The
Virtual
Realm

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Forever Friends

 

 

1. School

 

 

‘It will be ok,’ said Sheila. ‘Who cares what they all think anyway!’

 

‘That’s easy for you to say,’ replied Diana. ‘They’re all ganging up against me!’

 

‘They’re just jealous!’

 

‘But it’s what I’ve trained for, and they’re just…’

 

‘It will be ok.’

 

‘How?’

 

Sheila shrugged.

 

‘I don’t know,’ she admitted. ‘But you’re a fantastic gymnast. They know that. They won’t win without you. They know that as well!’

 

They looked at each other, and finally Diana smiled.

 

‘Thanks, Sheila.’

 

‘That’s ok,’ said the other girl. ‘But that doesn’t help me with my problem.’

 

‘Well, now you mention it, I did have an idea,’ said Diana. ‘But you probably won’t think it’s a very good one.’

 

‘I’ll take anything I can get at the moment.’

 

‘Why don’t you go to the amusement park tomorrow with him.’

 

‘But…!’

 

‘Hank likes you,’ Diana said. ‘He really likes you! Really, really!’

 

Sheila giggled.

 

‘But what am I gonna do! I can’t go with him tomorrow, I’ve gotta look after Bobby. I couldn’t go with him. It’d be so embarrassing!’

 

‘It will be fine!’ replied Diana. ‘Presto and I are going too.’

 

Sheila gave her a look.

 

‘No, silly! It’s not like that,’ said Diana. ‘Not like that at all!’

 

Sheila kept on looking at her.

 

‘No, it is not!’

 

‘He likes you,’ said Sheila. ‘He’s always at the track events. And he doesn’t ever compete! He has to be there for some reason!’

 

‘Well, it doesn’t matter, anyway! Eric’s going too, I know he is. He and Presto will probably meet up. You know what that Montgomery’s like!’

 

‘Oh, I see,’ said Sheila with a shrug. ‘Suppose you can’t have everything!’

 

‘Will you meet us? Please? I don’t think I can stand Eric on my own! Hank can keep him in line.’

 

‘But you’ll have Presto to help you divert Eric’s attention,’ said Sheila with a mischievous grin.

 

‘Very funny! And just how are you going to go on a date with Hank if you’re baby sitting your brother?’

 

‘It won’t be a date!’

 

‘But it can be,’ said Diana. ‘If we meet up, we can all hang out together! It’ll be fun!’

 

Sheila smiled.

 

‘Ok then,’ she said. ‘It’s a deal. I’ll help you out avoiding Eric if you help me to be alone with Hank.’

 

The two girls grinned at each other. Nothing could go wrong. It was a fool-proof plan!

 

 

2. Realm

 

 

‘If you just calmed down, it will be ok.’

 

‘Oh, God! I hate him!’ growled Diana. ‘I can’t stand him any longer!’

 

‘I know…’

 

‘It something doesn’t change soon I’m gonna kill him!’

 

‘You could always try not needling him!’ suggested Sheila. ‘You know, try and not rise to it.’

 

‘Yeah, right! Like that’s gonna help, it’ll just encourage him. He’ll just think that he’s right, even more than he does right now! I can’t stand it.’

 

‘Oh, Eric’s alright…’

 

‘That’s easy for you to say! You don’t have him watching everything you do all the time! Warning other people off!’

 

‘Warning people off? Who? When?’

 

‘Presto! His own best friend! After the Cloudbears! I can’t believe he would do that to Presto! Even more I can’t believe he would think I’m actually interested in him!’

 

‘Well, you do give him a lot of attention.’

 

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

 

‘You keep rising to his jokes and his quips! If you just ignored him then he would get the message!’

 

‘But…’

 

‘Or you could just tell him to get lost, once and for all.’

 

‘I can’t! I won’t give him the satisfaction!’

 

‘But, Diana…’

 

‘No. That’s final.’

 

Sheila gave a sigh.

 

‘How about if I talked to him?’

 

‘Would you? Please? Get him off my back and tell him to leave me alone!’

 

‘I don’t really want to go sorting out other people’s love lives, but I will, for you.’

 

‘Thank you! You’re a live-saver. I can’t take much more from him.’

 

‘I know. And you’re driving me nuts too about it!’

 

Diana smiled.

 

‘Thank you. I owe you one.’

 

 

3. Return

 

 

‘It will be ok.’

