Aegean Okra: A Christmas Story
Dec 25, 2019 22:31:09 GMT
Post by Deleted on Dec 25, 2019 22:31:09 GMT
Summary: Jodi Ortega is horrible with directions, Tacoma Spearing is a ghost, and the Ilex Forest has a Celebi in it. All three of these combine, leading to time-travelling shenanigans and reflections on the pair's past.
Author's Notes: if you haven't already read girl-like-substance's fic Ghost Town, read that before reading this. This is what that's based on. (It's also really, really good!) Minor content warning for strong language and references to death in this fic, because, y'know, ghosts.
This is my Yuletide fic for this year, for girl-like-substance; I had a lot of fun writing it -- the characters were great to work with, for one. The prompt I went with involved maps and terrain, and I figured that meant getting lost, so I figured the gang getting lost in the woods would be a fun prompt. Given how central the past is to Ghost Town, I decided to include Celebi in this... and it all kind of snowballed from there. I also used the opportunity to experiment with my writing style to give it a similar feel Ghost Town has. Alas, the music references got turned up to eleven this time around, because I have zero impulse control. (Like the title for example!)
Extra special thanks to fanfiction.net user SilverRockets for beta-reading this and making sure it captured that authentic feel; also, thanks to Minty and Dtmahanen for running such a wonderful Yuletide event, and of course, to girl-like-substance for writing the fic upon which this is based.
Jodi Ortega was many things: alive, in love with a ghost, and recovering from finding that her childhood town ran at the whims of an insane murder cult. One thing she wasn't was good with directions.
"We're not lost again, are we?" said Tacoma Spearing, the ghost she was in love with (and, in truth, the best with directions out of the two).
As it turns out, the whole 'murder cult' thing doesn't leave you very easily. It warps your perception of reality to the point you ask yourself, "do you know anything?" Sometimes it happens to leave the best friend from childhood you hadn't spoken to in years dead, too.
"No," she replied. "Well — yes, a bit, but it's fine. We might just have to stay here until the sun comes up, 's all."
It was actually fine, mostly. Being stuck anywhere overnight wasn't ideal, but it could've been worse than being stuck in the Ilex Forest. For one, day and night were nigh indistinguishable to almost everyone. Except for its Pokémon; at this time of night, everything was either asleep or a tiny, nocturnal thing. This rendered the night peaceful — and safe, too. Anything that dared stir had Lothian to answer to. The greatest danger was the cold, but a bit of frost hadn't stopped Jodi before. At worst it was a mild inconvenience. The alternative was going to a Ranger's cabin and calling the cops, two things she'd rather not have put the effort into for different reasons (and also, cops).
Tacoma felt it fair to have her say on this. "That's fine by me," she offered, "but at the very least I'd like to do some exploring. You know, if we're not gonna be able to get out of the forest tonight, we might as well?"
That was a good call, Jodi felt. The last time she'd been here was all the way back when she was years and years ago, all the way back when she was a trainer — and, as she'd remembered it, it was one of her favourite parts of all that. She'd spent some time wandering through the forest with her Pokémon, and Lothian had a great time here. It was so long ago and such a one-off thing that she really wasn't sure he still remembered, but then his all-grown-up self was having a great time anyway. (Even if he had to be dragged away from unrecognised berries from time to time.)
"You'll find no objections from me, my dear," she said, smiling. "What're we gonna do, get lost while we're already lost?"
It wasn't like they had anything better to do. She didn't. Not for the whole winter, aside from rest for uni in January; a great excuse to be with Tacoma. Christmas was all about being with loved ones, and there wasn't really anyone she loved more.
So she set off to explore the forest with her.
It was… dark, for one. She wasn't sure what she'd expected on that front, but it wasn't too dark. She knew where trees were and weren't, which was sufficient to just forge a path ahead (or to fumble through it with her cane, whichever worked). The ghostly, glowing Tacoma helped too; she lit up the surrounding forget-me-nots in all sorts of purples and greens as they passed through, and it made Jodi think. She wasn't a botanist nor were plants really her thing, so she'd never really paid attention to a forget-me-not before. She'd never known they were so beautiful, though. But then maybe that was just Tacoma's light bringing that out.
"Tacoma, would you like to know something?" is what she would have said here, and then she'd imagine Tacoma would say "What is it, m'dear?" and then Jodi would say "Did you know that you are so beautiful that you make even flowers more beautiful by existing near them?" were this not completely dumb and were she not a horrible romantic. So she settled on a simple, "Hey, those plants are nice."
"Yeah," Tacoma concurred, with a knowing smile.
Yeah, that worked well enough. Sometimes dumb little displays of affection felt more appropriate than the overblown big public ones. Even if Lothian was clearly jabbing her about it, and Nikole—
"Nikki, no!"
Tacoma's voice went hard as rocks that snapped the Kangaskhan back to Earth. Jodi looked over and saw the troublemaker dejected as she felt waves of disappointment wash over her. It was never a nice feeling, but it beat the alternative. Sure, picking flowers was a sweet thing, but that sweetness was best saved for something else. Something that didn't risk her getting carried away and distracted until she was lost too, and there'd be a whole hassle over finding her.
Unlike Jodi and Tacoma of course. They were polite enough to get lost without making a hassle of it, thank you very much.
Though there was something possibly hassle-worthy before them right now: a tree. One small enough to cut through and directly in their path, as though it'd just sprouted up to say "there's something beyond this point, and you can't see it, na-na-na-na-na." Now, she didn't want to be a nuisance, but if the chapter-house had taught Jodi anything it was that she needed to see whatever it was beyond that point. (It also taught her not to trust cops, and they probably didn't want her cutting this tree down over, so technically it was two-for-two!)
This was where Nikole's talents came in handy, ripping up plants bigger and uglier than flowers. "Tacoma, "would you be able to get your dear friend to get rid of this tree?"
"Sure," she said, finding the grin on Jodi's face either funny or adorable. "Nikki! Come chop down this tree, could you?"
Sometimes, Jodi thought, ambiguity was nice. Especially with emotions.
Nikki obliged, roaring like a delighted helper big enough to crush a truck, and the tree didn't stand a chance. One fell swoop and it was in their way no more, and it left the group free to proceed.
Proceed they did, and Jodi didn't regret that decision. Especially not when she saw what lay ahead of her.
The clearing they stumbled upon was traversable even without the light of a ghost. It was as though the trees had grown and parted around the wooden shrine without any interruption from man. As though the shrine was the whole point of the forest, not the trees. It was a tiny thing, about as small as Jodi, yet its presence betrayed its size. Ornate viridian markings carved with the gentlest of hands snaked up its crimson body like nature claiming its territory with the embrace of vines. Bouquets and roses lay strewn at its foot, from people who had accepted nature's claim and just came to celebrate the beauty of it. The presence of it, too; its sheer and massive beauty carried all the weight of a Goldenrod skyscraper. And all of Earth stood still around it; lit up in the clear moonlight, Tacoma, Lothi, even Nikole was captivated by it.
