Time to Fall

Chapter Ten: Days of Summer

Tom blinked awake. That was odd. There was no headache this time. In fact... he felt really good. Sturdy on the ground, head clear. He guessed he probably had Webby to thank for that. He looked down to his feet. His shoes were even cleaner than when he'd gone. In fact, everything that he could see looked brand-spanking new. And he felt... clean. Maybe he had just been clean when he went. He had no clue. He hadn't even noticed how dirty he had felt.

He took a moment just to breathe. They'd really done all that. But... now it was over. He was back home. It was Tim's birthday. He had his son back. And... they were gonna spend a birthday together. With Emma, and Paul, and... Connie. He was finally gonna spend some good, peaceful, stress-free time with Connie without having to worry about what came next. Then he remembered what had happened with Connie. What Connie had done. Where was she? Then he remembered he was staring down at his feet and not in any direction where he could see her.

God, what if she hadn't made it back? What if Tinky had tricked them all? Then again, would that even possible? He didn't know how things were wherever the hell Tinky lived. He hoped not. God, if after all of this Connie was damned... he'd need some serious help. Because more than ever before, he loved and appreciated his little sister. How could he not? He didn't understand most of what had gone on, but he did understand that his sister had done a hell of a lot for him. She'd done a hell of a lot because she loved him unconditionally.

He loved her unconditionally too. He always had, and he always would. She was his little sister. And he was glad they'd cleared things up between them. That they'd talked about how much they loved each other. That they were on good terms. He froze again, having gotten so lost down that track that he nearly forgot that he wasn't even sure if she'd made it back. He sighed. He knew what he had to do now, and he just hoped to god that through doing it... he wasn't going to do any damage to himself. Half of him almost wanted to keep looking down just incase. But he took a deep breath and looked up... and found himself staring into Connie's eyes.

There was something different about her eyes now though. They were a bit lighter for one thing, with little gold flecks in them. Had those always been there? Maybe. But... they also looked older. Not... appearance wise. No. God, no. She looked as good as ever. Just the same as she'd been when all of this had started. She even still had the purple lips. But... sometimes you can just look at someone and know that they'd seen a lot. Maybe it was wisdom he was seeing and not age.

Regardless... she was beaming. And he was beaming. And the hourglass was no longer in their hands, thank god. They didn't need it. Not in the slightest. They hugged each other tightly, sighing one huge sigh of relief. They were home, together, and safe. At the end of the day... that was really all they needed. It would've been nice to have Jane, but... that clearly wasn't going to happen. She was gone. And... she had to be gone.

"Connie..." Tom chuckled.

"Hey, Tommy..." Connie sighed.

"You were right..." Tom grinned. "You were able to pay the debt, and you're here! You're okay!"

"Yeah... he's not so bad. Just lonely. And actually... I had a good time." Connie admitted. "The entire millenia..."

"Millenia?" Tom blinked. "That's like..."

"A thousand years... yeah." Connie sighed. "But, um... I had memories of you I could watch over and over. And Tinky is surprisingly good company. Sometimes a bit too... there. That's half of why making the sands of time took so long. But... good company."

"A thousand years..." Tom breathed. "You're over a thousand years old?"

"Well, time is a relative concept where I was, so... kinda?" Connie bit her lip. "It wasn't as bad as you think."