33 Apocalypse Ave, Monday Morning

[spin_kick_snap]

When Kathy had woken up as herself on Sunday, there'd been a letter waiting for her--a letter she'd remembered writing the night before and six years younger.

Dear Kathy,

Thanks for letting me use my room during my stay. I don't think I'll have a chance to meet you, I'm leaving pretty early tomorrow to make it back home. But even if I didn't get to meet you, I still feel like I got to know you some this week. You sound really cool and smart and popular. Everyone was really nice to me and I think it's because I reminded them a little bit of you. I think that's cool, I wouldn't mind being like you when I grow up.

This might be weird, but do you think I could maybe email you sometimes for advice? Nothing major just--you have your whole life together and I'm a mess. It would be nice to have someone to talk to sometimes. But that's probably weird, sorry. You don't have to!

But if you do, you can email me at gymnastflower01@yahoo.com.

Thanks again,
Kathy Li

P.S. You really, really don't have to if you don't want to!

Kathy had read that letter a number of times over the last day, smiling at the old email address she'd used faithfully for years--hell, her original Tumblr handle had been GymnastFlower--and awash in nostalgia. On the one hand, no wonder Sparkle had nicknamed her Mouse; it felt like all she'd done as a kid was apologize to people and blush. On the other hand, it was interesting to see her life now through the eyes of herself then. She'd laugh herself silly if someone told her that she had her life together, but she could see where her younger self had gotten that idea.

If nothing else, it put some things into perspective, which was sometimes hard to come by these days.

[Open for visitors and calls, but with the caveat of 'after I wake up again!']

Comments

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante sighed, and pulled her closer, pillowing his chin on top of her head. "Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater," he said, "Okay? It wasn't all shit."

[spin_kick_snap]

"I'm not saying it was," Kathy said. "Fandom has been the best years of my life and each one has been better than the one before. Those last eight months after you showed up were the happiest I'd ever been. Doubly so after Anders joined us, too."

Again, that moment of quiet. This time, not because she was trying to choose words, but because she was thinking of how good, how golden those months were.

"I was happy, but I was focused on the wrong things. Sarah figured out how to be happy when she was a girl. I didn't. I chased after stuff and kind of stumbled into happiness, but I didn't let it stop me from continuing to run. That's why I call it a waste. Not because I had nothing of value, but because I didn't value it properly."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Okay," Dante said, after a short pause.

He kissed the top of her head again. It felt like the thing to do.

"I'm just glad you're not that girl anymore."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Me, too," Kathy said. "Don't think I'd be here if I were. At least, not like this."

She could survive without it, she knew. But the world would lose a lot of its brightness.

"Thanks for helping me get here."

[rebelseekspizza]

"No problem," Dante said, smiling faintly. "Thanks for putting up with all my shit."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Oooh, that's right," Kathy teased. "You weren't always perfect, were you? Maybe I should stop thinking about how lucky I am that you decided to love me and start remembering how lucky you are that I did the same."

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante snickered. "Fucking brat," he said, fingers sliding down to... tickle her.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Nooo!" Kathy flailed, trying to get away. "Ugh, don't punish me for being right! It sends a bad message!"

One day she was going to win a tickle bout. One day.

[rebelseekspizza]

"Aw, no, am I brainwashing you right now?"

Dante's fingers were merciless.

[spin_kick_snap]

Why had she fallen for him again?

"Probably!" she declared, writhing under his hands to no avail. "Ugh, why are you the worst?!"

[rebelseekspizza]

"I am the best," Dante proclaimed. "You just said so."

[spin_kick_snap]

"And you called me cool when you were talking to tiny-me," Kathy protested, trying to wrap her legs around his arms to keep them still. "We both say things we don't mean!"

[rebelseekspizza]

"Aw, you were cool," Dante said, laughing a little as he retracted his hands in time to avoid her thighs. "In a tiny, nerdy Kathy sort of way."

[spin_kick_snap]

There were guys who would love to get Kathy's legs wrapped around them, Dante. So there.

"I'm still cool," she informed him. "In a larger, nerdy Kathy sort of way."

[rebelseekspizza]

"A lot sexier though," Dante said, patting one of those thighs.

[spin_kick_snap]

"And capable of actually swearing," Kathy said, laughing. "Did you know, I'd actually forgotten that I used to say 'oh fish'? Might have to try to bring that back."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Really scared the shit outta me with that potty mouth," Dante said, snickering loudly. "Gotta flush that fish out."

[spin_kick_snap]

"It served a purpose and meant I didn't have to chew peppercorns," Kathy said, laughing. "Don't judge me for being creative!"

[rebelseekspizza]

"They actually made you chew peppercorns?" Dante said, frowning.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Yeah?" Kathy said, like she hadn't realized it was a normal thing. "Putting soap in your mouth is bad for you."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Jesus fuckin' Christ," Dante said.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy frowned. "...This is like the time I told you about my phone call from my grandma, isn't it," she guessed.

...She needed to stop telling 'funny family anecdotes.'

[rebelseekspizza]

"Pretty sure shit like that is illegal," Dante said. "Or should be."

[spin_kick_snap]

"It wasn't hitting," Kathy said quietly. "That's where they drew the line. If it wasn't hitting, then it was okay. Because if it wasn't hitting then it couldn't be that bad."

[rebelseekspizza]

"It is that bad," Dante said quietly.

At least with him, he'd known the demons were fucked up. (Though sometimes he'd wondered if he was the one who was fucked up.)