Almost all of Earth.
A dancer's silhouette waltzed from the trees in the light of the moon. It was a creature with tiny wings fluttering and its eyes as wide as time and blue as the sea settled on the traveller and her lover. It settled atop its shrine without a word, only with a knowing smile as its subjects stood mesmerised and useless at the sight, its skin like ripe green onions adorned gently in ribbons.
It could just have been her allergies, but Jodi's breath was harder to find now.
Tacoma didn't dare turn away from it for fear of disturbing the natural order, except within that natural order lay marvel. Something that was decidedly best off shared. "Jodi, this is… really something, isn't it?"
It was. It was many things; something Jodi had only heard about in myths but never seen, like mermaids or fairies. Something Jodi didn't believe actually existed until just now when it was looking straight at her. Something that she still wasn't wholly sure existed, because her eyes had lied to her before and her mutant brain was far from the most reliable one.
"It is." It was all she could muster until she had words more accurate. "I think that's a Celebi."
Her words floated through the air like verbal ballet dancers, inviting the creature before them to have this dance. To which Celebi obliged; with a flutter of its wings, it unravelled with a pirouette and extended its hand.
For the first time in a while, Jodi felt it. Somehow, her brain was the normal one here. The one in touch with reality, or some platonic ideal of it because reality was the one acting up now. If last Christmas had taught her anything, it was not to try and make sense of that. Not to try and change it either, but to accept it and make positives out of it. (Also not to trust cops and to trespass whenever necessary, which weren't always the most sound rules but they were her big takeaways. Look, it was a really weird Christmas, you just had to be there to get it; that probably meant this one couldn't be any weirder though.)
So she was just about ready to meet that graceful invitation with a dainty hand of her own, when she had a thought.
"Oh, er, if I take your hand," she asked the Celebi, "and we're going to some strange place, will Tacoma coming with me?"
Celebi didn't answer, it just looked at her expectantly with those moon-sized eyes. Tacoma took that as a cue to reply instead: "I think I would have to take the other hand, too."
"Right. Right, that's a good point." Celebi offered out its other hand in understanding and the two were ready to take it, until she had another thought. "'s that mean Lothi and Nikki won't be coming along, though?"
"Mmm, that's true." She was pensive as she looked to her massive lovely Kangaskhan who could usually be trusted when left unsupervised, probably. "Okay, Nikki; I'm probably gonna be gone for a few minutes, but I'll be back as soon as I can. Please don't worry about it, please be good, and please don't make a mess, okay?"
Nikki didn't really understand; it wasn't like "doing time travel real quick because it was an option" was the easiest concept to explain to her. But she agreed with what could feasibly be understood as a shrug. Lothian seemed to grasp it a bit better, sitting on his forelegs and keeping a close eye on Nikki just in case. Probably a closer one than necessary by any means, but Jodi couldn't help but appreciate the effort. "Thanks, you two. Tacoma, you ready?"
"Okay, on my count: one, two…"
Jodi and Tacoma took the Celebi's hands and left 1977 behind.
From all of her aimless browsing in the library as a kid, she remembered Celebi being an interesting subject. Two things Jodi remembered learning about Celebi ages ago were that a) Celebi was capable of travelling through time, and b) Celebi much preferred peaceful times. When she opened her eyes in new surroundings, she inferred that both of these had happened. When and where were still to be deduced.
She and Tacoma were indoors, for one. A real stroke of luck given what a pain Mahogany's snowy winters were; she'd take even the most rickety house over being out there freezing her skin off. With that being said, she really wasn't sure how this worked yet — was she there physically, or was she just an onlooking spirit á la Dickens? Whichever it was she was still feeling the sheer cold; it was lucky that she'd brought as many layers as she could muster to the forest, and she felt sorry for whoever's house she was in. But then she'd recognise those peeling plaster walls anywhere; the homely smell of cheap coffee and cigarette smoke, the inviting melodies of the finest krautrock Germany had to offer from the record player.
She doubled down on that sentiment of hers: given the choice of outside or in here, she'd take it. She'd take the most rickety bungalow, the one slowly falling apart with poor o but still staying together, the one behind the petrol station — the one inhabited by the town's most beloved (ostensible) cousins, a bastard Wingull, and a grease monkey's Clefairy. She'd take it with both hands.
Though actually, it'd be nice if Lothian were here to help lighten the load. Time travel was dependent on how many arms Celebi had, which was entirely arbitrary but it was the way things were, it seemed.
"Wow," said Tacoma, keeping her voice to a quiet just in case they could hear her over droning keyboards from outer space and nervy alien mumbling. She turned to the record player and the weird album sat on it — it was just a can of okra on a black background. She turned to it with the look of someone who was eating a lemon, before grimacing back at Jodi. "This is… terrible, isn't it?"
"Woof. Not sure I'm with you on that one, I'm afraid." Actually, Jodi was sure: she wasn't. But that was fine. There were things that Jodi and Tacoma naturally disagreed on, and krautrock was one of them. Even if Can was as good as krautrock got (and Ege Bamyasi was as good as Can got), Patsy Cline was much more up Tacoma's street, and that was fine! Patsy Cline really was wonderful; much more conventional than… this, and more pressingly, much better dancing music. (Which isn't to say you can't dance to Can, of course! It's just difficult.)
Tacoma wasn't the mind-reader here, but from the way she smiled at Jodi and her bag of whatever-the-fuck thoughts, that wasn't obvious. She bobbed her head in the direction of the next room anyway and asked, "Wanna see what those two are up to, then?"
Jodi just shrugged and smiled back. "Sure."
As she made her way to see Gabriella and Sam she noticed Celebi was fascinated by this strange music. So much so that it seemed forlorn, almost sad to leave. That was strange, she thought; of everything on that album, she hadn't imagined Soup was a Celebi's style. I'm So Green or Vitamin C she could see, but not really Soup.
She went into the next room and another question was answered: Sam and Gabriella couldn't see them. Which meant that they weren't physically there, though Jack was a bit too angry in her general direction to be certain of that. He was perched atop a stool at their tiny table wooden table and hadn't yet started biting anyone, which was fortunate. She wagered even a Celebi couldn't soothe the wrath of that foul beast. Morgan was on best behaviour, eagerly sat with her trainers by the Christmas tree sat in the corner and the presents strewn just under it. All three of them for the four in the room.
"Wonder who didn't make it onto Santa's good list this year," Jodi sneered. It got a laugh out of her companions and, as ready to attack as Jack was, he couldn't hear it. Nor could Sam and Gabriella, though she hoped they'd concur.
