Love You Like a Sister II: A Moment's Glimpse: Part Two

      Syri never said anything, and neither did I. We just stared at each other, Syri understanding what I was about to do. I saw her eyes turn shiny, and I waved goodbye to her. It was a mistake to come here. I couldn't handle it-it was too depressing and sad. I tried to blink back tears, but they came anyways. They poured down my cheeks like they did with Syri. Charlene went over to Syri, and I saw her put an arm around her. But Syri continued to cry, continued to stare. My arms and legs were immobile. I stayed, watching the scene before my eyes.

      Charlene looked over and saw me. Her reaction was different, however. She cried out, "Seana!" Everyone playing Gormball halted in their tracks. The laughter and noise died. They looked over at my direction. I heard many of them gasp. I looked into Heather's eyes and saw that she was starting to cry. I saw some of the people making their way towards me. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. I was supposed to say goodbye and leave.

      Now everything was ruined. I did the only thing I could do-I ran. I ran faster than my Uni legs could ever carry me, all the way to the Rainbow Pool. I heard two people trying to follow me, but someone held them back. Looking back on that old neighborhood for the last time, I saw it was Heather holding Tatum and Kaylee back. I waved goodbye, and ran as fast as I could. The look on Heather's face was almost unbearable. I had finally reached the wondrous Rainbow Pool. Only then did I sit down, panting hard. I saw someone selling water, so I handed over a couple of Neopoints and gulped it down. I was sure creating a scene, however. I mean, I had run faster than any other Uni has, with tears still dripping down my red fur.

      I had only looked back once, and I knew it was for the final time. I started walking to the Arcades, wiping the tears off of me. I entered and saw Splash playing Zurroball. When I tapped her on the shoulder, she flinched and turned around. Her eyes widened when she saw me. "What…?" Splash tried to ask. I shook my head. "Let's go find Rayanne, then," Splash said, grabbing my arm so I would follow her.

      We found Rayanne in the first store we checked-the Grooming Parlour. I had only worked there for one day. Rayanne was haggling with the owner for an Earth Faerie Hair Clip.

      "Come on, it's only one hundred Neopoints short!" Rayanne cried.

      "I will not go any lower, ma'am," the Usul replied. "Either pay the full price or don't pay at all."

      I gave Rayanne fifty Neopoints from my pocket. "It's all I have right now," I said. Splash dug around in her pocket and easily found the other fifty Neopoints needed. The shopkeeper smiled, took the money and handed us the bag with the hair clip inside.

      "Wow, an Earth Faerie Hair Clip! Thanks a lot, Ray!" Splash excitedly said. Even though I was excited, I couldn't show it. Not while we were still in Neopia Central.

      "Who said it was for you?" Rayanne joked. She turned to look at me. "Something wrong, Seana?"

      Splash stepped in before I had to. "We'll talk about it at home," she quickly said. I gave her a look of thanks as Rayanne changed the subject.

      "Wow, you were so right, Seana! Neopia Central has the best shopping ever!" She held up the numerous bags hanging from her arm. "Boy, did I have some fun!"

      Even I laughed at this. Rayanne was such a shopaholic, but you would never know it unless you went shopping with her. "Where did you go?" Splash asked as we waited for a carriage to take us back to Meridell.

      "Well, let's see…the Clothing Shop, the Toy Shop, the Chocolate Factory…" Rayanne's voice was soon in the back of my mind as today's events replayed in my head. We got onto a carriage, which was moving quite swiftly-which was no big deal to me, because as far as I was concerned, Neopia Central was an omen for bad luck to me. I turned in my seat and watched as Neopia Central and it's crowded streets got smaller and smaller. After a while, you couldn't even see it.

      "And then I just had to go to the Magic Shop…" Rayanne still babbled on.

      "Okay, let's make this question easier. What shops didn't you go to?" Splash jokingly said.

      "The Post Office and Collectable Card Shop," Rayanne replied.

      "And what else?" Splash asked.

      "That's all. Those are the only shops I didn't go to." Splash's mouth dropped.

      "You did all of that on the course of a day?"

      Rayanne nodded enthusiastically. "Yep!" Both Splash and I rolled our eyes. Finally we reached the Meridellian Carriage Station, and continued on our way back home on foot. It was only about five minutes away, and the silence between everyone wasn't so bad. When we got inside, I sighed and sat down on the sofa.

      Splash and Rayanne sat across from me. "So what happened?" Rayanne asked, concern in her eyes.

      I took a deep breath, and told them everything, including details. At times in the telling of my story it was painful and I did an awful lot of crying, but after telling them, it felt like an immense load was off of my chest. I would even go as far as to say I felt better. Rayanne and Splash were both good audiences, never interrupting me, but nodding so I could see they were following along.

      By the time I finished, all three of us had tears in our eyes. Rayanne got up and hugged me. "Are you sure you don't want to go back, Seana?" Rayanne asked. I opened my mouth to talk, and then closed it again for about a second.

      "I'm one hundred percent positive, Ray. I want to give Heather a chance to live and enjoy herself. And I really do love you, Splash and Leilani."

      "Aww!" Rayanne crooned, and pulled Splash and I into a group hug. "I love you, too."

      "And me!" Splash's muffled voice came. Splash giggled right then, and Rayanne and I turned to look at her. "Just look at us! Crying on our vacation! I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready to have some fun!"

      Rayanne and I both laughed, and soon Leilani was among us. She was perched on my shoulder, as usual, cuddling and purring. Splash suddenly turned "Yes Boy Ice Cream" on the speakers, and cranked up the volume. She slid over to us on the slippery marble flooring. "Come on!" she said.

      So we started dancing around the room, until Rayanne disappeared for a couple minutes and came back down with socks on her feet. We looked at her curiously, until we saw her slide across the room with ease, her socks gliding across the marble smoothly. I put my slippers on and slid around, while Splash used her own skin to slide. It was like being on an ice rink-we often slipped and grabbed onto each other or anything nearby.

      It had to be one of the wackiest and best days I had seen in a long time. After our "sliding across the room" fun, we brought out the tub of ice cream, grabbed spoons and dug in. We ate until our stomach's ached. We stretched out on the living room furniture, bloated.

      "Hey, Ray?" Splash asked.

      "Hmm?" Rayanne mumbled back.

      "How about we do this again sometime?"

      "Not in your life, sport," Rayanne replied, laughing. As I went to bed later that night, I knew this was the right family for me.

      Not all stories have a faerie-tale ending. Not all stories end up depressing. My story happens to be neither of those. I am happy with a new family, Heather can finally live the way she's always wanted to, and my friends are still together. Normally this would sound like the "perfect" ending some of you would call it, but you're forgetting something: I still haven't met Chet Flash. Okay, so that had nothing to do with the story, and I am joking. I guess what I'm trying to say is although I love the new family, I can't help but still feel love for my friends back in Neopia Central. But one thing is for sure: even after a last moment's glimpse of Heather, I'll always love her like a sister.

THE END

Author's Note: I made Seana's name pronounced See-anna, but you can pronounce her name however you like it. Feel free to comment.