The Time Traveler

[Sarah Tintagyl]

She loved waking up early in the morning and starting out her window at the rolling hills in the distance and the apple orchards below her. It was like she was young again, a little girl, waking up in the warm bed at her grandparent's estate in Finland and staring out at the sun-bathed countryside. She would wake up, roll a few times on the soft mattress and then run downstairs in her night gown, two braids in her blonde hair, to breakfast and her grandmother would give her a big wet kiss on the cheek filling her plate with eggs, bacon, and such. It was a moment to die for, but at the same time, Sarah had various times like that and while perhaps this world had been good to her, looking around her she was growing more depressed by the day. Terra had been freed from Dranaggian prisons and since then had become a moderately successful female fighter in Australia's rising Fighting Competitions, Sarah disagreed of course, but then again, at least Terra wasn't burning down houses and joining the special forces of countries that persecuted Christians. A fighting competition, in hindsight, wasn't really all that bad. Heather had grown up, she was now a woman of twenty and highly active in Transvaaler local politics, perhaps a rising star? Sarah didn't know. What she did know was that the young girl had already moved out from the ranch and was living in an apartment in Bloemfontein with a young Transvaaler who was equally geared to the political world. Her children were growing up and away, her husband? Well he was never around anymore so she got by entertaining guests from local ranches and relaxing with glasses of lemonade on the veranda.

The sun was bright that Thursday morning, Sarah dressed herself, barefoot, with a white sundress, her hair falling halfway down her back as she walked out towards the orchards across her ranch. There was something calming about walking through the summer orchards, it wasn't harvest time yet, but some of the apples had already ripened and had fallen from the trees. She walked and felt the twigs and dried leaves snap against her feet, smiling as she clasped her hands behind her back and let a soft breeze blow through her hair. A few steps further Sarah could feel the red round orb under her foot, she stepped back and picked up the fallen fruit and grinned looking at it. Then with a twinkle in her eye, the apple slowly began to change. Starting from her hand, the apple began to whiten, not a white rot, but a white frost. It began to sparkle just like her crystal blue eyes, traveling up its skin, a crackling sound as the fruit froze over and finally, Sarah held in her hand a sparkling crystal apple. Nodding, she brought it to her mouth and bit down. The taste was just as she remembered it, all of its sugar, its sweetness, amplified in the ice. She turned again and almost dropped the apple when she saw a figure in front of her, staring, but after realizing who it was, she returned to normal, smiled and sat down against one of the trees to finish her fruit. "You always loved sneaking up on me, even back in Valkurheim, I would be sleeping peacefully, and you would wake me up by standing over me. Honestly Hannah, you need to be a bit louder with your entrances."

The Australian Queen who had been staying with the Former Lady Protector for a few days just shook her head. "And its never hard to know when you're going to do something you aren't supposed to do, when you run off secretly and don't tell anyone where you're going."

Sarah happily bit down into the fruit again. "Oh c'mon, have some fun. After all, no one else in the world knows how to."

Hannah shook her head. "And you've been alive for how long and yet your maturity level is nothing better than a twenty year old girl who is never going to learn to grow up." The Queen spoke the truth, in addition to that, she could see the truth with her own eyes. Even if Sarah never put makeup or perfume on, she hadn't aged a day since twenty-four and she was what now? Fifty? "I thought you were going to give up magic. That it didn't do anything for your reputation. You know, White Witch and all."

"They do love that name don't they." The girl took another bite.

"Not as much as you do." Hannah chuckled. "You've created quite the mess, you know that right Sarah? Messes that I and a lot of other people are going to have to deal with for the next few years."

The witch waved her hand and scoffed. "Anyone could tell that things happen like that. Haven't you ever re-" Sarah stopped and laughed. "No, I guess you wouldn't have read a World History Book, at least the one I'm referring to. But think Hannah, all history does is repeat itself, of course, once you figure that out and you realize that its just the same stuff over and over and you really aren't getting anything out of it. The history might as well just get forgotten. Rather make my own history."

"Make your own history?"

Sarah jumped up. "Exactly. I made my history here, you made yours, and so forth. Well you'll still be making yours, I just won't have the effect like I normally had, on you at least."

Hannah's eyes narrowed curiously. "I'm not sure I follow."

"You aren't going to, trust me, you don't want to try and wrap your head around this."

"I think I can try, when your best friend is a witch that enslaved a fourth..."

"Half."

"Half...of the world with charms, I think I can try."

"Well then." Sarah dropped the frozen apple to the ground and placed a hand on Hannah's shoulder, it was frightfully cold, though strange enough, it was a calming chill. Like a cold shower after a hard day of work. "There's a whole universe to explore, tons and tons of adventures to go on, continents to cross and leaders to serve. Or perhaps." She winked. "A leader to become." The witch sighed and turned around. "I have so many stories Hannah, I don't think I could tell all of them too you even if I tried and this was one of them. You know, the young girl that had the dozen suitors and destroyed the great hegemony of Europe. Trust me, its a great story to tell to your friends."

Hannah's eyes widened. "Okay, well maybe I don't understand totally."