"So on the count of three we'll unwrap 'em together, right?" said Sam, to which Gabriella nodded with a smile on her made-up cheeks. Sam was smiling too, and so was Morgan — about to tear up the gift wrap like confetti. Jodi didn't want to be intrusive — good thing she physically couldn't read anyone's mind here — but she couldn't help but notice the present in Sam's hands was can-shaped, and the one in Gabriella's Can-shaped. (Tacoma rolled her eyes a little and honestly, so did Jodi. But in a good way. Like when you're presented with weirdo German prog or a really terrible pun you come up with.)
"One… two… three!"
The whole thing was over in seconds. Jodi's predictions were accurate; Gabriella had given Sam a comically large coffee can, full of that cheap-as-beans stuff the two called their lifeblood. On the other hand, Sam had given Gabriella a copy of the Can record released a year after the one playing in the other room. "Oh, huh! Future Days? Where did you find this?"
"In a record shop, my dear. I'm surprised we didn't already have it in, you know!"
"I'm… also surprised, actually; I really just assumed one of us had gotten round to that," Gabriella shrugged. "But that's something I look forward to hearing, anyway. Might be worth popping on and having the kids over for; one last time before they're off to uni next year."
Alright. Christmas, 1975. That's where they were, though Jodi still wasn't sure why exactly; it was hardly like it was the happiest time in her life. Back when she wasn't who she was now (though she still wasn't really who she wanted to be), back when Tacoma was still alive but neither of them had spoken in ages. Actually, that wasn't selfish of her, was it? She couldn't help but feel that it kind of was. Living was quite an important thing after all, and she had no doubt that Tacoma would have much rather had her body over a ghost's.
Sam's face wrinkled as though something was still to process, a blip in this world of hers. "Huh. Y'know, 'hadn't actually thought about that, but this is their last Christmas in this shithole, ain't it?"
"Well, they'll be coming back, Sam."
Oh, okay; now there was a blip in Jodi's world too. This was the last Christmas Tacoma was… well, alive for. That didn't really answer why they'd been taken here but was a bleak thought actually. She turned to Tacoma prepared to lend a hand, just in case things got uncomfortable.
"Aye, I know they will; it'll just… be a bit weird, not seeing either of 'em around town, won't it? At least until Christmas, anyway; can't imagine how their parents'll be feeling about all of this, too."
Gabriella just smiled, with her own things-are-fine smile. "Proud, I'd say. They're bright kids, and they finally get to get outta this place and make a name for themselves."
Jodi was really beginning to wonder why Celebi had brought them here, because this just didn't seem relevant to anything. Tacoma was taking it well, mind, but it was a weird situation and she was visibly aware of it. She put her arm around her and asked, "How are you holding up?"
"Fine," Tacoma said. "It is what it is, isn't it?"
"Yeah. Do you wanna go someplace else?"
"Not a bad idea." She sneered as she gestured to Gabriella's present, a sincere smirk on her face. "I'm not sticking around for more of that now, am I?"
"Pfff, suit yourself. Celebi, get us outta here."
With a snap of its fingers, the two were whisked away…
…to a small bedroom half taken up by a Kangaskhan. And an air of familiarity which Tacoma would've recognised anywhere, bringing with it a crumpled accordion's smile. Her bedroom was always in quite the state as she grew up; off-white paint crumbled off the walls, revealing smooth peeling plaster behind. The window closed as far as it could, bless its heart; it functioned in theory even if it left Tacoma cold sometimes. But then that was never an issue with Nikki there.
"Messy room, huh?" said Jodi, immediately before being hit by… a weird feeling.
Tacoma looked at the strewn out pillows across the floor, the unkempt bed she'd been too tired to make, the mess of papers and pencils and half-finished school work all over the desk. Then at the time — about half-past six. Then, slowly, at the mass of curls and limbs cuddled up against it; and the absence of an eaten Christmas dinner. She smiled, but she didn't know who she was trying to fool. "Huh—" something was stuck — "haha, yeah…"
She tried not to choke as she cleared her throat, but Jodi sensed perhaps she needed a bit of support. She wasn't about to let Tacoma choke after all — so she put her arm around her and squeezed, bringing Tacoma's shoulder into her warm chest. "Hey, it's okay."
Only when Tacoma was sure nothing was in the way did she respond. "Th-thank you."
"No problem," she replied warmly. A warmth not quite shared so much in her glance at Celebi, when she threw her head back as if to say 'come and look at what you did' — to which it obliged as if bound by duty. "Is, uhh… do you remember when this was, exactly?"
"Err… I can't say I do. Well, I mean — not exactly, anyway, err… I would be lying if I said I could point out which Christmas this was exactly," she sighed. "This — all of it, it wasn't really a one-time thing, you know? There were a few Christmases I spent just… like this."
Jodi nodded without a word to add. It made sense, as much as it hurt to admit — and she definitely empathised. Christmas at its very core is a time for togetherness, where you're supposed to visit your loved ones and let them know how much you love them and get the privilege of love in return. Which is great. If you have love to give and love to get. With Tacoma, and with herself, growing up… she found that a more scarce commodity than it should have been.
Still, neither of them were alone now. With a warm smile, she brought Tacoma in a bit closer to her warmth.
"I'm sorry. I know that this isn't exactly the best way to spend your Christmas, lookin' after me and all — it's just, being back in my room… when I was a kid… I know this is a lot of stress you'd probably much rather… not."
"Don't be so silly." Jodi smiled, giving her a pat on the arm. "I can put up with anything if it's you, you know? It's really no problem at all — what kind of empath just watches as their loved ones suffer?"
"Yeah… I guess, yeah. Thanks."
"Besides — things got better, didn't they? You don't have to feel so alone this year, my love."
Tacoma reciprocated the smile at long last. Properly, anyway — hers was no longer this crumpled, sad old thing; it was genuine now. Genuine, real warmth radiated back at her. "Thank you."
"Of course."
Looking back at little Tacoma and the mass she found herself sleeping in, Jodi still couldn't help but feel sorry about it. There really was no use in lingering over the past, and the only reason they were doing it now was that they had been physically taken there. That didn't change that this wasn't any way to spend Christmas, alone and depressed — it wasn't really a way anyone deserved to be ever.
Then she had a thought.
"Celebi," she said, as stern as she could be to an ancient time fairy. "I'm curious: am I right in thinking that we're not in the same timeline that we're usually in?"
Celebi nodded.
"Uh-huh. So am I right in thinking that any action we take here… it won't affect how we — or, er, these versions of us — how we are currently?"
"Jodi, what are you getting at?" asked Tacoma, as Celebi nodded again.
"Tacoma… is there anything you want to say to yourself?"
"…What?"
"You don't have to, of course; not if you're not comfortable, but…" Jodi gestured to Nikki and little Tacoma on the bed. "I don't know. I just really hate seeing you like that on that bed, all alone."
