0 0 1 ━ [ 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘰𝘯 ]

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝟻𝟷: 𝙰𝚗 𝚄𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚁𝚎𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚘𝚗

After having been sent to the Byers' house in the Upside Down to deliver the message through the lights and then back to the day when her portal-making abilities had fully manifested, One wasn't sure where her portal would send her next, since it seemed that she didn't have a say in the matter. If there was some kind of pattern to the madness, she couldn't decipher it. She just wanted to get home.

One stepped foot off the cul-de-sac and into a patch of grass. Her foot recoiled for a moment as her mind flashed back to the blackened grass that had tried to swallow her whole in the Upside Down, but this grass was green and it danced with the wind rather than snaking through it, sniffing her out.

As One dropped her other foot into the soft grass, she exhaled a breath of relief. While her portal hadn't brought her back to Steve, Hopper, Eleven, and the party, it at least hadn't brought her to the Upside Down. Her eyes were met with a rainbow of wildflowers that floated on the green sea of grass billowing before her like tiny, colorful sailboats. They generated a powerful aroma that seeped into the air and traveled the expanse of the place, which seemed to go on until the tree line in the distance.

There were no buildings in sight. No other beings in sight. Or so One thought...

"Hello Sarah," an ethereal voice entered One's ears.

One turned to find a woman who she swore had not been there a moment ago. The woman had golden hair that twisted and twirled around her shoulders. Each strand seemed to defy the breeze that blew around them, instead swaying to their own symphony. Her bright blue eyes held their own oceans and One avoided looking into them too long for fear of drowning. A shining smile sat under a perfect nose and glowing cheeks.

She was beautiful. But more than that, she was familiar.

The gentle lines etched into the woman's features showed that she had aged, but One still recognized her. She had just seen her prior to the last portal she had stepped through.

"Mom?" One asked. Her foot hovered in mid-air as she struggled with whether to take a step forward or back. A small nod and smile from the woman confirmed the answer and settled One's foot back on the ground.

One struggled with a multitude of emotions in that moment. When Hopper had told her that her mother had moved away to live with another family, she was disappointed, but also a little relieved. One had barely had the emotional stability to reunite with one parent, let alone two. This was another person to love and lose and she didn't know whether her heart was strong enough to handle that again.

Diane moved towards One until she was standing right before her, the skirt of her light blue dress lapping around her feet like the tide receding from the shore. She then extended a hand and gently placed it on One's cheek. "You've been through so much, but I'm so proud of you."

One's tear-coated eyes moved from Diane's warm hand to her warm gaze. "I'm so tired," One whispered. "I just want to go home."

"And you will," Diane responded. "One day, I promise. But you aren't done yet, my dear."

"W-what do you mean?" One stammered in surprise as she pulled away from Diane's touch.

"The loop still needs to be completed and only you can do it, sweetheart," Diane answered somberly.

"The loop? What loop?"

"The destruction of what you call 'the Upside Down'."

"What--" One's words filled with heavy breaths and her hands clenched and unclenched at a similar pace. "I--I don't..."

"It's gone, my dear," Diane explained. The way she said it carried less weight than the way One received it. "You destroyed it."

One threw herself into her memories to find any evidence that what Diane said was true. There was a gap between when the ball of electricity she had created during her fight with James went off and when she awoke in the maw of the blackened grass that was filled with only whiteness. Could it really truly be gone?

"If it's gone...then what more is there to do?" One asked slowly as she continued to come to terms with the news.

"You've done so great on your own, but you've had some help during the way that you may not have realized. That help came from the future and the future is now."

One replayed Diane's words in her head until something finally clicked. The message her future self had sent her past self through the portal and the lights..."But I already did that. I told my past self that something was coming through the lights and then my past self opened a portal to the future where she learned what was coming."

Diane's face filled with another knowing smile. "I'm afraid there's more. And that's why I'm here; to guide you."

One stood with her mouth hanging open as she tried to comprehend what she was hearing. She adjusted her footing several times before speaking again. "If anything, shouldn't I go back in time and warn myself about James? Then I never would have gone back to the Upside Down and I'd still be with my friends and dad and El and..."

"And you wouldn't have destroyed the Upside Down," Diane continued with a small shake of her head and an apology in her eyes. "My ability allows me to see many different outcomes and this is the only way that you reunite with them. The only way that everyone is safe."

One didn't want to believe her. She wasn't even entirely sure if she could trust her, mother or not. When One shifted her gaze a certain way, she could almost see the faint outline of secrets hiding behind Diane's kind eyes and sweet smile, but she set her mouth in a silent line and continued to listen to what she had to say.

"The Upside Down is a cancerous sore that bleeds into the worlds around it. Your world wasn't the only world to be infiltrated by it," Diane continued. She seemed to contemplate whether to move closer to One but ultimately decided to give her her space. "It took from my world too, until we managed to shut the bridge between them. But it still seems to find its way. It's brought pain and destruction to so many, but you have brought, can bring, hope and peace. Not only to these worlds, but to yourself."

One's silence prompted Diane to continue speaking. "I know this is a lot for one person. I never wanted this for you. But I'll be here for you every step of the way. You won't be alone, you never were."

"I will see them again?" One asked at long last, not knowing what other words to say. She was too tired to argue or to ask any more questions.

Diane answered One with a simple nod and nothing more.

"Then what do I need to do?"

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