Sarah smiled, ran over to the Queen and hugged her tightly. "Its not meant to be understood. Its just something that is. I'm sure I'll be back though, there's just nothing really here for me anymore."

Hannah closed her hands. "Wait...leaving...?"

The Lady Protector nodded slowly. "Yeah...its just time for new horizons, uncharted waters and all that." Sarah looked up at Hannah and smiled. "I'm going to miss you Hannah. You were a great friend and who knows, for someone like you. I might very well be back."

The Queen closed her eyes to hold back tears, as strange as it was, it felt like she was losing a daughter herself, even if Sarah was technically older than her. She sure as all truth didn't seem like it. "Where are you planning on going though?"

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sT9ReWDV0IU&feature=related"]To The Furthest Horizon[/url]

"No clue, I'll figure that out when I get there. Just play it by ear, you know." Sarah stepped away from the Queen and bowed. "I won't ever forget all of this Hannah, I promise you and truth be told. I don't think you will either." Suddenly, there was a great wind from the north that blew through the orchards, soon it became stronger as snowflakes whirled around Sarah's body as she became harder and harder to see, becoming lost in the whirlwind of flakes and finally the storm stopped and Sarah had vanished, the only thing laying on the ground that she had ever been there in the first place. A small sapphire snowflake that rested on the soft grass of the orchard. Hannah walked over and picked it up in her hands. It was still cold to the touch.

"The White Witch indeed..."

---

Later that night it was a crystal clear night in Brisbane. The stars twinkled in the sky as the Hanseatic citizens of the old Commonwealth capital went about their normal summer evening. Lovers walked the streets and parks, music lightly came from the conservatories, and old men talked over cups of coffee and tea at the cafes. Then something odd, one little girl walking down the street with her mother felt something cold on her nose. She wiped her nose and looked at the drop in her hand, it was cold. "Mommy, look. A snowflake."

"Sweetie, its summer, there's no..." The mother stopped as she felt the same cooling sensation on her nose. "My heavens." She said looking up at the sky and watched as hundreds of snowflakes began falling from the stars.

The entire city seemed to stop for a moment, people poured out from the theatres, the symphony halls, the salons and cafes, lovers in the park continued their waltz as flakes graced their eyes. Whilst weather companies phoned Darwin, Perth, and Adelaide, is it snowing where you are? No? The only place it snowed was Brisbane. Everyone was stunned and it snowed much of the night, beautiful sparkling snowflakes dancing down from the sky and shimmering on the ground. A phenomena beyond anyone had ever seen before in their lives........and...if you listened close enough, you could almost hear the sound of a young woman laughing joyfully, dancing among the flakes.

[Subtleknifewielder]

"What the...?" The man turned a puzzled glance to the sky. Despite the age evident in his grey hair and careworn face, his eyesight was not one iota diminished from the perfect clarity of his childhood, and it was an easy thing to note the distinct lack of anything in the sky that could produce the phenomenon. For half a second, he stared, transfixed, before hurriedly glancing back down. His eyes fell on his young charge, a little boy barely age two. The boy was as fascinated as he had been, and stuck out a hand to try and catch one of the falling snoflakes, only to have it melt in his hand.

At that point, the boy met the gaze of the man, staring at him questioningly.

Only a few feet behind them along the sidewalk, a similar exhange of curiosity was taking place between a young girl and the woman with her. A girl, that as it happened, was the same age as the boy, and her guardian wore the uniform of a Lillian Guard.

"What is it, 'Lissa?" the girl asked.

The Lillian smiled as she answered. "Snow, Alice. It's snow."

Already, several nearby pedestrians were making good 'use' of the unexpected gift to Brisbane--an impromptu snowball fight had broken out in the nearby park, and in front of one house, an American visitor was showing her Welsh hosts how to go about making a snowman.

Seeing the activity, the grey eyes of the young Lillian twinkled, holding a single finger to her lip as she winked at the girl she was escorting, then bending down and picking up a handful of snow. Quietly, softly, she tip-toed toward the older man, stepping carefully so as not to crunch the snow underneath her boot, then all at once grabbed the man's collar and shoved the handfull of snow down the back of his shirt.

The reaction was priceless as she jumped back out of his reach. If she hadn't, she might have caught a backhand to the face. Wide eyes met hers as she laughed, a light, airy sound that spread. First the children began to giggle, then some of those around began to chuckle, and finally, even the older man began smiling...though it was more of a smirk as he bent down to collect a handful of the feathery-light material himself. "So, Melissa, trying to surprise your Father?" He whispered in the boy's ear as he collected more snow and compacted it.

"Watch, Thomas. This is what you do with snow." With blurring speed belying his older appearance, he hurled the ball directly at Melissa, which despite her preparedness, caughtet her directly in the face.

The children watched with intense fascination, and a little trepidation, as she wiped the remnants of the erstwhile missile off, but they broke into giggles again when they saw that their guardian had not minded. It wasn't long before the street became a source of laughter and merriment, as father and daughter hurled their harmless ammunition at each other, and joined soon by both their charges and others around them.