"and....


land...


Roland....
oh god, what do I even call her...


AYAKO!"

Katie shouts something, which wakes me up from my unintended slumber.
My eyelids open wide in a split second, and I find myself sitting up straight on a bed, making me feel a bit dizzy.
I quickly try to identify where I am. Where is this place? Am I still at HOME, maybe in the crew quarters?
"Nech Nech, vos k'cha. Var dzja juu." [ "Ho ho, easy now. You fainted." ]
Katie says something, but I can't seem to understand her words at all. Did I just have a stroke or something?
"Ukana ma hey, Wan da jar?" [ "What? Why are you speaking Klingon now?" ] I asked, tilting my head.
Then I massage my throat, my voice sounds different. Maybe I need something to drink?
"Sha'va Gor Djzak Val" [ "What? Can you repeat that?" ] Katie asked, obviously confused.
"Waka...me.....watana...jaa?" [ "Why...don't you....speak.....English?"] I tried speaking slowly.
Katie glances at Swan but he shakes his head, and says "I don't think we speak the same language anymore."
I tilt my head, not understanding a single word of what he said.
I guess that my brain has only now completed its reboot process...because it took me a while before I noticed that both of them seem taller than they were before.
I point at both and make the hand gesture that they seem taller than before.
Katie then gently shakes her head and smiles. She points at me and makes the hand gesture "small."
Let's just say that I'm utterly and totally confused by now.
Then she points at me again, her eyes, and finally at the mirror in the corner.
I nod at her suggestion and jump from the bed onto the floor and I almost lose my balance doing so.
Not even a second later am I standing before that mirror, a regular one of course, but am shocked to see my reflection.
A very young girl with familiar looking furry ears and tail is looking at me with her mouth agape.
Her hair color is the same silvery-white as mine. She's wearing a similar kimono as I was wearing when I first arrived here.
"Oh kanna ma ha!! Na vanna me he?" [ "WTF!! Is that me?" ] I shout.
She's tiny! Not much older than four or maybe five years old, I think.
"Well, that's the first time I heard a young child cursing." Katie said while chuckling.
"That much was obvious in any language. You really should work on your language, missy."
Why is she laughing? Can't she see I'm in shock here? I gave her a very confused look.
Somehow I could recognize the "missy" sound as a name. I shake my head and point at myself while saying "missy."
Suddenly,
I started feeling dizzy again, my head hurts. My brain feels as if it's tingling on the inside.
Am I about to faint?
If that really is me, then why am I no longer in an Air Force uniform? And this kimono is unlike the ones Katie got for me. This is so bloody confusing!

It didn't take much longer for me to break down from all the stress.
I slowly bend my knees and sit down on the floor, my knees pulled towards me.

I yell once at it,

Then started crying.

You try smiling when fate keeps changing your life on a whim.
Katie runs over to me, sits down and embraces me for a few minutes until I stop crying.

