Sasaki exited the side room back into the corridor where Chloe, Ami, Mandi, Takmet, and the furry kitten were waiting, Takmet rather on edge. Sasaki was refastening her shirt as she walked toward them. Sekat exited after her, smirking as he addressed Takmet.

“Thank you so much for allowing me to take up a piece of what little time you have together. I suppose I’ll see you around the palace,” he said as he looked at Sasaki and Takmet. He walked down the hallway, melting into the shadows the setting sun created in the palace halls.

Takmet watched the caped figure disappear, then asked Sasaki, “Did he treat you well?”

“He was decent. He just asked me about my injuries.” Sasaki joined the group again. “I’m getting tired.”

“We all are,” Chloe agreed. They hadn’t actually done much that day, but walking so far in the palace took a lot of energy out of the girls.

“Did you four want your own room?” Takmet asked.

“Could we just stay where we were?” Ami wondered. She was constantly watching the cat, but since it only seemed to bother Sasaki, she was more comfortable.

“Well, that would be my room. You are free to--” Takmet started.

“No, we couldn’t do that,” Mandi protested.

“I don’t mind. I can use one of the guest rooms. Actually I would prefer that you use my room,” the young Egyptian insisted. “Better for your safety.”

“Safety? From what?” Sasaki asked.

“From whoever wants to know more about you using magic. Scrying spells and the like. Out in the hallway, anything we say is probably heard by Seti’s advisor. The only three rooms in the palace that are impenetrable to those spells are the pharaoh’s court, old mage Marton’s room, and mine. So you see why it would be better where you can talk among yourselves.”

“When are we going to see the mage?” Mandi asked, her curiosity winning over her silent composure. “He sounds like a pretty powerful guy.”

“Let’s talk about that in the security of my room, shall we?”

* * *

The five young people, plus a young cat, walked to Takmet’s room. There Takmet told them that they would see the mage the next day since they had tired themselves out by walking so far, and the mage’s room was on the other side of the palace. He brought up the request Sasaki had presented the day before: their training.

Ami and Mandi agreed with the idea, but Chloe was rather hesitant. Lord forbid she break more than one nail or get a scar. Sasaki convinced her that it was the best way they could survive in ancient Egypt if they ever wanted to get home. Then, if they ever did manage to get home, they could show off to their classmates and impress the guys. That reasoning got Chloe’s approval.

Takmet left the room as the sun was setting, closing the doors quietly behind him. The Egyptian boy went to his temporary domicile, leaving the four future girls to themselves. They all fell asleep with no trouble, considering what they had already been through. But Sasaki dreamt fitfully through the silent night.

The dream began with her Dad. Sasaki was left at home with her father while her mother and twin sister had gone out for some mysterious reason, not letting her go with them as she usually did. Sasaki was still a little kid, around four years old. That peaceful line of her dream shattered as she was jolted into a place with red and blue flashing lights, spinning around and around. Sirens rang through her head while she took in the accident scene. Something horrible had happened to her mother and sister.

Sasaki yelled, “No!”. Sitting up, she was short of breath and looked around frantically, trying to get her bearings. Her breathing returned to normal as she realized she was still in ancient Egypt. She checked on her friends. Surprisingly they hadn’t woken up, but Mandi stirred. She was the lightest sleeper among them, but still not so light a sleeper that she would wake up to a yell right away. Sasaki carefully got out of the great bed, walking over to the giant window that let the moonlight in to shine on her tears. She hadn’t had a dream about her mother and sister in years. Why was it coming back now? She sat staring at the full moon, letting her feelings run in and out of her heart, releasing the tension.

Someone knocked, jolting Sasaki out of her pensive state. Takmet’s voice came through the heavy doors. “Is everything all right?”

“Everything’s fine,” Sasaki answered back, her voice faltering a little.

“May I come in?” Takmet asked, hearing her words waver through the door.

