Forever Loved (Tenrose Fanfiction)

33: Another Life

'Whatever I say to you, you won't believe,' she continues. 'So I'll tell you what you have to do, and you can make it up as you go along. Play pretend, play pretend like you did when you were younger. It doesn't matter who I am, because soon everything will be right again, and everything will make sense.' The girl stares into my eyes, and it feels like she's burning a hole right into me. 'If you listen to me, you'll understand.'

Through the deafening silence, she looks at me, studies my face, as if she's trying to read me. Trying to work out what I'm going to do. Listen or walk away. Walk away or listen. Make your choice, my mind whispers, echoing throughout my thoughts. I nod. 'I'm listening.'

'I'm going to start by telling you a series of statements, and I want you to tell me which ones are true and which ones are false.' I nod. 'You feel like you're dreaming,' she says. I find myself incapable of speech, as if the words have been stolen from me. I nod again. 'You feel like you should be waking up, but every time you try, you can't.' Another nod. 'You know that something isn't right, but you don't know what.' Nod. 'You keep hearing strange noises from behind you, and when you look in the mirror, it's like there's something there that you can't see.' Slowly I nod yet again, tears coming to my eyes. 'And finally, you feel like none of this is real.'

I nod.

'Thank you,' the girl says. 'I'm going to explain to you what's going on, tell you your role in this story, and what you can do to stop this. But remember that it's hurting me, and you, a lot to do this, and in the end, only you can make the choice. It's only you who can end all this. Nobody can do it for you.' Tears run down my face, and I open my mouth, but yet again, there are no words. I'm scared and confused and I want to know how I can get out of this, get out of this world that is destroying itself around me. 'Tell me,' I whisper, pleading for an answer.

Stretching an arm out slowly, the girl holds a golden, shining object in her hand. It glows brightly like a source of light, and I can just make out the shape. A key. 'This is a special key. Take it, and don't lose it, because your life depends on its safety.' I take the key from her palm, staring at it as it lights up the room. 'Now listen to me, because this is the important bit.' The girl pauses, waiting for my full attention, and I look up at her, willing her to go on. 'This is going to scare you, but if you listen to me, then it's all going to end and you'll understand everything. Okay?' Without waiting for an answer, she goes on.

'In another world, there's another version of you who's living a completely different life. But that girl is you, and in that world, you've met me before. That's why you look at me and you feel like you know me. In that world, you've been to different places, done different things, met different people, and all of those things were supposed to happen. But none of them would have happened if you hadn't gone to work that day. And by that day, you know what I mean, don't you? That day is when you hurt your foot and you stayed off work. But if you'd gone to work, all those things would have happened. And they didn't. In that other life, you met someone so special, so special you managed to save the world with him, time and time again, and you met him on that day. And now, all because you didn't go to work, the world around you is dying. You can see it, Rose, can't you? You look out of your window and you see nothing but destruction. And if you'd gone to work that day, it wouldn't be like this. It wasn't meant to be like this. But it is, and the only way you can change that is by going back and going to work that day.'

I stare at the girl with no words. 'But how?'

She smiles at me. 'This key,' she says, touching the key in my hand. 'That person you met, that special person, this key is his. This key can bring you to him. It knows you, Rose. It knows who you are and it can take you back in time to that day, and it can help you change things. If you can be strong and change what you did, this world is gone. Gone. Just like that. Gone forever. Now think. Why didn't you go to work?'

'I hurt my foot,' I croak, my voice hoarse from crying. 'How?' she asks. 'I...tripped over a loose paving stone, I think,' I reply, remembering the loose stone on the pavement by the grocery store. 'So...do I have to move the stone or something?'

The girl grins. 'Exactly! So, the original version of you tripped over the paving stone at precisely 5:29pm. You have to get to the stone before Rose 1 sees you, and get rid of it so she doesn't trip. As soon as you've done that, it will trigger a series of events that are to follow that will stop everything that's happening now.' She looks at me and smiles. 'Rose, you're going to save the world.' I nod and smile back through my tears. 'What do I have to do?'

'Take the key, and just focus your mind on where you're going. Oh, and have this watch,' she says, producing a wristwatch from seemingly thin air. 'When you get there, the time will automatically set to exactly five minutes before 5:29, meaning you have those five minutes to find the stone, move it and stop Rose 1 from tripping. You've only got one chance at this - there isn't enough power to let you try again. I know you can do it.' I wipe away my tears and stand up. 'Okay.'

She's fading away now, but just before she disappears completely, the girl taps my shoulder. I turn around, hearing a hissing sound. 'Oh, and, Rose...there's something on your back...'

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A/N GUYS IM SO SORRY this was meant to be a longer chapter but i felt like it was long enough tbh. this was SUPER hard to write so please let me know what you think, and the next part will be with you in the next week or so, hopefully - probably midweek sometime because i'll be revising for my exams next weekend :/ also, as i said before, please comment some ideas for the next au, that'd be great. i really hope you enjoyed and don't forget to vote! :)