Mental Fiction Follows Me

I heard voices as we first stepped into the house. Most of them sounded like they were coming from the living room, but there were a few coming from the kitchen. I glanced up at Jimmy, and his eyes caught mine. I looked towards the living room and then back up at him. Jimmy seemed to understand what I wanted without me saying anything, and he gave me a quick kiss before walking off. I turned and walked towards the kitchen, but I paused just out of eye-sight. It was Julie and Mom, and they were talking quietly.

"Syd had a lot of problems, before she left the last time, and I just wanted to know...was she okay?" Mom asked. Her voice was quiet and sounded a little strained.

"Maybe you should talk to Syd about it," Julie said. Her voice was just as low as Mom's. I heard Mom's light laugh, and I could just picture her shaking her head.

"Syd thinks I'm some frail old woman. She'd never tell me if anything was really wrong," Mom said. She did have a point; I'd do my best to avoid the subject because I hated worrying her. I didn't think she was a frail old woman though.

"There were a few...well, nightmares," Julie said, whispering the last word. I could only hear the "night", but I knew what she said.

I'd like to say that my nightmares magically disappeared, but they had actually gotten worse. I'd had very few nightmares while I was walking in the desert, but that was because I barely slept. After staying with Julie and Chase though, I had more time to sleep. More time to worry. More time to remember. More time to dream. After the first week of nightmares, I told Julie and Chase everything that had happened with Danny. They were understanding and never complained about my screams waking them up in the middle of the night. The worst part was though, after nine months, I still had nightmares.

"Were they bad ones?" Mom asked.

"Not too bad." Julie was being too nice to me.

"Hello!" I yelled. I didn't want Julie to lie for me anymore, even if they were small lies.

"Syd!" Mom yelled and quickly stood up. She pulled me to her in a bone-crushing hug, and I wrapped my arms around her. I looked over her shoulder at Julie, who gave me a small smile.

"So, how's everything going?" I asked.

"Just two old ladies gossiping," Mom said.

"Your mother has offered to let Chase and me stay with her," Julie said.

"I hope you took her up on it," I said and smiled down at Mom.

"She wouldn't take no for an answer," Julie said.

"Good. I'm not ready to let you two go yet," I said. Julie's eyes seemed to glaze over at the comment, but she had to know how much they meant to me, didn't they? They were two people who took me in and kept me alive. If it wasn't for them, I would have died. I owed them my life, and much more.

"I don't think Chase will be ready to leave any time soon," Julie said with a small roll of her eyes.

"Papa Gates and Mark take him out to show him the sights?" I asked Mom.

"You know they did," Mom said.

"I bet Aunt Jan is going to be mad when they get home," I said.

"You bet I am." I jumped a little and spun around, and Aunt Jan was standing in the doorway to the kitchen.

"You ready to go see all your friends, Syd? They've missed you," Mom whispered in my ear. I turned my head to look at her, and her eyes met mine.

"I've missed them too," I said. My skin felt hot, prickly, and I could feel my throat locking up. How would they react? How would I react?

The kitchen doorway passed behind me, but I didn't even know my feet were moving. Aunt Jan was in front of me, Mom was on one side of me, and Julie was on my other side. Tears gathered in my eyes and made everything blurry, and I was thankful that Mom and Julie were holding onto me. I felt Mom and Julie slow to a stop, and I stopped between them. Aunt Jan's blurry figure moved to reveal the rest of the room, and the few tears in my eyes were finally released. I reached one shaky hand up to wipe away the moisture on my face, and I was able to see everyone in the room more clearly.

Brian reached me first, with Zacky right behind him. Mom and Julie let me go, and I took a step towards Brian. I fell into him and dropped my head to his shoulder, but I didn't cry like I had thought I would. I reached out behind him and grabbed Zacky, and then Zacky moved to my other side. A few tears slipped down my cheeks, but then they stopped.

"It feels so good to be home," I whispered. Brian's arms tightened around me, and Zacky's hair tickled my cheek.

"It's so good to have you home," Brian whispered back.

"We've all missed you so much, Syd," Zacky said. I lifted my head from Brian's shoulder and looked at the crowd behind him.

"I've missed all of you too," I said as my lips tipped into a smile. Brian and Zacky let me go, and I stepped farther into the living room. Aiden and Johnny got to me first, and seeing Aiden cry caused more tears to well into my eyes.

"You're not allowed to ever leave again," Aiden said as her arms tightened around my waist. I laughed through my tears and squeezed her back.