 

‘I don’t see how!’ replied Sheila with a sniff. ‘He’s not gonna come, is he? It just won’t be the same without him.’

 

‘It will be hard for Hank to see you both, you know, like that. Together.’

 

‘Yes, but I really, really need him there. So does Eric. He’s part of the family, and without him, it would feel wrong.’

 

Diana looked at her.

 

‘Don’t say it,’ said Sheila with a sigh. ‘It’s not my fault.’

 

Diana didn’t reply.

 

‘Ok,’ Sheila said at last, ‘it’s not all my fault.’

 

‘Hank doesn’t see it like that,’ said Diana. ‘And I don’t blame him.’

 

‘But I didn’t mean to fall in love with someone else. And he let it happen. He never said anything while we in the Realm. I waited for him. I waited for so, so long and he never said anything! You know I did.’ She sniffed again. ‘I do care about him, I always will. But I love Eric.’

 

Diana looked at her, and then suddenly smiled.

 

‘I never thought I’d hear you say that!’ she said.

 

‘Neither did I! And I didn’t do it deliberately, Diana. Honestly. Neither of us did. After the Dungeon at the Heart of Dawn, and the Citadel of Shadow, it just sorta… happened!’ Sheila paused. ‘Look, I’m sorry. I know you and Eric were, well, y’know…’

 

Diana gave a small, sad smile.

 

‘There was no me and Eric really, was there? There was him and his dreams, and then, well, I kinda missed my chance, didn’t I? I didn’t see it until it was too late.’

 

‘I know how you feel about him.’

 

‘If I had been paying attention then maybe I would have noticed something beyond the sarcasm,’ Diana said with a sigh. ‘I didn’t know. I didn’t realise until it was too late. You have no reason to apologise, to me. I was the one who asked you to get him to back off in the first place!’

 

‘You still owe me a favour for that!’

 

‘Oh… I suppose so… but I don’t really think that…’

 

‘So will you talk to Hank? Please? For me?’

 

Diana gave her a look. Then she sighed.

 

‘Oh, ok, Sheila! Anything for an easy life.’

 

‘Thank you!’

 

‘It’s what Bridesmaids are for!’

 

 

4. Recovery

 

 

‘It will be ok.’

 

Sheila stared blindly straight ahead and nodded.

 

‘But what if it’s not?’

 

‘Sheila, it will be. It will be ok.’

 

‘But what am I going to do?’ she murmured. ‘Without him?’

 

‘I’m here to help you.’

 

‘I’m so sorry to burden you. I didn’t know who else to turn to.’

 

‘Of course we would come, Sheila. So we had a little disagreement, so what! We are still your friends.’

 

‘I don’t know what to do. What am I going to do without him? How am I going to get everything done…’

 

Diana took hold of her friend’s hand.

 

‘Hank will be here soon, he’ll take you back to our place. You can get some rest. You’ll be no good to anyone if you don’t rest.’

 

‘But I don’t know what to do.’

 

‘I do, you need to rest. For the baby’s sake. Can’t have her routine upset at them moment. She’s not going to be in there for much longer!’

 

Sheila moved a hand to her swollen belly.

 

‘Our baby. She’s due so soon. What if she never knows…?’

 

‘It’s going to be ok, Sheila. We’re here to help. We’re all here to help.’

 

‘But what if he doesn’t recover? What if he never wakes up?’

 

Diana took her hand.

 

‘You know what the doctor said, you know the chances. And we are here to help you, both of you. All three of you in fact. You’re our family. We’ll always be here.’

 

‘But what am I going to do?’

 

‘You’re going to come home with Hank and me. You’re going to have a proper sleep. Then we can both come back here tomorrow morning.’

 

‘But you have training,’ protested Sheila weakly. ‘You don’t have the time to do all this for me. And Hank’s so busy with his new business.’

 

‘Training can wait. The business can wait. It’s only money after all, as Eric would say. There are something that are more important.’

 

Sheila looked round, tears welling up in her eyes.

 

‘I… I never thought you would ever say that!’

 

‘You and Eric are more important. Besides, Presto will be here in a day or so, he can help us too.’

 

‘I don’t know how to thank you.’

 

‘Just get some rest. That’s thanks enough to be going on with.’

 

 

5. Normality

 

 

‘Oh, thank God for a little peace!’

 

‘I don’t know how you cope with three of them, Sheila!’ said Diana. ‘They’re running rings around us, and it’s only for the weekend!’

