[7:00] October 16th, 20XX. Again. Deja Vu long since lost track of how many times she woke up to that miserable date. It didn’t matter if it was round 1097 or 10197, because she was still no closer to solving it. [7:07] At this point, she could confidently narrate every tiny detail that happened that day. Her alarm would go off with the wrong tone, some bird would chirp exactly four times outside her window before flying away, then a knock at her door. Her childhood best friend Mira would come for a surprise visit to her remote island workshop, ask for a tour of the mess, and then… well okay, that part was fuzzy. [8:09] Frankly, the whole “super time powers” business wasn’t so cool anymore. Not when she couldn’t fully control or understand it. Maybe the loop was something she was responsible for, or a malfunction of the machine she was working on, but no investigations yielded meaningful clues. Or, it could be something completely different out of her control. But hey, the egg innovations were totally worth it! [8:18] Deja Vu affixed her new mask, begrudgingly starting this day, again. She couldn’t avoid it. Staying in bed wasn’t an option; she tried that one already. Mira would just break a window to get in and start the day by force. [9:40] Though the very first round was a blur now, Deja Vu distinctly remembered how woefully unprepared she was to receive company. No food was prepared, no space was cleared, no nothing! Not like she was much more prepared now, but she at least knew what cans she had stockpiled. [10:03] Curiously, she hadn’t actually drawn the curtains to see what bird was singing to her. She yanked the thin fabric back to see a small blackbird perched on her scrap pile outside. [10:06] That’s when the final moments of all those copycat days came flooding back. Deja Vu’s heart pounded as flashes of fate drowned out her rational thought. All her safety precautions, all her warnings, any redirection, all of it was for nothing. This workshop will claim Mira’s life by day’s end. [11:00] Distressed, Deja Vu paced around the front of her workshop, trying to think of any other way the day closed, but the only scenes that came to her were confirming her panic further. [11:15] But the knock on the door came anyway. She was already here. Deja Vu considered just sending her away back on the same airship she rode here, but a fire-engulfed ship pierced her brain, knocking that solution out. [11:16] Her hands moved on their own, sliding the metal door open and pulling Mira in. The visitor’s blue eyes were wide in shock. “How did you know?” Mira had a laugh like the sun. “It’s been a while since we talked,” Deja Vu said. “It was only a matter of time before you wanted to see me in person.” Mira’s face was painted red. “Well, I also heard about the explosion. So. There’s that too.” She reached to touch Deja Vu’s mask. “It seems this has only gotten thicker.” [12:00] Against her better judgement, Deja Vu gave into Mira’s request for a tour, but on one condition: Mira had to stay exactly beside Deja Vu throughout the whole thing. Mira whined a little bit, but by the end of the tour, Deja Vu found their hands intertwined. [13:20] Deja Vu took Mira to the clearing she built at the beach. They stood and watched the rolling waves for a long time. Or, at least Mira did. Deja Vu was distracted by how Mira’s auburn hair caught the afternoon light, even though she’d seen it several hundred times before. No matter how familiar, Mira still made Deja Vu’s heart flutter effortlessly. [16:55] Mira took an interest in the mess that accumulated in Deja Vu’s living space. She mumbled something about how scatterbrained Deja Vu always was. [18:10] All that Deja Vu rustled up for a meal was all cans. Cans of vegetables, cans of meat, cans of sauce. Mira scolded her a bit about the sodium content, but happily ate Deja Vu’s attempt. [19:00] They decided to watch some mystery movie that Deja Vu happened to have on a dinky television set. [19:50] “I’m going to really miss you,” Mira whispered, laying her head on Deja Vu’s lap. “What? I’m not going anywhere,” Deja Vu responded, confused. [19:51] “Oh come on,” Mira frowned. “You’re making great leaps with your inventions. It’s only a matter of time before you strike something big and move on with your life.” [19:52] Deja Vu let that energy sit for a while. Oh, Ancients, Mira really thought that she was going to be left behind. Was this really how Deja Vu caught the stench of their friendship decomposing, like a houseplant left in a corner? No, it was worse, like an entire greenhouse was forgotten. How terrible she felt, to neglect someone so valuable to her. [20:00] After too long, Deja Vu stroked Mira’s hair, her hands moving without any thought. [20:01] “There’s not a single thing I could make that would take me away from