Time Enough
Blackjack Gabbiani
Merely a collector
- Pronouns
- Them
- Partners
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The last Sada had seen of her fiancé was slamming the door in his face.
She couldn't even remember what they had been fighting about.
She'd headed to Zero Lab out of spite, hoping the beauty of science and hard work would clear her mind, but something had gone wrong. Something she could never fully understand. But when Sada had come to, the machine lay dormant. The lab above was in ruins, seeming to have had no human presence in eons.
And perhaps it was scientifically inaccurate to use that word, but "eons" was exactly how long it felt.
The time machine had worked. Turo would be overjoyed.
Would have been overjoyed, she realized, when it dawned on her that her fiancé was long gone.
Even knowing that, even with the full scope of time that had vanished in the blink of an eye, it took her until seeing the fallen cliff where the lighthouse had once been to realize that her newborn son was long gone as well. Arven had been his name, and she had barely gotten to hold him.
They would have lived long lives, she told herself. She hoped they were happy ones.
Though she couldn't fix the time machine, she could monitor it. The vast future was hers to explore, and though it wasn't the era she had studied, preferring to focus on the distant past, she couldn't deny that it was still fascinating. Now and then she would make her way back to Zero Lab, slowly fixing it up through the years. And, beyond even her advanced understanding, sometimes the machine would briefly clip to life, and a nearby pokémon would disappear. At all other times, it seemed to be entirely depowered. Some force in another era had to be manipulating it. It was the closest she came to a working theory.
It had been nearly seventeen years since Sada had been flung carelessly through time. The machine never remained active for more than a moment.
Until one day, where it roared up and did not stop.
The monitor Sada had cobbled together alerted her and wouldn't turn off. Her first notion was that it was buggy, but she couldn't rule out that the machine really was running for that long. She had to see it for herself.
She couldn't deny her excitement. What could this mean?, she asked herself under her breath, and found that she was saying it every few seconds. Into the lab, down the elevator, a mantra of the unknown.
As she entered the crystalline chamber, some grand portal was open above it. The same portal that had taken her, but she had never before realized just how beautiful it was.
And it shuddered close, vanishing as if it had never existed, save for a figure fallen through.
She approached the figure. Human, in a white and purple lab coat that was oh so familiar. In his outstretched hand was a purple book that she knew well; her fiancé's favorite, one he was rarely without.
It couldn't be.
He was moving, which was hopeful, even if it seemed to be a pronounced spasm that bordered on a seizure. But it was a sign he was alive.
Seeing his face at long last pulled the air from her lungs. As much as she had denied it for years, she had long ago forgotten what her fiancé looked like, but every aspect of him returned to her through the ages. He was older, confirming that time had passed the same as it had for her, and he was bearded and looked like he had been through hell and back, but this was her Turo.
Without a word, she cradled his head in her lap, smiling gently down at him and stroking his hair as she waited for his twitching to stop. In lieu of speech, she hummed softly, soothingly, a song that had played soon after their engagement. It was likely she was the only one who had sung it in thousands of years, and now it belonged to only the two of them.
After a few seconds his eyes closed, head drooping to the side, and the unnerving spasm stopped. She kept up the soft touch as she kissed his forehead. "I've missed you..." she murmured, taking in his features. He had talked about growing a beard to appear suitably fatherly, and it spoke well to her that he still had it. He wore a ridiculous bodysuit that seemed more at home on the set of a science fiction movie, but he was always one to have a sense of the dramatic. And she wouldn't have it any other way.
Just for a moment, it seemed as if he wasn't breathing, and a cold chill shuddered through her, hand stilling in his hair. But then his eyes opened, and all was well. He blinked a few times and looked up at her. "...Professor Sada...?"
Sada tried to maintain her gentle smile, but at the sound of his voice she burst into wild tears. "I've been here, Turo! I've been in your future...I thought I would never see you again!" Not wanting to overwhelm him, she slowly moved to his left side so as not to disrupt his precious Violet Book, setting his head gently down as she moved, and sliding her hands to his shoulders.
"I see...you did not abandon..." He closed his eyes again, and she swore she could see an odd blue light shining. "That does change things..."
"I could never abandon you! I know we had a fight but I'd never leave you! I love you! I love Arven!" Her hands tightened on his shoulders, her arms shaking, and she drew him up into a tight hug. "I love you so much...I thought I would never see you again. My Turo..."
He sat up, pulling them both into a sitting position, and cautiously wrapped his arms around her, resting a hand on the back of her head. "Sada..."
She didn't care if his skin was cold. She didn't care if she couldn't feel his heartbeat through that silly garment. He was there and he was alive and he was hers and that was all that mattered.