 

‘It’s practice,’ replied Sheila. ‘Sometimes I wonder too, but it all seems to fall into place. And when it doesn’t, you just keep your head down and keep going! Thank goodness for Presto!’

 

‘Yes, Presto’s a natural with them, isn’t he? Seeing him like that was the funniest thing I’ve seen in a long time! He never was very good with hats, was he!’

 

‘It’s a shame only Sara can really understand the card tricks, but they all loved him anyway. I think it was the rabbit that swung it.’

 

‘I don’t know what we’re going to do with that.’

 

‘Well, we can’t take him back home. He’s going to have to stay here, no matter what Sara wants! What was Presto thinking, giving her the rabbit?’

 

Diana paused before replying.

 

‘Well, we can’t keep him… not at them moment. It’s going to get… much… busier here soon. We’ll have our hands full.’

 

Sheila raised her eyebrows, a grin starting on her face.

 

Diana nodded.

 

‘No one else knows yet, except Hank.’

 

‘Oh! Diana!’ squealed Sheila engulfing the other woman in a hug. ‘Oh, I’m so happy for you both, it’s so exciting, after so long. When’s he due?’

 

‘I’m just about four months.’

 

‘Oh! That’s so exciting! You don’t look four months! Is there anything I can do? Is there anything you need? Four months, so he’ll be here in December, I can be over if you need me to help…’

 

‘If I get that far!’

 

Sheila took her hand.

 

‘It will be ok this time. You have to believe that it will be ok. I understand it’s not been easy, after so many tries.’

 

‘I keep waking up in a panic. I don’t think my nerves can take another four months.’

 

‘You’ll be fine,’ said Sheila confidently. ‘And if somehow we can arrange a visit about December, then all the better!’

 

‘I didn’t want to ask, but…’

 

‘There’s no question of anything else,’ said Sheila. ‘It is the very least we can do.’

 

‘But…’

 

‘It’s already decided. So there’s no point in trying to argue.’

 

‘But…’

 

Sheila crossed her arms firmly.

 

‘It’s already decided!’

 

 

6. Completion

 

 

‘She really should be wearing white! You could talk to her, she’s your daughter.’

 

‘But Diana, Sara doesn’t want to. And it’s her wedding!’

 

‘To my son!’

 

‘Look, she doesn’t want to and there’s no arguing with her. You know what she’s like, just like her father.’

 

‘That fills me with confidence!’

 

‘What! What’s that supposed to mean?’

 

‘Eric! Do I need to say more?’

 

‘There’s no need to be so insulting.’

 

‘And it’s not just the dress, it’s all the other details. If we can’t agree on such a straightforward thing as that…’ Suddenly Diana laughed. ‘I can’t believe we are about to fall out over the wedding! After everything that’s happened!’

 

There was a short pause.

 

‘We should just let them get on with it, shouldn’t we,’ said Sheila at last.

 

‘That’s just what Hank said,’ replied Diana. ‘Damn him!’

 

‘And Eric said it too. I hate it when he’s right! He’s so unbearable when he’s right!’

 

Diana laughed again.

 

‘At least it doesn’t happen very often. You should try living with Hank!’

 

There was a long pause.

 

‘It’s so strange. Hank’s a great guy but… I know it sounds weird, but I prefer Eric.’

 

‘Well, I like Hank just fine. Eric has too much of an attitude!’

 

They smiled at each other.

 

‘Funny, the way things turn out!’

 

‘We kinda swapped guys somewhere along the line, didn’t we,’ said Diana. ‘You we so hung up on Hank. It was all you talked about.’

 

‘I know. It must have been like a broken record! And what about you and Presto?’

 

‘Presto? I never liked Presto like that!’

 

‘You did too! You virtually said so!’

 

‘No one paid that much attention to Eric at the time, though.’

 

They both laughed.

 

‘Poor old Eric,’ said Sheila. ‘He tried so hard.’

 

‘But he turned out ok.’

 

‘And what about us?’ said Sheila. ‘You and me. We’ve been friends for ages. We’ve survived each other’s weddings; and family funerals; the accident; and all the rest.’

 

‘Friends though everything,’ said Diana thoughtfully.

 

‘Friends though everything,’ Sheila agreed.

 

A slow smile spread over Diana’s face.

 

‘Surviving in the Realm was really just the start, wasn’t it?’

 

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Fanfiction Masterlist

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