Entry tags:

com: scifi muses, location: both, progress: complete

Vol 1. Week 26
Character: Helena Campbell
Fandom: Mirrormask
Prompt: Sometimes I get nervous when I see an open door...
Rating: PG
Word Count: 358

It came and went; her access to the City. Some weeks she was there every night. Sometimes she didn't see Valentine for days. There was no real pattern to it, not that she could see. At first she thought it was something she did, but time showed her it had little to do with her. She suspected in the back of her mind that it was the City itself that let her in. She wasn't always welcome. They didn't always need her.

When she was there it was the same as it had been the first time. Everything felt soft, blurred around the edges. She would sit with Valentine in the Tower and they would talk nonsense, or together they would stroll through the City streets while he ranted and raved and she laughed and how absurd he could be. Time was fractured, memory slippery. Just like a dream. A re-occuring dream. But it was wasn't just a dream. It was more.

Once or twice their wanderings had brought them to the steps of the palace. Helena had wanted to go in, to see the Queen, but didn't think it would be polite. She couldn't just visit the Queen, could she? Valentine had encouraged her, but Helena knew he would just make a scene. He was still bitter about there not being any reward.

They never discussed a destination for their walks. Still Helena always felt that Valentine was guiding her, keeping her on the right path. She didn't mind. History had taught her where the wrong path could lead her, if she strayed too far into darkness.

She looked forward to her times with Valentine. Missed him when he wasn't there. He was her confidant, her friend. Someone who wasn't involved in her real life; a sounding board for all her ideas and dreams. Even when he called her 'daft', or 'bonkers', she knew deep down he didn't mean it. Not really.

She could tell him anything.

So why didn't she tell him she was scared of all the windows? That she was sure, if she looked through one, she'd see someone that wasn't her, looking back.