you,” Deja Vu laid her heart out. “I love you too much to stray too far.” [20:02] Mira’s smile came back, but she had already begun to tear up. “Really?” Her eyes met Deja Vu’s through her mask. “Do you mean it?” [20:03] “You know-” Deja Vu stammered. “I’m not good with words. I was- I am happy you decided to visit. Maybe… maybe you should come more often.” [20:04] Mira’s words were clear and sharp. “I’ll always have time for you. But you have to carve out some time to come to me.” [20:05] Deja Vu leaned, and Mira reached up. They shared their first kiss through the mask, salted over by canned rations. [22:01] Mira fell asleep watching the movie. Deja Vu forgot what it was even about, sipping her nighttime tea as the minutes clicked past. [23:25] The day was due to reset any moment now. [23:34] A deep sinking feeling overwhelmed Deja Vu. This change in their relationship wasn’t unwelcome by any stretch of the imagination! But, was this really okay? [23:45] All Deja Vu saw herself capable of these last thousand or so cycles were immense harm. Failure to save Mira, unable to provide for her only visitor! What’s the point of moving on after this single time she successfully saw her through the day?! One good day, but thousands of dead, sad, angry Miras would still have existed! How could she rightfully ask for Mira’s heart when Deja Vu let it be crushed in all these other loops?! [23:51] But Deja Vu knew herself. There’s never going to be a magical day where all the pieces fall in the right place. She’ll never magically be perfect. She never needed to be. That made up idealistic ‘her’ was not the version that Mira loved, not the one Mira grew up with, so why did Deja Vu not like this ‘her’? [23:55] Is this what this stupid loop was stuck on? [23:56] Deja Vu felt a thick defiant bravery course through her veins, as she held her sleeping best friend. [23:59] If this day had to repeat again, then let it repeat over and over, until the fabric of time itself unravels. In Deja Vu’s arms, she held her past, present, and future. If tomorrow only came to take Mira away, to take this light away, then let it stay in that vague mist, beyond the curtain. May dawn never break. [0:00] It is October 17th, 20XX.
FILL: TEAM SKYLANDERS
words: 1.3k
[7:00] October 16th, 20XX. Again. Deja Vu long since lost track of how many times she woke up to that miserable date. It didn’t matter if it was round 1097 or 10197, because she was still no closer to solving it.
[7:07] At this point, she could confidently narrate every tiny detail that happened that day. Her alarm would go off with the wrong tone, some bird would chirp exactly four times outside her window before flying away, then a knock at her door. Her childhood best friend Mira would come for a surprise visit to her remote island workshop, ask for a tour of the mess, and then… well okay, that part was fuzzy.
[8:09] Frankly, the whole “super time powers” business wasn’t so cool anymore. Not when she couldn’t fully control or understand it. Maybe the loop was something she was responsible for, or a malfunction of the machine she was working on, but no investigations yielded meaningful clues. Or, it could be something completely different out of her control. But hey, the egg innovations were totally worth it!
[8:18] Deja Vu affixed her new mask, begrudgingly starting this day, again. She couldn’t avoid it. Staying in bed wasn’t an option; she tried that one already. Mira would just break a window to get in and start the day by force.
[9:40] Though the very first round was a blur now, Deja Vu distinctly remembered how woefully unprepared she was to receive company. No food was prepared, no space was cleared, no nothing! Not like she was much more prepared now, but she at least knew what cans she had stockpiled.
[10:03] Curiously, she hadn’t actually drawn the curtains to see what bird was singing to her. She yanked the thin fabric back to see a small blackbird perched on her scrap pile outside.
[10:06] That’s when the final moments of all those copycat days came flooding back. Deja Vu’s heart pounded as flashes of fate drowned out her rational thought. All her safety precautions, all her warnings, any redirection, all of it was for nothing. This workshop will claim Mira’s life by day’s end.
[11:00] Distressed, Deja Vu paced around the front of her workshop, trying to think of any other way the day closed, but the only scenes that came to her were confirming her panic further.
[11:15] But the knock on the door came anyway. She was already here. Deja Vu considered just sending her away back on the same airship she rode here, but a fire-engulfed ship pierced her brain, knocking that solution out.
[11:16] Her hands moved on their own, sliding the metal door open and pulling Mira in. The visitor’s blue eyes were wide in shock.
