" At her adoptive mother's smile, she finally let out the emotion welling up in her, and she reached out to her desperately. "Oh Mom!" Jeneta cried as her mother gathered her in her arms. Fat tears rolled down her dark cheeks as she held on as though for dear life.
"Shhhhhh...it's okay sweetheart," Alice soothed, stroking Jeneta's hair. "You're here now, and you're going to be fine...that's my pretty girl,"
As Jeneta cried, her father and younger brother walked in, anxious to see what was going on. "Is..everything alright now?" Philip asked nervously.
His wife nodded, and Jeneta looked up at him with a gasp. "Dad!" She reached up for him lovingly.
With one of his rare smiles, he held her in a long hug before releasing her, relief evident in his face. "You had us worried there for a spell, sport," he said while ruffling her messy hair. "Someday you'll have to tell us what happened, and where you went!"
"Where I went?" Jeneta asked curiously. "What do you mean?"
"Well, apparently a fire broke out during your school trip to the British Royal Museum." Alice explained. "No one knows how it started. But some of the students there were yelling and screaming about some sort of...monster running around the museum, and some strange guy talking to you and your friends. Then after that, you girls disappeared for three days..."
"Three days?" Jeneta gasped in disbelief and clasped a hand over her mouth. Her mother looked at her in concern before saying anything else. Master Yelsnid did it! He actually did what he meant to do... she thought, thinking sadly of his sacrifice.
"Jeneta? Is there something you need to tell us?" she asked. "Did...something happen?"
"I...umm..well..." Jeneta desperately tried to come up with something...anything that she could tell her mother. Great, I can't tell my mom that I was on a whole different planet for the past three days! she thought in panic. "Umm.....You see..." She paused. "Hey, wait, where are my friends?" she asked, changing the subject.
"Oh, they're over there. The hospital decided to put you all together so the families can find you all at the same time instead of getting lost all over the hospital." Philip said, pointing down the room.
Jeneta turned to look, and sure enough, on the bed next to hers a few feet away was Heather, and she had just woken up and seen her grandparents walk in along with her older sister. "Grandmother, Grandfather! Emma!" she cried out in joy. With a sob, her grandmother hugged her gently as her grandfather and sister looked on with a smile. The older couple couldn't stop the tears from falling, and Emma finished off the hug with a ruffle on her little sister's hair.
"We missed you, you little bugger!" Emma said, smirking good-naturedly.
"Yes, and we're so glad you're home!" Heather's grandmother, Patricia, looked at Eric, her husband of fifty years.
"We sure are, sweetheart.." he whispered out, gently stroking his granddaughter's cheek. Heather could only smile in pure happiness, knowing she was truly loved.
Across the room from her, Ling was being held closely by her Uncle Lee. The older Chinese man wearing spectacle glasses and a monk robe looked close to tears, but he put on a brave face for his niece. "Please don't scare me like that again," he said in Chinese.
"I promise, Uncle" Ling said back in Chinese, sighing in contentment.
Right next to her, Angeni sat up just as her mother pulled back the curtains, gently holding the 2 year old Wakanda's hand in her own. Her parents smiled lovingly at her and hugged her together. "We were so worried about you!" Marie said, stroking her hair.
"Oh you know me, I can take care of myself!" Angeni smiled, putting her head on her mother's shoulder.
"We know that now," her father said, smiling proudly at her. Michael nodded and placed a kiss on his daughter's forehead.
"Angeni! Angeni!" cried the little Wakanda, her dark eyes shining with happiness and reaching out to her. Laughing, Angeni picked up her baby sister and held her close, now realizing she missed the little bundle of energy more than anything.
A few feet from her, Prya nervously watched her parents approach her bedside. For a moment, the three just stared at each other....then it was her mother Maya that broke down first, falling to her knees and taking Prya's hand in her own. "Prya! I'm so sorry! I thought I'd lost you forever!" the woman cried, stroking her hand. It was the first real emotion she had ever seen her mother show her, and that alone brought the tears flowing down her own cheeks.
"Mom," she whispered out. With a sob, she and her mother embraced lovingly. Her father reached forward and took them both in his arms, barely able to get any words out. Rao simply allowed his tears to fall, not daring to allow himself to imagine life if he had lost his little girl.
Jeneta smiled serenely at the scenes unfolding before her. For now, the secret they carried would stay with them and them alone. There was no need to tell anyone where they've been. Right now, they were back home with their loved ones, where she knew they belonged, and that's all that mattered. Someday, they would see Djoser and the others. She knew in her heart that it would happen. When..she didn't know, but she knew that when that day came, she'd be ready, and so will her friends.
"Hey, where did you get that cool necklace with the medallion?" Jamie suddenly asked as he pointed.