“Sure,” Sasaki replied, wiping the tears from her eyes in vain, for they wouldn’t stop. She kept her face to the window as the young man entered quietly, slight concern on his face. He saw her standing in front of the tall window, leaning on the wall with her face away from him. Despite her efforts to hide her tears, one escaped and traveled down her cheek, glittering to call attention to itself. Sasaki wiped it off, but not after Takmet had seen the little globe, reflecting the light from the window.

“Are you all right, Sasaki?” he asked quietly, walking closer to her.

She turned with forced gaiety, sending the hem of her nightgown whirling, wiping the remaining tears from her eyes. “I’m fine,” she responded, and her words did not falter even though she was still crying inside. “Just a bad dream.”

Takmet was aware she was hiding her feelings again, like she had with her back injuries. He wasn’t fooled this time, but he figured she needed time alone and it couldn’t hurt to play along. “I suppose you wouldn’t want to talk about it,” he said, watching her face.

Sasaki let down her mask of content, replying, “There’s nothing to talk about, really. It was just a nightmare.”

Takmet saw the dramatic change in her expression. “I see. Don’t let it worry you if it was just a nightmare. It was not real,” he said, turning back to the door. He hoped that she would tell him what was the matter. His heart ached to see her unhappy like that.

“But...,” Sasaki began.

Takmet stopped walking and looked at her over his shoulder. “But..?”

Sasaki hesitated. “Does it mean anything if it’s a recurring dream?”

“Recurring?” Takmet turned back to her, his question taking on a note of possible worry.

“Recurring after a number of years.”

“Why don’t you tell me what it was, and then I will tell you if I think it means something.”

Sasaki hesitated again, not sure if she wanted to share such a personal event in her life with a virtual stranger. The memory broke her wariness down, and she retold her dream along with what she could pull from her memory that thirteen years had faded, tears building up again.

“...and the last time I had it was when I was still a little girl. Why does it come back now?” Sasaki asked no one in particular.

“Perhaps it was only the stress of meeting Seti, or dealing with Sekat. Or maybe you are homesick.” Takmet said that last part more quietly, almost a whisper. He was surprised at his reaction to his own thought. He hadn’t known how much he would miss her until he thought about Sasaki leaving.

Sasaki knew it wasn’t because she was homesick. There was nothing back in the future to be sick for, except maybe TV, ice cream, air conditioning: the things that everyone takes for granted. “I think it definitely has something to do with this time, or someone in it,” she concluded herself. “I’ll just have to wait to find out who.” Sasaki was sitting on the bed, Chloe, Mandi, and Ami still asleep throughout the whole conversation. And the kitten was purring away on Sasaki’s pillow. “Sheesh, and I thought nothing could wake me up,” Sasaki sighed.

“You had better follow your friends’ example and get some rest,” the young, dark haired Egyptian suggested. “We have a lot to do tomorrow. Or should I say today? It’s difficult to tell at this time of night.” Takmet walked to the door, and after telling Sasaki good night, he closed the heavy doors quietly behind him. He stood there for a while and sighed. Takmet replayed the scene briefly in his mind. Sasaki’s tears running down her cheeks, her dark hair, her shining eyes, her bare shoulders in the moonlight.... He shook his thoughts away. He shouldn’t think like that about the pharaoh’s guest, but his expression softened as he smiled and walked towards his room.

Sasaki felt a little better after telling someone about her mother and sister, and she was able to calm down and fall asleep again. No nightmares haunted her this time and she slept until the sun rose, waking her with its warm rays and lighting the elegant room. She hadn’t slept that long since she started high school, homework keeping her up, and going to bed when the sun set was definitely a first. Sasaki felt like brushing her teeth, and only then did she remember that she had brought a fanny pack, which happened to have a travel toothbrush (teacher’s requirement just in case). Also she had brought her diary, which she hadn’t written in since her last vacation a year ago.