"Yeah, but…"
Tacoma sighed, crouching to take a peek at her sad younger self. Truthfully, there wasn't a whole lot she had in common with herself, which was a truly weird thought: sure she was happier now, but then she was a ghost as well. What sort of message did that send? 'Hey, things get better for you, but you also get murdered — hang in there though, you'll be happy if it kills you!' How exactly was she to go about explaining why she was here either — 'sorry, I'm just time travelling right now, don't mind me?' There was too much to consider here, and knowing her, she wasn't in the right frame of mind to hear it.
She just sighed to Jodi. "I'm dead. What kind of message does that send to little me, that she gets happier as a ghost?"
"I could get around that, you know — she doesn't have to know that you're real. I could convince her… er, you? That this is all a dream, that none of it's real."
"So? I'm still dead."
"Oh my goodness," said Jodi, exasperation seeping out of every pore. "See, that's the thing, though: you're not!"
Again she sighed as though Jodi wasn't getting it. "But I am. I'm a ghost. And I'm only… what, three or four years younger here than I was when I died? Do I really want to do anything that tips her off that she gets murdered in a couple of years?"
Jodi took offense to this sigh, because actually, Tacoma wasn't the one getting it. "You might not have a body, but you're still very much alive, dammit — you can still walk, you can still talk, and you can still feel. You're here, now, and you're loved; by Nikki, by Lothi — hell, I love you, too! Is what we have less real than, say, Gabriella and Sam's thing? Because let me tell you, I'm happy — and I wouldn't trade us for the world."
Now Tacoma got it, for better or worse. If she had blood, it would've run up to her cheeks; she could barely look at Jodi with everything going through her head right then. She looked to Celebi, the arbiter of all this, for further comments — and Celebi just nodded slowly, smiling softly. She took a minute to process all of this — what she would say, what was going on, and what had just been said — before finally, she smiled back. "And I love you too, Jodi. Okay, Celebi, you mind if you let her see us?"
Celebi snapped its fingers.
"Alright. Now, let's wake little me up."
A success for Jodi, once again. She took a seat on the floor and her brain began to hum, as it did when hard at work; this time, her warmth lulled Tacoma's younger self into thinking she was still asleep as older Tacoma leaned in — trying not to disturb Nikki's slumber of course. She gently, gently reached out a hand and tapped her younger self on the shoulder until she woke up.
"Mm… whuh…"
"Hey," she smiled, not quite sure what to say next — Jodi gave her a thumbs up anyway. "Uh… don't worry about this, you're just dreaming. But I'm you if you were wondering. From the future. Just a bit older, that's all."
"Wh…? What are you…"
"Look — it's a long story, but I have a Celebi here if you want proof?"
"Uh…" she said, visibly deeply confused (which was fair) but roughly accepting of the little onion fairy in her room. "But… why?"
Tacoma threw the long story out of the window and decided that, actually, cutting to the chase was ideal here. "Look, me and my friend here — who… you'll recognise in due time, but you'll love her so much, because she's so fuckin' cool, and she's the best — we figured that… it's Christmas, you know? And that's no time to feel… well, like this."
"Well… yeah, but… I don't…" she mumbled, her voice as firm as tissue paper. "Why here? Why now?"
("Ask Celebi, you know about as much as we do" was an accurate answer.) "Because things'll get better, honestly; I swear. You may not think so now… but plenty of good times lay ahead of you — I promise. I know I did, and I loved them; even if times are hard — and trust me, times get pretty hard sometimes — it's worth hanging in there, you know? You'll find out a lot of things you don't really know about yourself. For example, that avalanche… it wasn't your fault. Jodi doesn't hate you, and you didn't ruin her life — and your parents love you more than you'll ever know. That's worth sticking around for, right?"
"Jodi…?"
"Right — you'll find that out soon enough. But, uhh… she's over there."
Jodi waved back at younger Tacoma. "Hello!" she whispered from across the room.
"…Right. Right. Um… so what do you want me to do about this, then?"
"Well… whenever you wake up — for real — let Nikki know you love her. Go hug your parents. Finish off your Christmas dinner. Just… let everything sink in, you know?"
"Uh-huh."
"Also, don't trust cops. Especially not Con. Trust me on this, it'll only come back to bite you."
"What?"
Tacoma decided it wasn't ideal to elaborate on that for now. "…Don't worry about it for now, okay, champ? Just as long as you feel better. I promise, not a word of what I've said is wrong."
"Uh… sure? Thanks, er — me."
"Any time. Hang in there, sport."
A little bit of a smile crept on younger Tacoma's face as she drifted off back to sleep, which was a win for all involved as far as Jodi was concerned. "Tacoma," she said as she turned that brain hum back off, "you did great."
"Thanks — couldn't have done it without you."
They hung on to their exchanged looks for seconds as nothing else interrupted them — and then, they both agreed, they'd had enough. "Celebi, this has been nice," said Jodi, "but I think I've had enough time travelling for one day. You wouldn't mind taking us back to the forest now, would you?"
With a nod from Celebi and a snap of its fingers, and they were off again.
As luck had it, Nikki had not made a mess of the lovely forest clearing; Lothian was a great guard bat after all. He pounced on his partner as she returned to 1977, as did Nikki — neither of them even cared about Celebi's presence as it fluttered in the air, hanging about its shrine. Jodi and Tacoma were a bit too preoccupied to say anything to it for the time being until the sweet reunion was over — and Jodi had her cane back. Standing straight, she turned back to Celebi and asked, "So… do you have anywhere else to be?"
Celebi just shrugged.
"Oh. Er… thanks, anyway! This was a time that was had by all, at least. Merry Christmas, I guess?"
Giggling to itself, the little onion fairy just fluttered over to her and planted a little peck on her forehead. Before she even registered what was going on, it flashed off to explore some different time.
"Jodi, what was that?" said Tacoma. "I'd best not have any competition now, just because Celebi can time travel…"
"What? Uh — well, it's hardly like even that could compete with you." Nice save, she thought to herself.
"Sure, you absolute dork."
"But… I do have a question," she sheepishly began, continuing only when she had the right way to phrase it. "Why didn't you tell yourself about the, uh… the whole ghost thing? Like, er — you could've said 'hey, don't take that rock from Keith?'"
"You said it yourself, didn't you? Just because I don't have a body doesn't mean I'm dead — and what we have here is very real, actually," Tacoma giggled. "So real, in fact, that I'd happily trade my body for it. And, er… the way last Christmas went down, it wasn't ideal, but… hey, look where we are now. I know I wouldn't trade that for the world either, and I'm happy, too."
"Aww, that's sweet," she replied. Of course, if there were a way to have the best of both worlds — Tacoma unmurdered while somehow still letting everything happen — Jodi would've been all over that, but that path didn't exist. What they had now was good enough, and there was no use in fretting over it because even if they were imperfect people, they were good enough for each other. And Tacoma was alive and wonderful now, and that was all that mattered.