"You don't have to worry about that. I'm not going anywhere for a long time," I said.

"Good, because we weren't going to let you anyway," Johnny said.

"Thanks for the love, midget," I said as I pulled him into a hug. I released them soon, too soon, and Krys and Monte stepped forward.

"Monte, darling!" I yelled as I wrapped one arm around each of them. I felt two pairs of arms wrap around me, and I leaned my head against Krys's.

"Has he been taking good care of you?" I asked her. Her pale green eyes glowed with love as she looked over at Monte.

"Yes. I even took him to meet my family two weeks ago," Krys said.

"They loved me," Monte said with a wide grin.

"I'm sure they did," I said and gave them one last squeeze. Tara bounced forward next, but Robert got his arms around me first.

"My favorite chair, you don't know how much I missed you!" Robert yelled. My face got lost in his hair, and I felt Tara's arms snake around my waist.

"You don't know how weird it was not to have someone randomly sitting on me," I said and resisted the urge to sneeze.

"I kept telling him you'd come home. It takes a lot more than an explosion to kill a true Texan," Tara said.

"Of course it's going to take a lot more than an explosion to take me out," I said. I pulled myself out of Robert's hair and smiled down at her. Her smile mirrored mine, and she stepped back and pulled Robert with her.

"Syd!" Tiana yelled and half-tackled me. I fell back a few steps and laughed, and I felt Craig's arms wrap around me from behind.

"So, how's life?" I asked.

"I like California, and now things are going to perfect since you're finally back. What took you so long anyway?" Tiana asked with a wide smile.

"Oh, just a few obstacles got in the way. I got chased by a sandman and apparently I can't fly," I said.

"Don't worry about it, Syd. Tiana can teach you. She's been practicing," Craig said.

"Any luck?" I whispered to him.

"Surprisingly, yes," Craig said. They both stepped away, and I looked straight ahead at the next couple. Green eyes met mine, and both of us were smiling.

"Granny!" Deandra yelled and wrapped her arms around my neck.

"Youngin!" I yelled back and wrapped my arms around her.

"I was so worried about you, Granny. Stranded out in the desert without your walker. Who knows what could have happened?" Deandra said. Her eyes met mine again, and I wasn't surprised to see the glazed over look. I'm sure my eyes looked the same.

"I'm just sorry I missed your first steps, little one," I said.

"Don't worry, we got pictures," Max said. I grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him into our hug. They both let me go a minute later, and a pair of familiar bright green eyes met mine.

"Ryanne! Oli! What are you two doing here?!" I yelled as I wrapped an arm around both of them.

"We moved here a few months ago," Oli said as he gave me a tight squeeze.

"I wanted to be a little closer to my family, and Oli came with me," Ryanne said.

"I can't believe you two are here. What about the rest of the guys?" I asked and looked between the two.

"They decided to stay home," Ryanne said.

"But they come and visit," Oli added.

"This is just...one more hug!" I yelled and tightened my grip on them again. They both laughed and then slowly stepped back. I looked at the remaining two people, and I jumped forward to hug both of them.

"Nikkita! Matt!" I yelled. Nikkita and Matt were both taller than me, so I had to stand on my tip-toes to wrap my arms around their necks. Matt and Nikkita each wrapped an arm around me to keep me steady, and I smiled as I held onto them. After a few seconds I let go of them and stepped back.

"So, are you two sharing a last name yet?" I asked as I looked up at them. I knew Nikkita had wanted a spring wedding, some time around May before summer really kicked in. Their cheeks turned a light pink, and Matt actually looked down.

"Yeah, last May," Matt whispered.

"If we had known...you...we would have waited, but--"

"Nikki, don't worry about it, really. Just, tell me that you got a lot of pictures," I said and smiled at them.

"We got something better, video," Nikkita said.

"Oh! You've got to show me!" I yelled and jumped forward to hug them again.

"That's not all," Nikkita whispered in my ear.

"Do we have a mini-Sanders on the way?" I whispered back.

"Due in August," Nikkita whispered.

"Aww, there's gonna be a mini-Sanders!" I yelled. After saying "congratulations" countless times, I stepped away from Nikkita and Matt and bumped into a chest. I looked down and saw Jimmy's arms crossed over my stomach, and I leaned back against him. I rested my hands on top of his and laced our fingers.

"I've missed this crazy bunch," Sage said as I looked around the room. I could feel Jimmy's chest moving as he breathed.

"It's good to be home," Lillian said with a content sigh.

"Yes, it is."