The Battle Across The Universe

Chapter 17: Back To Earth

Anna-Marie, Lan, and Isabella went outside, and sure enough Fawn was waiting for them.

"Um, why was there yelling?" Fawn asked.

"Oh," Anna-Marie smiled shyly. "No reason."

"What took you guys so long?" Fawn asked.

"Oh, we were just saying our good-byes," Isabella answered.

"Yeah," Lan agreed. "We were totally talking about you since you got out of the room."

Fawn dropped her jaw. "Was it all good at least?"

"No," Lan answered.

"Lan!" Isabella yelled. "You little bitch! No, Fawn. We didn't talk about you."

Fawn smiled. "Okay. I wouldn't have cared anyway." Fawn shrugged, and started heading towards the spaceship.

Anna-Marie looked at Isabella and winked. The three girls then started following Fawn back to the spaceship.

Once they took off to go back to Earth the girls started talking.

"Hey, Anna?" Fawn asked.

"Hm?"

"Um, just wondering, but why is your name Anna-Marie?"

"Oh," Anna-Marie answered, looking at the ground with a small smile. "Um, it's a...it's a kinda sad story, if you don't mind me telling it." Anna-Marie looked up, her three besties looking at her, waiting for her to tell her story.

"Well," Anna-Marie sighed, "it started hundreds of years ago. My family knows this story because...somebody, I don't know who the fuck did it, but somebody wrote the story down somewhere, so my family's known it for a while. Um, my ancestor, Kathleen, remember her? She, um...when she was young, like elementary school, I think, she had a little sister. Who's name was Anna Marie, not as one full name, I think. But, uh...on the day Anna Marie was born she died. She was premature. And, uh, my parents named me after her as a tribute. They basically were honoring the little girl who didn't get to have a life, so that in a way...she could."

Anna-Marie's eyes were tearing up. "And, um...I don't understand how you could lose a sibling and you can just carry on with your life, and even go on to be famous! Like that's-that's just... I don't understand how she did it."

Fawn straightened up. "Anna? Are you still upset about Megan? I mean...obviously you are. But I mean...presently?"

Anna-Marie nodded, tears still in her eyes. "Yes. I am. I loved my sister. Very much. I knew her for fourteen years. I loved her. I still do... I mean, yeah, we fought like sisters do –"

"I can vouch for that," Isabella said with a smile, putting her pointer finger up and looking at Fawn.

"– but we still loved each other," Anna-Marie continued. "I mean...that, to me, is what makes Joseph such a fucking...dickhead, douchebag, shithead, shitdick. Or, to quote Lan, 'motherfucking bitch ass –'"

"Yeah, yeah," Lan interrupted. "We all know what I said. I'm not proud that I said that."

"But it's true! That's exactly what he should be called. I mean...to me, personally...what makes a bad villain is to tear apart a family. An even worse villain to kill a child. So that's why I want to f**king kill Joseph. And I will. I don't-I don't f**king care that he has a wife and two kids. Well, kinda. I will kill him. No child should die before their parents. Not. A. Single. One. No one should know the pain of loosing a child, or a sibling. You just shouldn't."

All the girls were silent.

"Now," Anna-Marie continued, wiping the tears off of her face, "if you excuse me, I'm going to lay down." Anna-Marie walked out of the room. And everybody was silent afterwards.

~~~~

The four girls finally arrived back to planet Earth. The girls were in Anna-Marie's backyard, resting for a second.

"Anna?!" Kaetlyn yelled from the house. "Oh, Anna!" She ran outside to her daughter and hugged her.

"Hey, Mom," Anna-Marie said quietly.

Lan turned to Isabella and Fawn. "Well, I should probably go see my parents and siblings."

"What about Li and Flower?" Isabella asked, her Spanish accent sounding a bit thicker with that sentence.

"I'll see them afterwards. My parents are usually more worried."

"Okay," Fawn said. "Bye! See you tomorrow!" Fawn hugged Lan.

"'Kay! Bye!" Lan left to go to her mother's house.

Isabella kissed the top of Fawn's head. "I'm gonna go to my Papa and siblings. I'm sure they'll want to know about Mama and her kids."

Fawn smiled up at Isabella. "Of course, Bella." She went on her toes and lightly kissed Isabella. "Go on ahead. I'm gonna go see my mom. I'll meet you back at the house."

"Okay, sweetie." Isabella walked away.

Fawn sighed. She decided to go down to her mother's house. When she got there she knocked on the door. No one came to the door. She knocked again. Her mother still didn't come.

"Hello?!" Fawn yelled. She opened the door and went inside. She heard her mother talking to somebody and the noise was coming from the dining room.

"– if Fawn found out she might be furious," Fawn's mother said. "Or...or she might be ecstatic. Either way she'll overreact..."

"I'll overreact about what?" Fawn asked as she stepped into the dining room. She saw her mother sitting towards the end of the table, and she was talking to a young black male a little older than Fawn who was sitting at the end of the table.

"Oh. Fawn!" Marissa said. She got up and hugged her daughter. When she was done, she gestured at the man. "Fawn, this is Tyler. Tyler, this is Fawn."

"Hello, Fawn," Tyler said with a smile. He stood up, and put his hand out. Fawn shook it wearily.

"What will I overreact about?" Fawn asked her mother again.

Marissa sighed. "Well..."

"I don't understand why you never told her about us," Tyler interrupted.

"Us?" Fawn asked.

"Yeah," Tyler answered. "I have a twin sister. Layla."

"Oookay. And what does that have to do with anything?"

Marissa looked at Tyler.

Tyler sighed. "I'll tell her." Tyler faced Fawn. "I'm your brother."