"Can't believe you like Can, though," Tacoma chimed in. "Like, I love you and all, but… really?"
"At least they're not the Sex Pistols."
"Oh, that's true actually," she sneered. "Fuck the Sex Pistols."
Author's Notes: if you haven't already read girl-like-substance's fic Ghost Town, read that before reading this. This is what that's based on. (It's also really, really good!) Minor content warning for strong language and references to death in this fic, because, y'know, ghosts.
This is my Yuletide fic for this year, for girl-like-substance; I had a lot of fun writing it -- the characters were great to work with, for one. The prompt I went with involved maps and terrain, and I figured that meant getting lost, so I figured the gang getting lost in the woods would be a fun prompt. Given how central the past is to Ghost Town, I decided to include Celebi in this... and it all kind of snowballed from there. I also used the opportunity to experiment with my writing style to give it a similar feel Ghost Town has. Alas, the music references got turned up to eleven this time around, because I have zero impulse control. (Like the title for example!)
Extra special thanks to fanfiction.net user SilverRockets for beta-reading this and making sure it captured that authentic feel; also, thanks to Minty and Dtmahanen for running such a wonderful Yuletide event, and of course, to girl-like-substance for writing the fic upon which this is based.
Jodi Ortega was many things: alive, in love with a ghost, and recovering from finding that her childhood town ran at the whims of an insane murder cult. One thing she wasn't was good with directions.
"We're not lost again, are we?" said Tacoma Spearing, the ghost she was in love with (and, in truth, the best with directions out of the two).
As it turns out, the whole 'murder cult' thing doesn't leave you very easily. It warps your perception of reality to the point you ask yourself, "do you know anything?" Sometimes it happens to leave the best friend from childhood you hadn't spoken to in years dead, too.
"No," she replied. "Well — yes, a bit, but it's fine. We might just have to stay here until the sun comes up, 's all."
It was actually fine, mostly. Being stuck anywhere overnight wasn't ideal, but it could've been worse than being stuck in the Ilex Forest. For one, day and night were nigh indistinguishable to almost everyone. Except for its Pokémon; at this time of night, everything was either asleep or a tiny, nocturnal thing. This rendered the night peaceful — and safe, too. Anything that dared stir had Lothian to answer to. The greatest danger was the cold, but a bit of frost hadn't stopped Jodi before. At worst it was a mild inconvenience. The alternative was going to a Ranger's cabin and calling the cops, two things she'd rather not have put the effort into for different reasons (and also, cops).
Tacoma felt it fair to have her say on this. "That's fine by me," she offered, "but at the very least I'd like to do some exploring. You know, if we're not gonna be able to get out of the forest tonight, we might as well?"
That was a good call, Jodi felt. The last time she'd been here was all the way back when she was years and years ago, all the way back when she was a trainer — and, as she'd remembered it, it was one of her favourite parts of all that. She'd spent some time wandering through the forest with her Pokémon, and Lothian had a great time here. It was so long ago and such a one-off thing that she really wasn't sure he still remembered, but then his all-grown-up self was having a great time anyway. (Even if he had to be dragged away from unrecognised berries from time to time.)
"You'll find no objections from me, my dear," she said, smiling. "What're we gonna do, get lost while we're already lost?"
It wasn't like they had anything better to do. She didn't. Not for the whole winter, aside from rest for uni in January; a great excuse to be with Tacoma. Christmas was all about being with loved ones, and there wasn't really anyone she loved more.
So she set off to explore the forest with her.
It was… dark, for one. She wasn't sure what she'd expected on that front, but it wasn't too dark. She knew where trees were and weren't, which was sufficient to just forge a path ahead (or to fumble through it with her cane, whichever worked). The ghostly, glowing Tacoma helped too; she lit up the surrounding forget-me-nots in all sorts of purples and greens as they passed through, and it made Jodi think. She wasn't a botanist nor were plants really her thing, so she'd never really paid attention to a forget-me-not before. She'd never known they were so beautiful, though. But then maybe that was just Tacoma's light bringing that out.
"Tacoma, would you like to know something?" is what she would have said here, and then she'd imagine Tacoma would say "What is it, m'dear?" and then Jodi would say "Did you know that you are so beautiful that you make even flowers more beautiful by existing near them?" were this not completely dumb and were she not a horrible romantic. So she settled on a simple, "Hey, those plants are nice."
"Yeah," Tacoma concurred, with a knowing smile.
Yeah, that worked well enough. Sometimes dumb little displays of affection felt more appropriate than the overblown big public ones. Even if Lothian was clearly jabbing her about it, and Nikole—
"Nikki, no!"
Tacoma's voice went hard as rocks that snapped the Kangaskhan back to Earth. Jodi looked over and saw the troublemaker dejected as she felt waves of disappointment wash over her. It was never a nice feeling, but it beat the alternative. Sure, picking flowers was a sweet thing, but that sweetness was best saved for something else. Something that didn't risk her getting carried away and distracted until she was lost too, and there'd be a whole hassle over finding her.
Unlike Jodi and Tacoma of course. They were polite enough to get lost without making a hassle of it, thank you very much.
Though there was something possibly hassle-worthy before them right now: a tree. One small enough to cut through and directly in their path, as though it'd just sprouted up to say "there's something beyond this point, and you can't see it, na-na-na-na-na." Now, she didn't want to be a nuisance, but if the chapter-house had taught Jodi anything it was that she needed to see whatever it was beyond that point. (It also taught her not to trust cops, and they probably didn't want her cutting this tree down over, so technically it was two-for-two!)
This was where Nikole's talents came in handy, ripping up plants bigger and uglier than flowers. "Tacoma, "would you be able to get your dear friend to get rid of this tree?"
"Sure," she said, finding the grin on Jodi's face either funny or adorable. "Nikki! Come chop down this tree, could you?"
Sometimes, Jodi thought, ambiguity was nice. Especially with emotions.
Nikki obliged, roaring like a delighted helper big enough to crush a truck, and the tree didn't stand a chance. One fell swoop and it was in their way no more, and it left the group free to proceed.
Proceed they did, and Jodi didn't regret that decision. Especially not when she saw what lay ahead of her.
The clearing they stumbled upon was traversable even without the light of a ghost. It was as though the trees had grown and parted around the wooden shrine without any interruption from man. As though the shrine was the whole point of the forest, not the trees. It was a tiny thing, about as small as Jodi, yet its presence betrayed its size. Ornate viridian markings carved with the gentlest of hands snaked up its crimson body like nature claiming its territory with the embrace of vines. Bouquets and roses lay strewn at its foot, from people who had accepted nature's claim and just came to celebrate the beauty of it. The presence of it, too; its sheer and massive beauty carried all the weight of a Goldenrod skyscraper. And all of Earth stood still around it; lit up in the clear moonlight, Tacoma, Lothi, even Nikole was captivated by it.
Almost all of Earth.
