With Fear or Without

63- The Weirdest Nap Ever

That Monday at school was worse than the day after they met Cassian. They were even more distracted, even more aware of Rowana's absence.

Most of the day was fine, and Cleo was able to distract herself by, well, paying attention in class. Math and history lectures, it turns out, were the perfect thing to get her mind off everything.

But her later class didn't have that distraction. Her stage crew class was having a light day, which meant quite a bit of sitting around. Sitting around was not something Cleo wanted to be doing.

"Cleo! We're playing Paranoia, wanna play?"

Cleo stopped swinging her legs off the side of the stage and looked out at the small group of her classmates sitting in the audience. Maddie, a wide-eyed, energetic and jumpy freshman, was looking at her expectantly.

"Oh, um..." Cleo swallowed. "Not right now, thanks though."

"C'mon! We've gotta do something with our free time!" called Percy, a more senior member of the class who had gotten Cleo to play countless rounds of this game over the years.

"Mm, that's okay." Maddie said, looking up at Cleo. "Let us know if you wanna join, okay?"

"Sure," Cleo grinned.

As Maddie bounded off to explain the rules of the game to newbies, Cleo stood and retreated backstage. She liked it when it was empty almost as much as she liked when it was chaotic- actors running back and forth, crew members yelling in hushed voices, costumes and set pieces littering the space.

But now it was quiet, and she yawned as she slid down to the floor, leaning her head against the corner of the wall beside the dressing rooms. Her lack of sleep the past three nights seemed to be catching up with her.

This time, she dreamt.

Except nothing was foggy or muddled in this dream. No, it was as clear as the real world. Cleo looked around, wondering how such a vivid place could possibly be a dream. She stood on a beach, her bare feet sinking into the soft sand. On one side of her flowed a deep blue river and natural plains beyond. On the other, a downtown metropolis rose to towering heights. The two worlds were split apart by the smallest strip of sand that flowed off into the river, the noon sunlight reflecting brilliantly off the clear waters.

As Cleo looked up and down the beach, a figure formed in the sunlight a couple feet from her.

The shimmering spot revealed a beautiful woman with brown complexion and perfect long wavy locks. The woman was dressed in creams and ivories; a silk top and 50's style high-waisted sailor shorts. Her hands were deep in her pockets as she gazed out over the clear rushing waters, letting the breeze flow through her hair.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" the woman asked. "How two places so different can coexist so naturally."

Cleo started, looking the woman up and down. The woman gave her a sideways look and an amused smile. She was enjoying this.

"Um...Who are you?" Cleo squinted at her, trying to figure out why this woman was vaguely familiar. Like a daydream she once had, the memory of it just out of reach.

The woman waited a couple seconds, then said, "I think you know the answer to that, Cleo."

Cleo blinked. A frown pulled at her face, a thought slowly coalescing in her head and becoming more plausible as she studied the woman. It made sense, but at the same time it didn't. How could she be here, wherever here was?

"So you're..." Cleo trailed off.

"Hope," the woman finished for her. "Nice to finally meet you in person."

The woman was definitely enjoying this. Her smile brightened at the way Cleo's eyes widened, how her shoulders straightened once she realized who this woman was. Hope.

Cleo had always thought that the ideas of Hope and Fear were mere... Well, ideas. Things and forces that people believed in despite never knowing for certain if they were real. Perhaps she believed it was faith that made these people talk about Hope and Fear as if they were true living beings. Well, apparently Hope was real and she was standing about two feet away from Cleo. And that realization was written all over Cleo's face.

The woman, Hope, simply turned back to the river, breathing in the lingering smell of the sea and listening with content to the sounds of the waves mingling with the sounds of traffic and movement from the city behind her.

"Where are we?" Cleo asked, her amazement making her voice breathy and light.

"We're in your dream," Hope explained, gesturing at the surroundings. "Welcome to your consciousness."

That definitely left Cleo speechless.

"It's your mind's... default, shall we say, setting for a dream," the woman continued. "So, naturally, this is where I meet you."

"Okay..." Cleo said slowly.

Hope laughed and took a step closer to her, her height rising just above Cleo's. "Cleo, you cannot give up hope," she said, grinning at the last word as if it was a coincidence that happened to her often.

Cleo looked up at her with desperation, and Hope could feel the sadness and guilt washing through her. It caused the sunlight to dim, the river to stop sparkling, the city to grow quieter.

"How?" she whispered.

"Hold on to each other," Hope said. "Forgive your friends. I know it's hard, but they need you. And you need them."

Cleo lowered her eyes, then nodded slowly.

Hope opened her mouth to continue, but Cleo spoke first, still facing her shoes.

"Can I ask you something?"

"I suppose that depends on the something."

"There's something I still don't... that still doesn't make sense," Cleo said, returning her eyes to the woman in front of her. "What happened to my locker?"

Hope smiled. A proud smile like she was immensely proud of this curious girl before her, still determined to find the truth.

"That was a time when my sister and I worked together- and that is a rare occurrence- but our collaboration allowed us to reach Earth, or "the real world,"" she added with air quotes, "and make that dream come true."

Cleo frowned again, processing yet another piece of information among the woman's words. "Your sister... You mean...?"

Hope nodded.

Another mind-blowing revelation of something she thought was belief being fact.

"Okay... but why?"

"Ah, well that is another question," she pointed out with a tilt of her head. "But I will say that, even with the hurt it caused, we could not let you end up anywhere but with the Goldari. Some things must happen in certain ways. Plus," she added with a playful smile, "there was a lethal weapon in your locker that was somewhat of a problem."

Cleo smiled back at that last comment, though her eyes were hesitant and wary. Even the hurt it caused... She couldn't think of anything that was more of an understatement.

"Cleo, there are a few people who still need your help."

She paused, running through a mental list of people really quickly before asking, "Who?"

"Those who came before you still live. You will need to find them. You and the others will need their help in the future."

Cleo's eyes widened and she connected the dots. The ones who came before her obviously meant... but she still didn't know their story, what happened to them. Still, she was glad to get some good news.

The sun blared brighter in response to her mood. The river's water became clear as crystal. The city bustled with life. The world got brighter and brighter. The woman stood smiling at Cleo with pride as the world was overcome with her returning hope.