Jeneta looked at her little brother in surprise. "Huh? What necklace with a meda..." She looked down, and much to her surprise, there was the Sacred Medallion on her chest, shining as brightly as before. "I...err...I..NEVER MIND!" she said, putting it under her hospital gown.
"Fine, whatever!" The 9 year old rolled his eyes in annoyance and turned his head. "Does this mean I can't have her room for my video game collections anymore?"
"WHAT? Why you little.....!" Jeneta exploded, reaching out to him to grab him by the throat. Jamie stuck his tongue out at her and ran off while her parents...both trying hard not to laugh...held her back as she yelled and tried to run after him.
But Prya and the other girls did laugh...not just at the funny scene, but at the feeling of peace now, and being together as friends once more.
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Waterberry Academy London, England, two weeks later.
The school bell rang, signaling the end of another class period for the students, and almost immediately the halls and school courtyard was filled with students hurrying to their next class, mindful of the consequences of being late. From the science building, Prya, Jeneta, and Ling hurried out and met up with Angeni and Heather coming out of the English Literature Department building.
"So it's decided, we'll meet up at Jeneta's this week-end?" Ling asked as she walked along with the others.
"Yep! Friday, right after school, we head over to your place," Heather confirmed, smiling at Jeneta next to her.
Jeneta smiled back and nodded her head. "Yeah, it'll be nice to get together and talk about our adventures," A slight sadness misted over her eyes. "I...just don't want to forget...you know, the friends we've met there, and..." A lump formed in her throat at the memories.
"We know. And we won't forget them," Angeni vowed. "They gave up so much for us...just to ensure we got back home."
"I wonder if we'll ever see them again," Prya said wistfully.
Jeneta sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, but at least that's something we can talk about too at the sleepover," she said. "And at least we all still have something to remind us of them." She reached up and touched the Sacred Medallion under her shirt, then watched as the others did the same, feeling their own medallions.
"Well, this is where I go," said Heather, stopping in front of the school gymnasium. "I'll see you all later!" The other girls waved and said good-bye to her as they walked on, going to their own classes.
She turned and walked just a few steps towards the building when she was suddenly bumped into by a tall figure. She fell clumsily to the ground, dropping her book bag besides her. The person she bumped into also fell down, but he was the first to recover as he scrambled back up on his feet.
"Oh! I'm..very...sorry!" he gasped out, helping her to stand. "I..was not to..look where I going...I.."
Heather sighed as she picked up her book bag and dusted herself off. From the way the guy was speaking English, he was obviously foreign. "It's okay. Just...be careful of where you're going next time, and..." As she looked up at him, she stopped dead in her tracks, and her mouth dropped wide open as she gasped.
Looking down at her curiously was the perfectly handsome face of the person she had dreamed about, yearned for, hoped for more than anything in her life to see again. He had the same hair, the same eyes and tanned skin tone. But instead of it loose, his dark brown hair was parted in the middle and neatly combed back into a neat ponytail, and the end of it was almost past his shoulders. On his nose was a small pair of glasses, but there was no way she could forget those intense green eyes. For what seemed like eternity, she simply stared at him, hardly believing for a moment that it could be true. Her heart felt like it was racing a million miles. Could it be? Could it possibly be...him? Before she even realized she did it, she whispered out "D...Danji?"
But the young man before her only looked at her in confusion, blinking his eyes. "I...I'm sorry. Please..to..forgive me," he said, bowing slightly. "My name...is...Ahmed. I...have just..come..arrived from Cairo." The young man blushed in embarrassment as he struggled with the English language. "I'm afraid I...lost.." He looked around helplessly after he picked up his book bag from the ground.
Heather blinked a couple of times before shaking herself from her stupor. "Oh! I'm..I'm so sorry! I thought you were...I mean, I thought he was..." Heather sighed at the young man's bewildered expression and shook her head again. "Forget it. Do you have your schedule? Perhaps I can help you." When he handed it to her nervously, she nodded in understanding. "Hey, that's not far from here. Come on, I'll show you where you need to go, okay?" She smiled at him, hooked her arm with his, and led him to the Archeology building.
The young man beside her smiled in appreciation. "T..Thank you," he said, blushing once more. Not knowing what else to say, Heather simply smiled back, a feeling that she couldn't describe coursing through her. Together they walked off, and for Heather, it was like she was walking among the clouds. A new hope entered her heart then, and it sang a loud and beautiful song. Djoser, Tao, Kondolar...everyone, thank you for everything, the blonde girl thought. And we all hope and pray we can see you again.
Above them all, the sun continued to shine, and the birds flew and sang their song of freedom...just as the birds did on a newly freed world called Cyphyrus, far, far away.
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THE END
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