Between Then & Now // Hugh Jackman

12 // Missing Pieces

Astrid's visit was short-lived. At least that was what it felt like. She must have been there for an hour or two before Alana dragged her off to who knows where. I thought she'd take Hugh with her, but with her sister around, I don't think I cared that much right then, which was fine by me.

I enjoyed Hugh's company. It was comforting, especially with how disoriented and conflicted I felt about seeing my mother like this. It was kind of nostalgic, but with her gone for the night, I was worried about the possible consequences that would come from meeting and talking with her.

She would be here tomorrow until she flew back to New York City. I found out that eight years after my mom was born, her parents, my grandparents, moved to Australia where Alana was raised. When my mom graduated high school, she moved back to NYC to attend university. It wasn't that complicated of a history, but still, the difference in their accents was off-putting.

Nonetheless, it was healing to be able to connect with my mom in this way, but I wondered if it could disrupt the timeline or if it already had.

Hugh and I finished cleaning up, putting the chips away we grabbed earlier. I remained in the kitchen while he went to the bathroom, leaning against the counter, absentmindedly fiddling with the wristwatch as I worried about what things I could have altered.

As my fingers ran over the face of the watch, I noticed something about it was off when I felt a dip in the silver where there shouldn't be.

I brought the watch closer and carefully examined it, realizing one of the small blue stones was missing.

What the hell? Where did it go? Did it fall out?

I frantically retraced my steps, searching the floor and the couch where I had been sitting, but found nothing. Where could it have gone?

If I had dropped it, I would've found it.

Then how did it disappear? 

A thought crossed my mind. Maybe the stone wasn't just ornamental. Maybe it was like the button and the hands of the clock. It could be part of the mechanism and why it wasn't currently working.

The watch wasn't as heavy as before, but it was now unbalanced with an evident gap. I recalled earlier when all the stones had been there. All seven of them.

Was the watch reacting to the changes I was making by being here? If that were true, why hadn't they already started disappearing? Were the altercations too miniscule then?

That would mean something important that was supposed to happen just shifted. Based on how the stone was here before I met my mom and gone after I talked with her, it couldn't be a coincidence.

The stone disappeared because of my actions.

Time was unraveling. This had to be a warning that my presence in the past was beginning to cause impactful consequences. The urgency to fix this before I created larger rifts in the timeline came back with a rush.

I needed to learn more about this watch. There had to be something more going on, something I was missing. 

When Hugh came back, I tried to mask my fear, but I was mentally distracted even as he tried to talk to me.

"Alright, Ice Hale, serious question," He paused for dramatic effect, using it to bring me out of my thoughts.

"Would you rather fight one giant duck or a hundred duck-sized kangaroos?"

I glanced up at him, confused as to why he would ask that. "What?"

He gave me a dead serious look. "You heard me. One giant, terrifying duck. Or a hundred tiny, hopping kangaroos. Choose one."