"Sada...there is something I must confess to you." There was a regret to his voice, a tiredness, but also a familiar softness she had longed for. "I am not Professor Turo..."
She couldn't even remember what they had been fighting about.
She'd headed to Zero Lab out of spite, hoping the beauty of science and hard work would clear her mind, but something had gone wrong. Something she could never fully understand. But when Sada had come to, the machine lay dormant. The lab above was in ruins, seeming to have had no human presence in eons.
And perhaps it was scientifically inaccurate to use that word, but "eons" was exactly how long it felt.
The time machine had worked. Turo would be overjoyed.
Would have been overjoyed, she realized, when it dawned on her that her fiancé was long gone.
Even knowing that, even with the full scope of time that had vanished in the blink of an eye, it took her until seeing the fallen cliff where the lighthouse had once been to realize that her newborn son was long gone as well. Arven had been his name, and she had barely gotten to hold him.
They would have lived long lives, she told herself. She hoped they were happy ones.
Though she couldn't fix the time machine, she could monitor it. The vast future was hers to explore, and though it wasn't the era she had studied, preferring to focus on the distant past, she couldn't deny that it was still fascinating. Now and then she would make her way back to Zero Lab, slowly fixing it up through the years. And, beyond even her advanced understanding, sometimes the machine would briefly clip to life, and a nearby pokémon would disappear. At all other times, it seemed to be entirely depowered. Some force in another era had to be manipulating it. It was the closest she came to a working theory.
It had been nearly seventeen years since Sada had been flung carelessly through time. The machine never remained active for more than a moment.
Until one day, where it roared up and did not stop.
The monitor Sada had cobbled together alerted her and wouldn't turn off. Her first notion was that it was buggy, but she couldn't rule out that the machine really was running for that long. She had to see it for herself.
She couldn't deny her excitement. What could this mean?, she asked herself under her breath, and found that she was saying it every few seconds. Into the lab, down the elevator, a mantra of the unknown.
As she entered the crystalline chamber, some grand portal was open above it. The same portal that had taken her, but she had never before realized just how beautiful it was.
And it shuddered close, vanishing as if it had never existed, save for a figure fallen through.
She approached the figure. Human, in a white and purple lab coat that was oh so familiar. In his outstretched hand was a purple book that she knew well; her fiancé's favorite, one he was rarely without.
It couldn't be.
He was moving, which was hopeful, even if it seemed to be a pronounced spasm that bordered on a seizure. But it was a sign he was alive.
Seeing his face at long last pulled the air from her lungs. As much as she had denied it for years, she had long ago forgotten what her fiancé looked like, but every aspect of him returned to her through the ages. He was older, confirming that time had passed the same as it had for her, and he was bearded and looked like he had been through hell and back, but this was her Turo.
Without a word, she cradled his head in her lap, smiling gently down at him and stroking his hair as she waited for his twitching to stop. In lieu of speech, she hummed softly, soothingly, a song that had played soon after their engagement. It was likely she was the only one who had sung it in thousands of years, and now it belonged to only the two of them.
After a few seconds his eyes closed, head drooping to the side, and the unnerving spasm stopped. She kept up the soft touch as she kissed his forehead. "I've missed you..." she murmured, taking in his features. He had talked about growing a beard to appear suitably fatherly, and it spoke well to her that he still had it. He wore a ridiculous bodysuit that seemed more at home on the set of a science fiction movie, but he was always one to have a sense of the dramatic. And she wouldn't have it any other way.
Just for a moment, it seemed as if he wasn't breathing, and a cold chill shuddered through her, hand stilling in his hair. But then his eyes opened, and all was well. He blinked a few times and looked up at her. "...Professor Sada...?"
Sada tried to maintain her gentle smile, but at the sound of his voice she burst into wild tears. "I've been here, Turo! I've been in your future...I thought I would never see you again!" Not wanting to overwhelm him, she slowly moved to his left side so as not to disrupt his precious Violet Book, setting his head gently down as she moved, and sliding her hands to his shoulders.
"I see...you did not abandon..." He closed his eyes again, and she swore she could see an odd blue light shining. "That does change things..."
"I could never abandon you! I know we had a fight but I'd never leave you! I love you! I love Arven!" Her hands tightened on his shoulders, her arms shaking, and she drew him up into a tight hug. "I love you so much...I thought I would never see you again. My Turo..."
He sat up, pulling them both into a sitting position, and cautiously wrapped his arms around her, resting a hand on the back of her head. "Sada..."
She didn't care if his skin was cold. She didn't care if she couldn't feel his heartbeat through that silly garment. He was there and he was alive and he was hers and that was all that mattered.
"Sada...there is something I must confess to you." There was a regret to his voice, a tiredness, but also a familiar softness she had longed for. "I am not Professor Turo..."