A dancer's silhouette waltzed from the trees in the light of the moon. It was a creature with tiny wings fluttering and its eyes as wide as time and blue as the sea settled on the traveller and her lover. It settled atop its shrine without a word, only with a knowing smile as its subjects stood mesmerised and useless at the sight, its skin like ripe green onions adorned gently in ribbons.
It could just have been her allergies, but Jodi's breath was harder to find now.
Tacoma didn't dare turn away from it for fear of disturbing the natural order, except within that natural order lay marvel. Something that was decidedly best off shared. "Jodi, this is… really something, isn't it?"
It was. It was many things; something Jodi had only heard about in myths but never seen, like mermaids or fairies. Something Jodi didn't believe actually existed until just now when it was looking straight at her. Something that she still wasn't wholly sure existed, because her eyes had lied to her before and her mutant brain was far from the most reliable one.
"It is." It was all she could muster until she had words more accurate. "I think that's a Celebi."
Her words floated through the air like verbal ballet dancers, inviting the creature before them to have this dance. To which Celebi obliged; with a flutter of its wings, it unravelled with a pirouette and extended its hand.
For the first time in a while, Jodi felt it. Somehow, her brain was the normal one here. The one in touch with reality, or some platonic ideal of it because reality was the one acting up now. If last Christmas had taught her anything, it was not to try and make sense of that. Not to try and change it either, but to accept it and make positives out of it. (Also not to trust cops and to trespass whenever necessary, which weren't always the most sound rules but they were her big takeaways. Look, it was a really weird Christmas, you just had to be there to get it; that probably meant this one couldn't be any weirder though.)
So she was just about ready to meet that graceful invitation with a dainty hand of her own, when she had a thought.
"Oh, er, if I take your hand," she asked the Celebi, "and we're going to some strange place, will Tacoma coming with me?"
Celebi didn't answer, it just looked at her expectantly with those moon-sized eyes. Tacoma took that as a cue to reply instead: "I think I would have to take the other hand, too."
"Right. Right, that's a good point." Celebi offered out its other hand in understanding and the two were ready to take it, until she had another thought. "'s that mean Lothi and Nikki won't be coming along, though?"
"Mmm, that's true." She was pensive as she looked to her massive lovely Kangaskhan who could usually be trusted when left unsupervised, probably. "Okay, Nikki; I'm probably gonna be gone for a few minutes, but I'll be back as soon as I can. Please don't worry about it, please be good, and please don't make a mess, okay?"
Nikki didn't really understand; it wasn't like "doing time travel real quick because it was an option" was the easiest concept to explain to her. But she agreed with what could feasibly be understood as a shrug. Lothian seemed to grasp it a bit better, sitting on his forelegs and keeping a close eye on Nikki just in case. Probably a closer one than necessary by any means, but Jodi couldn't help but appreciate the effort. "Thanks, you two. Tacoma, you ready?"
"Okay, on my count: one, two…"
Jodi and Tacoma took the Celebi's hands and left 1977 behind.
From all of her aimless browsing in the library as a kid, she remembered Celebi being an interesting subject. Two things Jodi remembered learning about Celebi ages ago were that a) Celebi was capable of travelling through time, and b) Celebi much preferred peaceful times. When she opened her eyes in new surroundings, she inferred that both of these had happened. When and where were still to be deduced.
She and Tacoma were indoors, for one. A real stroke of luck given what a pain Mahogany's snowy winters were; she'd take even the most rickety house over being out there freezing her skin off. With that being said, she really wasn't sure how this worked yet — was she there physically, or was she just an onlooking spirit á la Dickens? Whichever it was she was still feeling the sheer cold; it was lucky that she'd brought as many layers as she could muster to the forest, and she felt sorry for whoever's house she was in. But then she'd recognise those peeling plaster walls anywhere; the homely smell of cheap coffee and cigarette smoke, the inviting melodies of the finest krautrock Germany had to offer from the record player.
She doubled down on that sentiment of hers: given the choice of outside or in here, she'd take it. She'd take the most rickety bungalow, the one slowly falling apart with poor o but still staying together, the one behind the petrol station — the one inhabited by the town's most beloved (ostensible) cousins, a bastard Wingull, and a grease monkey's Clefairy. She'd take it with both hands.
Though actually, it'd be nice if Lothian were here to help lighten the load. Time travel was dependent on how many arms Celebi had, which was entirely arbitrary but it was the way things were, it seemed.
"Wow," said Tacoma, keeping her voice to a quiet just in case they could hear her over droning keyboards from outer space and nervy alien mumbling. She turned to the record player and the weird album sat on it — it was just a can of okra on a black background. She turned to it with the look of someone who was eating a lemon, before grimacing back at Jodi. "This is… terrible, isn't it?"
"Woof. Not sure I'm with you on that one, I'm afraid." Actually, Jodi was sure: she wasn't. But that was fine. There were things that Jodi and Tacoma naturally disagreed on, and krautrock was one of them. Even if Can was as good as krautrock got (and Ege Bamyasi was as good as Can got), Patsy Cline was much more up Tacoma's street, and that was fine! Patsy Cline really was wonderful; much more conventional than… this, and more pressingly, much better dancing music. (Which isn't to say you can't dance to Can, of course! It's just difficult.)
Tacoma wasn't the mind-reader here, but from the way she smiled at Jodi and her bag of whatever-the-fuck thoughts, that wasn't obvious. She bobbed her head in the direction of the next room anyway and asked, "Wanna see what those two are up to, then?"
Jodi just shrugged and smiled back. "Sure."
As she made her way to see Gabriella and Sam she noticed Celebi was fascinated by this strange music. So much so that it seemed forlorn, almost sad to leave. That was strange, she thought; of everything on that album, she hadn't imagined Soup was a Celebi's style. I'm So Green or Vitamin C she could see, but not really Soup.
She went into the next room and another question was answered: Sam and Gabriella couldn't see them. Which meant that they weren't physically there, though Jack was a bit too angry in her general direction to be certain of that. He was perched atop a stool at their tiny table wooden table and hadn't yet started biting anyone, which was fortunate. She wagered even a Celebi couldn't soothe the wrath of that foul beast. Morgan was on best behaviour, eagerly sat with her trainers by the Christmas tree sat in the corner and the presents strewn just under it. All three of them for the four in the room.
"Wonder who didn't make it onto Santa's good list this year," Jodi sneered. It got a laugh out of her companions and, as ready to attack as Jack was, he couldn't hear it. Nor could Sam and Gabriella, though she hoped they'd concur.
"So on the count of three we'll unwrap 'em together, right?" said Sam, to which Gabriella nodded with a smile on her made-up cheeks. Sam was smiling too, and so was Morgan — about to tear up the gift wrap like confetti. Jodi didn't want to be intrusive — good thing she physically couldn't read anyone's mind here — but she couldn't help but notice the present in Sam's hands was can-shaped, and the one in Gabriella's Can-shaped. (Tacoma rolled her eyes a little and honestly, so did Jodi. But in a good way. Like when you're presented with weirdo German prog or a really terrible pun you come up with.)