She washed her face and brushed her teeth in the water containers that were on the table, then she wrote in her diary after reading and laughing at her last entry. She described everything as it happened, sure she wouldn’t remember it or believe it twenty years later.

Ami woke up with the kitten warming her head, causing her to turn ghostly pale and fall off the bed. It wasn’t much of a surprise to the kitten, who gracefully leapt onto Sasaki’s shoulder and watched the bird on the end of Sasaki’s pen bob up and down. Due to the cat’s swiping at the fuzzy bird, Sasaki was forced to stop her writing and teased the kitten unmercifully until it got so tired of batting at the thing that it fell in her lap.

“Morning, Ami,” Sasaki said cheerfully to her friend on the floor.

“Morning to you, too,” Ami responded flatly. “Whatcha doin’?”

“Making sure that this isn’t a dream by writing everything down. So I have it all in writing that this really happened when I look at it twenty years down the road. I may not even believe myself by then,” Sasaki explained, helping her friend back on the bed.

“That’s a good idea,” Ami agreed. “I forgot about our bags.” She saw them against the end of the bed and searched through hers, pulling out a candy bar. “I’m surprised this hasn’t melted,” Ami observed as she unwrapped it. “Nothing like chocolate in the morning,” she said as she took a bite, savoring the flavor and giving in to her stomach’s demand for food.

“I wish I had thought of that,” Sasaki whined.

“I’ve got plenty more,” Ami said in between bites, opening the front pocket to her bag, revealing a stash of candy.

“My gosh, Ami! Doesn’t your mother care what you eat?”

“She doesn’t know what I spend my allowance on,” she smiled mischievously. “Have some.”

Sasaki picked one and enjoyed it as she continued writing, the kitten asleep in her lap. At the smell of chocolate and gum, Chloe’s stomach woke her. She wiped her eyes and stretched.

“Why is it so bright in here so early in the morning?” she whined. Sasaki pointed to the window wordlessly. “Oh, right. Hey, Ami, share the wealth,” Chloe demanded, and she chose her own candy.

Mandi was surprisingly the last one to wake up to the smell Ami’s candy. “You guys are going to get sick eating candy this early,” she groaned. Despite her own warning, she had some, too, her stomach’s will winning over her mind’s.

The knock on their door startled the girls slightly, causing them to look up from their candy and writing. Takmet’s voice came through the door. “Can I come in?”

“Sure!” Chloe let out first.

Takmet opened the doors, following him were some palace workers with breakfast. “I thought you could use some food,” he smiled at the four girls sitting in a circle on the bed, who eyed the food hungrily. He had some placed on the table and some next to the girls on the bed. The servants left as silently as they had come.

Takmet noticed that they were already eating something and he inquired as to what it was.

“The food of the gods,” Chloe said loftily. “Chocolate. Wanna try some?” she asked eagerly. He hesitated at her description of it as “the food of the gods”. “Come on, it’s good.” She held an unwrapped Hershey’s bar out to him.

He took it and tasted it, surprised to find he liked it. But he didn’t know that practically everyone likes chocolate. “What great food. Save some for the old mage when we see him. I’m sure he will like it. Have some breakfast first. That chocolate is too sweet to do you any good in the morning.”

“It gives you plenty of energy for a while. Doesn’t last too long though,” Ami smiled.

Takmet stared at the pen in Sasaki’s hand. “What in the world is that?” He studied the fuzzy bird on the end of it.

“It’s just a decoration,” Sasaki explained. “People make plenty of money of this stuff at home.”

What silly business people, Takmet thought as he looked at the foreign scribble on her paper.

The girls and Takmet ate together what the servants had brought, the girls then changing into their Egyptian outfits again. The kitten walked by Takmet on the way to the mage’s room, giving him what little affection it thought he deserved. Sasaki, Chloe, Mandi, and Ami followed Takmet who instructed them not to say anything until they got there, lest Sekat be alerted to their intentions. And so they made their way to the old mage who would be able to prove that they were from the future, and reveal to them much more than they expected.