Mostly Normal: Only Half of the Story

(Rio) Act Six, Scene One

Rio and his friends had started to get bored again, so they'd restarted their initial game of Add A Tomato. By the time they reached the main road to Utah, they were laughing so hard they were crying.

Rio sighed and tried to nurse his aching ribs with his arm, "Guys, I think we're almost there!" Taka said as another blast of freezing air shot past them.

Salvador sighed and then pinned his bangs up with a Hello Kitty barrette. Rio and Taka snickered at this and they continued on the way.

Once the trio had made it over the mountain pass, they had to stop for a moment and gaze at the sight of the hidden valley that lay before them. Rio gaped for a few more minutes before Taka pulled him down the hill with Salvador in the lead.

The three boys were silent for a while, but when they'd been staring for a bit Taka started up the game again. "Think of something amazing," he said, "really amazing."

"Okay," said Rio and Salvador immediately, "got it."

"Now think of something even more amazing."

"Yep," said the other two boys in unison.

"Now add a tomato."

The boys tittered slightly, but they were too awed by this valley to do much more than that.

Taka finally sighed and muttered a spell before grabbing both of the other boys' hands. After a near blinding flash of light, they were in the valley below, standing in front of what looked like a rather old, beaten up house.

"Does Hakizimana really live here?" Taka asked with a frown.

"I don't know, you brought us here," Rio snarked playfully.

"Calm down ladies, we should just go inside and check," Salvador teased further.

"What are you checking for?" an impossibly familiar voice asked from behind them.

Rio gasped and turned. Behind the trio of boys stood his previously deceased sister.

"Ara?" he gasped. She had a single tear slipping down her cheek as she rushed over to her brother. They wrapped their arms around each other in a display of sibling love.

"I'm sorry," Ara apologized.

"Don't apologize, I saw what mightn't happened," Rio said as he stroked her back comfortingly.

Taka sniffled slightly and smiled. "Think of the most touching moment you've ever seen," he murmured to Salvador, "and think of something even more touching."

Salvador wiped a tear from his face. "Okay," he said, waiting for the tomato punchline, but instead Taka said, "and this is that second one."

Salvador smiled, relieved that Taka hadn't ruined the moment.

Suddenly two young boys dropped out of the sky. Dark magic went everywhere, causing Taka to near scream out a protection spell. Elliot stepped off of Quinn. "Ara?" he asked.

When he saw that it was indeed his sister, he ran over and started sobbing as he hugged his sister.

Ara was crying in earnest now, holding both her half-brothers close in a group hug. Taka and Salvador stood off to the side awkwardly.

After a second, Taka rolled his dark eyes. "Okay, whatever," he muttered, then launched himself into the hug, wanting to be a part of the joy. Salvador sighed and muttered a curse, then reluctantly walked over and joined the embrace, too. The Janus kids didn't seem to mind, however; they included Rio's two friends with smiles and open arms, literally.