"One… two… three!"
The whole thing was over in seconds. Jodi's predictions were accurate; Gabriella had given Sam a comically large coffee can, full of that cheap-as-beans stuff the two called their lifeblood. On the other hand, Sam had given Gabriella a copy of the Can record released a year after the one playing in the other room. "Oh, huh! Future Days? Where did you find this?"
"In a record shop, my dear. I'm surprised we didn't already have it in, you know!"
"I'm… also surprised, actually; I really just assumed one of us had gotten round to that," Gabriella shrugged. "But that's something I look forward to hearing, anyway. Might be worth popping on and having the kids over for; one last time before they're off to uni next year."
Alright. Christmas, 1975. That's where they were, though Jodi still wasn't sure why exactly; it was hardly like it was the happiest time in her life. Back when she wasn't who she was now (though she still wasn't really who she wanted to be), back when Tacoma was still alive but neither of them had spoken in ages. Actually, that wasn't selfish of her, was it? She couldn't help but feel that it kind of was. Living was quite an important thing after all, and she had no doubt that Tacoma would have much rather had her body over a ghost's.
Sam's face wrinkled as though something was still to process, a blip in this world of hers. "Huh. Y'know, 'hadn't actually thought about that, but this is their last Christmas in this shithole, ain't it?"
"Well, they'll be coming back, Sam."
Oh, okay; now there was a blip in Jodi's world too. This was the last Christmas Tacoma was… well, alive for. That didn't really answer why they'd been taken here but was a bleak thought actually. She turned to Tacoma prepared to lend a hand, just in case things got uncomfortable.
"Aye, I know they will; it'll just… be a bit weird, not seeing either of 'em around town, won't it? At least until Christmas, anyway; can't imagine how their parents'll be feeling about all of this, too."
Gabriella just smiled, with her own things-are-fine smile. "Proud, I'd say. They're bright kids, and they finally get to get outta this place and make a name for themselves."
Jodi was really beginning to wonder why Celebi had brought them here, because this just didn't seem relevant to anything. Tacoma was taking it well, mind, but it was a weird situation and she was visibly aware of it. She put her arm around her and asked, "How are you holding up?"
"Fine," Tacoma said. "It is what it is, isn't it?"
"Yeah. Do you wanna go someplace else?"
"Not a bad idea." She sneered as she gestured to Gabriella's present, a sincere smirk on her face. "I'm not sticking around for more of that now, am I?"
"Pfff, suit yourself. Celebi, get us outta here."
With a snap of its fingers, the two were whisked away…
…to a small bedroom half taken up by a Kangaskhan. And an air of familiarity which Tacoma would've recognised anywhere, bringing with it a crumpled accordion's smile. Her bedroom was always in quite the state as she grew up; off-white paint crumbled off the walls, revealing smooth peeling plaster behind. The window closed as far as it could, bless its heart; it functioned in theory even if it left Tacoma cold sometimes. But then that was never an issue with Nikki there.
"Messy room, huh?" said Jodi, immediately before being hit by… a weird feeling.
Tacoma looked at the strewn out pillows across the floor, the unkempt bed she'd been too tired to make, the mess of papers and pencils and half-finished school work all over the desk. Then at the time — about half-past six. Then, slowly, at the mass of curls and limbs cuddled up against it; and the absence of an eaten Christmas dinner. She smiled, but she didn't know who she was trying to fool. "Huh—" something was stuck — "haha, yeah…"
She tried not to choke as she cleared her throat, but Jodi sensed perhaps she needed a bit of support. She wasn't about to let Tacoma choke after all — so she put her arm around her and squeezed, bringing Tacoma's shoulder into her warm chest. "Hey, it's okay."
Only when Tacoma was sure nothing was in the way did she respond. "Th-thank you."
"No problem," she replied warmly. A warmth not quite shared so much in her glance at Celebi, when she threw her head back as if to say 'come and look at what you did' — to which it obliged as if bound by duty. "Is, uhh… do you remember when this was, exactly?"
"Err… I can't say I do. Well, I mean — not exactly, anyway, err… I would be lying if I said I could point out which Christmas this was exactly," she sighed. "This — all of it, it wasn't really a one-time thing, you know? There were a few Christmases I spent just… like this."
Jodi nodded without a word to add. It made sense, as much as it hurt to admit — and she definitely empathised. Christmas at its very core is a time for togetherness, where you're supposed to visit your loved ones and let them know how much you love them and get the privilege of love in return. Which is great. If you have love to give and love to get. With Tacoma, and with herself, growing up… she found that a more scarce commodity than it should have been.
Still, neither of them were alone now. With a warm smile, she brought Tacoma in a bit closer to her warmth.
"I'm sorry. I know that this isn't exactly the best way to spend your Christmas, lookin' after me and all — it's just, being back in my room… when I was a kid… I know this is a lot of stress you'd probably much rather… not."
"Don't be so silly." Jodi smiled, giving her a pat on the arm. "I can put up with anything if it's you, you know? It's really no problem at all — what kind of empath just watches as their loved ones suffer?"
"Yeah… I guess, yeah. Thanks."
"Besides — things got better, didn't they? You don't have to feel so alone this year, my love."
Tacoma reciprocated the smile at long last. Properly, anyway — hers was no longer this crumpled, sad old thing; it was genuine now. Genuine, real warmth radiated back at her. "Thank you."
"Of course."
Looking back at little Tacoma and the mass she found herself sleeping in, Jodi still couldn't help but feel sorry about it. There really was no use in lingering over the past, and the only reason they were doing it now was that they had been physically taken there. That didn't change that this wasn't any way to spend Christmas, alone and depressed — it wasn't really a way anyone deserved to be ever.
Then she had a thought.
"Celebi," she said, as stern as she could be to an ancient time fairy. "I'm curious: am I right in thinking that we're not in the same timeline that we're usually in?"
Celebi nodded.
"Uh-huh. So am I right in thinking that any action we take here… it won't affect how we — or, er, these versions of us — how we are currently?"
"Jodi, what are you getting at?" asked Tacoma, as Celebi nodded again.
"Tacoma… is there anything you want to say to yourself?"
"…What?"
"You don't have to, of course; not if you're not comfortable, but…" Jodi gestured to Nikki and little Tacoma on the bed. "I don't know. I just really hate seeing you like that on that bed, all alone."
"Yeah, but…"
Tacoma sighed, crouching to take a peek at her sad younger self. Truthfully, there wasn't a whole lot she had in common with herself, which was a truly weird thought: sure she was happier now, but then she was a ghost as well. What sort of message did that send? 'Hey, things get better for you, but you also get murdered — hang in there though, you'll be happy if it kills you!' How exactly was she to go about explaining why she was here either — 'sorry, I'm just time travelling right now, don't mind me?' There was too much to consider here, and knowing her, she wasn't in the right frame of mind to hear it.
