I walked out of Town Hall, shutting the door behind me. I turned around and spotted Pinky talking to Sportacus. I took a deep breath and walked towards them. Pinky looked over at me and a huge grin spread across her face.
"Hi, you must be Sarah Rotten, I'm Stephanie!" She said, energetically.
"That's right, I'm Sarah." I replied. "Hello, again Sportacus."
"Hello, Master Sergeant Sarah Rotten." Sportacus replied with a slight blush.
"Oh right uh, just call me Sarah, please. Um, the mayor said you want to show me around, Stephanie."
She nodded and turned back to Sportacus. He smiled and knelt down. She whispered something in his ear. He chuckled, stood up and looked at me.
"She asked me if I can join you two." He said.
"Sure, if you want to." I replied with a shrug.
Stephanie smiled and grabbed our hands. She dragged us away from Town Hall. I mumbled as she gripped my hand tightly. She stopped suddenly causing me to stomp on my prosthetic. I grunted in pain and staggered to the left. I almost crashed into Sportacus. He caught my shoulders and helped me get my balance.
I groaned and sat on one of the walls. Stephanie frowned and walked up to me. She had a very concerned look on her face. I smiled at her and rubbed my leg just above my prosthetic.
"Sorry, guys I had to stop for a second there." I said still rubbing my leg. "I'm good now."
I stood up and faked a grin. Sportacus frowned and shook his head. Stephanie smiled slightly, then she turned and looked at the house we stopped at. She walked up to it and pulled a key out of her messenger bag. She unlocked the door and lead us inside.
"This is your new house, Sarah." Stephanie explained. "It has everything you sent ahead already set up."
"Even my workout and therapy equipment?" I asked in surprise. "Man, talk about great neighbors."
"Yup, everything is to your specifications. Oh, there is a T.V. in the living room. I don't know who installed it."
"That's okay, my big brother is probably the one who did that. He'll be over here a lot I'm sure."
Stephanie nodded and looked around. She walked farther inside and gasped lightly. She picked up a picture of my old squad and I. She looked it over and turned back to me.
"You really were in the military!" She exclaimed handing me the picture. "Are these guys your friends?"
"Yes they were, but most of those guys aren't around anymore." I replied sadly as I looked the picture over. "Here put this on my bedside table please."
She nodded, grabbed the picture and ran into my room. Sportacus shifted his stance nervously. I looked at him and frowned. He looked at me and forced a smile.
"What is it?" I asked. "You seem bothered."
"Oh, it's just... uh, I knew some of the people in that picture." He explained. " And I wanted to ask you... Oh, Stephanie."
I looked over my shoulder and saw the kid standing behind me. I frowned and looked back at Sportacus. He shuffled his feet and looked around the room. Then he looked at Stephanie.
"Well, you can explore your house later!" Stephanie said, energetically. "I want to show you the town."
"Uh, has anything changed in the past few years?" I asked.
"A few things have. The library has been moved, the Town Hall was obviously moved. I think the town has gotten a lot bigger too."
I smiled as she walked out the door. Sportacus chuckled as we followed her. She was pretty stubborn. I suppose I can let her lead me around, for now.
"I don't know about 'a lot bigger', but this place has changed." I muttered. "At least that big blue blimp wasn't here before I left."
I walked out of the house and into the sunshine. I sighed happily and stretched. Then I heard Stephanie gasp. My head snapped in her direction. I instantly spotted my big brother.
"SARAH, YOU'RE HOME!" He exclaimed. "I've missed you so much!"
I chuckled as he dashed over to me and wrapped me in a bear hug. I hugged him back and smiled. He buried his face in my shoulder. I felt his shoulders shake as he started sobbing.
"Aww, Robs what's the matter?" I asked. "I'm home now, there's nothing to worry about."
"I'm sorry I just missed you so much." He sniffled. "And I heard you were involved in an explosion, so I... I thought..."
I smiled and hugged him tighter. He sighed and pulled back. He rubbed his eyes and looked away. I sighed and patted his shoulder.
"What are you looking at Pinkie?" Robbie snapped. "Can't a guy be happy to see his baby sister?"
"Hey don't yell at the kid Robs." I scolded gently.
Stephanie continued to stare at Rob's. Her eyes were wide and her jaw had dropped. With a huff, I held my hand up and made a closing motion. She snapped her mouth shut.
"I'm sorry Sarah, I didn't mean to stare." She said. "But I've never seen Robbie act like that."
"Yeah well, it's been a while since he's seen me, so he's extremely happy." I explained. "Oh and Robs do me a solid, grab my crutch from my house, please."
He nodded and walked off. Stephanie frowned and looked me over. I groaned and limped over to a park bench. I sat down and leaned back. Sportacus walked up to me and looked me over. The ten in the middle of his chest flashed.
"You're in trouble, but you seem fine." He said. "What's going on?"
"Nothing I can't handle, Sportacus," I replied. "I've been down to one leg for a year, I'm used to it."
As I spoke I heard a bunch of voices headed our way. Stephanie turned towards the voices and smiled. She ran off and came back leading a group of kids towards us. I smiled at them.
"Oh wow, Stephanie was right you are pretty!" One of the boys exclaimed. "My name is Ziggy!"
"I'm Stingy, and this piggy is mine." Another boy said.
"I'm Trixie and this guy on the portable computer is Pixel. " The other girl beside Stephanie said.
My eyebrows shot up in surprise. These kids didn't seem to have any sense of stranger danger. I cocked my head and looked the kids over. I recognized all of them. But with my scars, they probably don't recognize me.
"Hey wait a minute, you said her names Sarah Rotten right, Stephanie?" Trixie asked. "There was a Sarah Rotten that lived here a few years ago, but she left."
"Yup that's me, how ya doing Trixie?" I asked, with a small smile.
"Wow, you've really changed. Where'd you get that scar? And where have you been?"
"Whoa whoa whoa, slow down kiddo. Not everything I've done is for children's ears. I'm sure your parents won't want you to hear my stories."
Sportacus folded his arms and narrowed his eyes at me. I smiled a little and nodded. Then I spotted Robs running towards us. He stopped beside me and gasped for breath. He had my crutch in his hand. He held them out to me.
"Here you go Sarah." He said.
"Thanks so much Robs!" I exclaimed as I took my crutch. "This will relieve some of the pressure on my prosthetic."
I gripped the crutch and stood up. I sighed in relief as I leaned on the crutch. Stephanie stepped up to me and looked me over. I forced a smile.
"Why do you need that crutch?" She asked. "And whats a prosthetic?"
"This is all I'll tell you, kids, for now, I lost most of my left leg in an accident while I was away." I replied. "And the prosthetic is a fake leg to help me walk, but sometimes it hurts me rather than helps me."
"Why does it hurt you?" Ziggy asked.
"Well Ziggy, sometimes the plastic parts of the prosthetic digs into me. Or what's left of my leg gets sore from walking too much. Or like today, I'll take a bad step, and fall down a hole, which causes my prosthetic to jam into my leg."
Stephanie gasped in surprise. She must have realized what happened earlier. I smiled at her and patted her head. She smiled in relief. Robbie looked at the ground in shame.
"You're not mad?" She asked. "I mean I practically made you jam your prosthetic."
"Haha, no kid I'm not." I replied.
"What about me, Sarah?" Robbie asked.
"I'm not mad at you either Robbie." I replied. "Well, now I can take a look at the rest of the changes Lazy Town has gone through."
Stephanie nodded and motioned for me to follow her.