“How did you know?” Mira had a laugh like the sun.
“It’s been a while since we talked,” Deja Vu said. “It was only a matter of time before you wanted to see me in person.”
Mira’s face was painted red. “Well, I also heard about the explosion. So. There’s that too.” She reached to touch Deja Vu’s mask. “It seems this has only gotten thicker.”
[12:00] Against her better judgement, Deja Vu gave into Mira’s request for a tour, but on one condition: Mira had to stay exactly beside Deja Vu throughout the whole thing. Mira whined a little bit, but by the end of the tour, Deja Vu found their hands intertwined.
[13:20] Deja Vu took Mira to the clearing she built at the beach. They stood and watched the rolling waves for a long time. Or, at least Mira did. Deja Vu was distracted by how Mira’s auburn hair caught the afternoon light, even though she’d seen it several hundred times before. No matter how familiar, Mira still made Deja Vu’s heart flutter effortlessly.
[16:55] Mira took an interest in the mess that accumulated in Deja Vu’s living space. She mumbled something about how scatterbrained Deja Vu always was.
[18:10] All that Deja Vu rustled up for a meal was all cans. Cans of vegetables, cans of meat, cans of sauce. Mira scolded her a bit about the sodium content, but happily ate Deja Vu’s attempt.
[19:00] They decided to watch some mystery movie that Deja Vu happened to have on a dinky television set.
[19:50] “I’m going to really miss you,” Mira whispered, laying her head on Deja Vu’s lap.
“What? I’m not going anywhere,” Deja Vu responded, confused.
[19:51] “Oh come on,” Mira frowned. “You’re making great leaps with your inventions. It’s only a matter of time before you strike something big and move on with your life.”
[19:52] Deja Vu let that energy sit for a while. Oh, Ancients, Mira really thought that she was going to be left behind. Was this really how Deja Vu caught the stench of their friendship decomposing, like a houseplant left in a corner? No, it was worse, like an entire greenhouse was forgotten. How terrible she felt, to neglect someone so valuable to her.
[20:00] After too long, Deja Vu stroked Mira’s hair, her hands moving without any thought.
[20:01] “There’s not a single thing I could make that would take me away from you,” Deja Vu laid her heart out. “I love you too much to stray too far.”
[20:02] Mira’s smile came back, but she had already begun to tear up. “Really?” Her eyes met Deja Vu’s through her mask. “Do you mean it?”
[20:03] “You know-” Deja Vu stammered. “I’m not good with words. I was- I am happy you decided to visit. Maybe… maybe you should come more often.”
[20:04] Mira’s words were clear and sharp. “I’ll always have time for you. But you have to carve out some time to come to me.”
[20:05] Deja Vu leaned, and Mira reached up. They shared their first kiss through the mask, salted over by canned rations.
[22:01] Mira fell asleep watching the movie. Deja Vu forgot what it was even about, sipping her nighttime tea as the minutes clicked past.
[23:25] The day was due to reset any moment now.
[23:34] A deep sinking feeling overwhelmed Deja Vu. This change in their relationship wasn’t unwelcome by any stretch of the imagination! But, was this really okay?
[23:45] All Deja Vu saw herself capable of these last thousand or so cycles were immense harm. Failure to save Mira, unable to provide for her only visitor! What’s the point of moving on after this single time she successfully saw her through the day?! One good day, but thousands of dead, sad, angry Miras would still have existed! How could she rightfully ask for Mira’s heart when Deja Vu let it be crushed in all these other loops?!
[23:51] But Deja Vu knew herself. There’s never going to be a magical day where all the pieces fall in the right place. She’ll never magically be perfect. She never needed to be. That made up idealistic ‘her’ was not the version that Mira loved, not the one Mira grew up with, so why did Deja Vu not like this ‘her’?
[23:55] Is this what this stupid loop was stuck on?
[23:56] Deja Vu felt a thick defiant bravery course through her veins, as she held her sleeping best friend.
[23:59] If this day had to repeat again, then let it repeat over and over, until the fabric of time itself unravels. In Deja Vu’s arms, she held her past, present, and future. If tomorrow only came to take Mira away, to take this light away, then let it stay in that vague mist, beyond the curtain. May dawn never break.
[0:00] It is October 17th, 20XX.