She just sighed to Jodi. "I'm dead. What kind of message does that send to little me, that she gets happier as a ghost?"
"I could get around that, you know — she doesn't have to know that you're real. I could convince her… er, you? That this is all a dream, that none of it's real."
"So? I'm still dead."
"Oh my goodness," said Jodi, exasperation seeping out of every pore. "See, that's the thing, though: you're not!"
Again she sighed as though Jodi wasn't getting it. "But I am. I'm a ghost. And I'm only… what, three or four years younger here than I was when I died? Do I really want to do anything that tips her off that she gets murdered in a couple of years?"
Jodi took offense to this sigh, because actually, Tacoma wasn't the one getting it. "You might not have a body, but you're still very much alive, dammit — you can still walk, you can still talk, and you can still feel. You're here, now, and you're loved; by Nikki, by Lothi — hell, I love you, too! Is what we have less real than, say, Gabriella and Sam's thing? Because let me tell you, I'm happy — and I wouldn't trade us for the world."
Now Tacoma got it, for better or worse. If she had blood, it would've run up to her cheeks; she could barely look at Jodi with everything going through her head right then. She looked to Celebi, the arbiter of all this, for further comments — and Celebi just nodded slowly, smiling softly. She took a minute to process all of this — what she would say, what was going on, and what had just been said — before finally, she smiled back. "And I love you too, Jodi. Okay, Celebi, you mind if you let her see us?"
Celebi snapped its fingers.
"Alright. Now, let's wake little me up."
A success for Jodi, once again. She took a seat on the floor and her brain began to hum, as it did when hard at work; this time, her warmth lulled Tacoma's younger self into thinking she was still asleep as older Tacoma leaned in — trying not to disturb Nikki's slumber of course. She gently, gently reached out a hand and tapped her younger self on the shoulder until she woke up.
"Mm… whuh…"
"Hey," she smiled, not quite sure what to say next — Jodi gave her a thumbs up anyway. "Uh… don't worry about this, you're just dreaming. But I'm you if you were wondering. From the future. Just a bit older, that's all."
"Wh…? What are you…"
"Look — it's a long story, but I have a Celebi here if you want proof?"
"Uh…" she said, visibly deeply confused (which was fair) but roughly accepting of the little onion fairy in her room. "But… why?"
Tacoma threw the long story out of the window and decided that, actually, cutting to the chase was ideal here. "Look, me and my friend here — who… you'll recognise in due time, but you'll love her so much, because she's so fuckin' cool, and she's the best — we figured that… it's Christmas, you know? And that's no time to feel… well, like this."
"Well… yeah, but… I don't…" she mumbled, her voice as firm as tissue paper. "Why here? Why now?"
("Ask Celebi, you know about as much as we do" was an accurate answer.) "Because things'll get better, honestly; I swear. You may not think so now… but plenty of good times lay ahead of you — I promise. I know I did, and I loved them; even if times are hard — and trust me, times get pretty hard sometimes — it's worth hanging in there, you know? You'll find out a lot of things you don't really know about yourself. For example, that avalanche… it wasn't your fault. Jodi doesn't hate you, and you didn't ruin her life — and your parents love you more than you'll ever know. That's worth sticking around for, right?"
"Jodi…?"
"Right — you'll find that out soon enough. But, uhh… she's over there."
Jodi waved back at younger Tacoma. "Hello!" she whispered from across the room.
"…Right. Right. Um… so what do you want me to do about this, then?"
"Well… whenever you wake up — for real — let Nikki know you love her. Go hug your parents. Finish off your Christmas dinner. Just… let everything sink in, you know?"
"Uh-huh."
"Also, don't trust cops. Especially not Con. Trust me on this, it'll only come back to bite you."
"What?"
Tacoma decided it wasn't ideal to elaborate on that for now. "…Don't worry about it for now, okay, champ? Just as long as you feel better. I promise, not a word of what I've said is wrong."
"Uh… sure? Thanks, er — me."
"Any time. Hang in there, sport."
A little bit of a smile crept on younger Tacoma's face as she drifted off back to sleep, which was a win for all involved as far as Jodi was concerned. "Tacoma," she said as she turned that brain hum back off, "you did great."
"Thanks — couldn't have done it without you."
They hung on to their exchanged looks for seconds as nothing else interrupted them — and then, they both agreed, they'd had enough. "Celebi, this has been nice," said Jodi, "but I think I've had enough time travelling for one day. You wouldn't mind taking us back to the forest now, would you?"
With a nod from Celebi and a snap of its fingers, and they were off again.
As luck had it, Nikki had not made a mess of the lovely forest clearing; Lothian was a great guard bat after all. He pounced on his partner as she returned to 1977, as did Nikki — neither of them even cared about Celebi's presence as it fluttered in the air, hanging about its shrine. Jodi and Tacoma were a bit too preoccupied to say anything to it for the time being until the sweet reunion was over — and Jodi had her cane back. Standing straight, she turned back to Celebi and asked, "So… do you have anywhere else to be?"
Celebi just shrugged.
"Oh. Er… thanks, anyway! This was a time that was had by all, at least. Merry Christmas, I guess?"
Giggling to itself, the little onion fairy just fluttered over to her and planted a little peck on her forehead. Before she even registered what was going on, it flashed off to explore some different time.
"Jodi, what was that?" said Tacoma. "I'd best not have any competition now, just because Celebi can time travel…"
"What? Uh — well, it's hardly like even that could compete with you." Nice save, she thought to herself.
"Sure, you absolute dork."
"But… I do have a question," she sheepishly began, continuing only when she had the right way to phrase it. "Why didn't you tell yourself about the, uh… the whole ghost thing? Like, er — you could've said 'hey, don't take that rock from Keith?'"
"You said it yourself, didn't you? Just because I don't have a body doesn't mean I'm dead — and what we have here is very real, actually," Tacoma giggled. "So real, in fact, that I'd happily trade my body for it. And, er… the way last Christmas went down, it wasn't ideal, but… hey, look where we are now. I know I wouldn't trade that for the world either, and I'm happy, too."
"Aww, that's sweet," she replied. Of course, if there were a way to have the best of both worlds — Tacoma unmurdered while somehow still letting everything happen — Jodi would've been all over that, but that path didn't exist. What they had now was good enough, and there was no use in fretting over it because even if they were imperfect people, they were good enough for each other. And Tacoma was alive and wonderful now, and that was all that mattered.
"Can't believe you like Can, though," Tacoma chimed in. "Like, I love you and all, but… really?"
"At least they're not the Sex Pistols."
"Oh, that's true actually," she sneered. "Fuck the Sex Pistols."