All this time she coos "Sho ko dor, val nech. val nech. Sho ko dor."
I don't understand a thing, but the way she said that, lets me know that she was trying to say that all would be fine.
She keeps massaging my back until I face her and look her into the eyes. A small smile forms on my lips.
Swan pats my shoulder twice, he must pity me.
Then he motions me and Katie to follow him to the room where they were monitoring the global weather situation. He points at a screen that now shows clear skies. No hurricanes, just normal weather for this time of the year.
I nod to show him that I understand and place a hand on my chest, followed by a sigh.
It seems that our current crisis has ended.
But my personal crisis has only started.
How am I supposed to work around here in this tiny body now?
One of the employees here, a lady, winks at me and gives me a friendly smile.
Of course I returned a smile, but doesn't she think it's strange that I'm a little girl now?
Nope, none of them look surprised?.
This can only mean that the Watcher or the Universe or something else has changed the course of history. That must also be the reason why I can't understand anyone anymore.
Oh boy, I am so going to have an interesting time here.
Meanwhile, at Times Square, New York.
At the exact moment the Watcher reset the timeline to incorporate my existence into this reality, one person used a mirror but ended up at Times Square like I did.
Again.
Why?
There must be some kind of cosmic significance to this place. Or it might just be a total coincidence and a sick joke.
"Oh goddess, what is this place?" A young lady exclaims after she appears out of thin air.
She seems to be in her early twenties. She's dressed in a black kimono-like dress and has brown/reddish furry ears and a ditto tail.
No, that's no kimono, it looks like a hybrid of a kimono and a servant's uniform.
Lucky for her she appears in front of a pet shop instead of in the middle of rush hour traffic.
She seems to be amazed about the many, many cars passing her by, but also the many pedestrians who walk beside her without saying a word.
But some do glance over at her, believing she's either cosplaying or perhaps trying to lure people inside of the pet shop, being dressed as something furry.
"Hello? Excuse me? Ah, excuse me. Hello? Can you... Please can..." Whatever she tried, nobody wanted to listen to her.
Suddenly a guy catcalls her. "Wooo hooo. Hey honey!, you don't need to be on a leash when you come home with me!"
She glares at him.
Yes...she understood every word he said.
"You barbarian! Didn't your mommy teach you to respect ladies?" she crosses her arms...she's not impressed by this one.
"Oh c'mon!, I promise I will treat you like a true lady. How about a drink with me then?"
"Why don't you help me find my little girl, you inconsiderate Kvir!" Oh..if looks could kill.
"Are you scared of a real man, kitty?" The guy doesn't seem to have the brain capacity to understand that he should just shut up.
" Oh My balls are bigger than yours, now be gone from my sight!" Ouch. She's waaayyy tougher than she looks.
"Woooohooooo! Go girl!" A young pedestrian said while giving her a thumbs up.
The servant, for that's what she appears to be, runs after this random woman and begs her to help her find her little girl.
After calling the police, the servant is asked to wait here for a while.
All alone.
Then, about ten minutes later, she sees a police car approaching.
"What IS that ugly thing? Who would possibly drive such an ugly vehicle?"
A male police officer gets out of the car and walks towards her. He smiles, trying to help her calm down.
But she remains vigilant. But before he can ask her what's going on, the lady starts asking questions of her own.
"Sir, are you perhaps a royal knight?" the servant said to the police officer.
" ?? A what now? I don't think I've ever been called that before. Lady, are you okay? I am a police officer. Can you show me some ID?"
"AAAIIIDEEEE!? What's that!? I don't have anything of value with me to give you!. I just want to find my little girl. I beg you, please help me!."
" Okay okay! Now calm down, miss. I'm only trying to help you. How about you come with me to the station? We can file a missing person report there."
"So...you promise to help me find my girl? And you won't harm me?" She doesn't seem to trust the officer.
"Yes, I promise to do everything I can do to find her. And I also promise I won't harm you. Besides, you seem like you are freezing in those clothes. You will feel better when you are warm inside, don't you agree?"
The servant considers her options for a moment. That woman contacted these people, and she was nice to her. So she must also trust them.
"Alright, I will come with you. But I really need to find her."
The police officer sticks his head through the window opening of the car and whispers to his colleague "hey Frank, didn't Taylor report such a freak not so long ago?"
"Yeah, I think she looks the same. Maybe take her to the same place I guess? Taylor gonna love this."
The officer then looks at her again. "Miss, the child you are looking for. Does she..resemble...you? Except for white hair?"
"Yes, yes! She does! You found her already!?"
"Easy, easy there. We may have a lead here. A while ago one of my colleagues picked up a kid from the streets here, almost the exact same spot I believe.
Nobody believed my colleague initially when she described a cosplaying kid with white hair. Anyway, they took her to the children's hospital, then to a...another hospital. Perhaps she's there. We can check that, at least?"
"My lord! Yes! Thank you so much!." She folds her hands and bows deeply to the officer.
The officers then called dispatch and it didn't take them long to convince dispatch to give her a ride to Tranquility Peaks...for some closer observation. Truth be told that they really listened to her story and really filed a missing person's report. But they were "kind" enough to let Taylor handle the (nut)case.