destinyunraveled

Cierra rolled over and looked up at her spirit guide, panting from the adrenaline rush of rescuing her grandmother from
falling down the cliff.

"This is gonna be real hard to explain, huh?"

Dream Walker chuckled. "I doubt your friends will be surprised by anything you do, Pathfinder. Good luck!" he said,
disappearing, but the echo of his laughter teased her.

"Who are you?" the woman next to asked, "And where are we? That...spirit?...he called you Pathfinder. Is that your
power?"

"Yes, one of them. Look, this is going to be one heck of a story to take in but it's the truth. I'm Cierra, your granddaughter."

"Cece?" she asked, using her nickname for her son's child, holding out her hands to grasp Cierra's.

"Yeah, it's me. I know this is confusing but I've learned to jump between worlds of different destinies. A little over five years
ago an old man handed me your fetish and I made my first jump that night. I've followed a very complex road since then but
I've always missed you. You disappeared without a trace when I was nine years old."

"You're, well, were nine years old this morning," the older shaman said, looking around the corridor. "I wish I could have
kept you with me when Jackson died but your mother refused to give you up. I'm sorry. Continue," she urged.

"Obviously, I just interfered with time. You're here now and not at the bottom of that cliff. I don't dare pollute the time line
more by taking you back. I'll just have to live with the mystery of your vanishing until this moment again," Cierra told her.

"So what happens to me now, Cece?"

"You come home with me. You can meet your namesake and my..." Cierra wasn't sure how her grandmother would take her
lesbian relationship. "my wife," she continued.

"Ah, I thought I sensed that path for you. "What is her name?"

"JP. It's a nickname but her real name is horrible," she giggled, happy that Grandmother Kiona wasn't bothered by her
nature.

"And who fathered your child? A good man I hope?"

"That's debatable. Kota is a shaman who offered to father Kiona. He's a pain in the a--er, behind and arrogant but he makes
cute babies."

The older woman laughed at the remark. She patted Cierra's hand and eased herself to her feet with ease. As a child she
had thought her grandmother a very old woman but in reality she was only about fifty-six years old. "I can't wait to meet
them both. Is it far from here?"

"Not at all," Cierra said as she stood. "Give me your hand," she instructed.

* * * * *

JP rolled over when the bed jiggled. She didn't open her eyes right away, only sleepily asking Cierra if Kiona was okay.

"I'm fine and dandy," Kiona Night Hawk White told her granddaughter-in-law.

JP yelped and rolled out of bed in panic as a strange voice in her bed spoke. She hit the ground hard and having her breath
knocked out of her. She gasped for air as a pair of unfamiliar eyes peeked over the edge of the large cot.

"Are you all right, young lady?"

JP could hear the muffled giggles of her wife coming from the other side of the bed. She wanted to ask what in hell was so
funny but she hadn't managed to take a full breath yet. She crawled to her feet, wobbling as she straightened and glared at
both women on the bed. She sucked in a painful breath, then two, before pointing at the stranger and asking who she was.

Cierra couldn't answer. She was in the throes of an almost hysterical laughing fit, tears pouring from her eyes as she held
her ribs.

"This *gasp* isn't funny, damn it!" Cierra still couldn't stop laughing and was joined by the older woman who pulled a pillow
to her face and kicked the bed with her heels as she laughed. JP could only stare at the pair with frustration. In spite of not
knowing anything about what was going on, she was fighting from laughing too.

"What in hell is going on over here? People are trying to sleep!" Robbie hissed, pulling aside the canvas to peek into their
space. "Who the hell is that?"

Both women were dying and in pain but were trying to stop laughing.

"Damned if I know," JP giggled, throwing her hands in the air in defeat. "Let me know when they calm down. I'm going to
take a comfort break," she announced, ducking behind the canvas.

Slowly the giggling slowed down to a trickle as long as neither looked at each other or Robbie.

"Finished now? Good. What's going on?"

"Robbie, meet my grandmother. Grandmother Kiona, meet Robyn Stevenson, my bodyguard."

Silence followed the introduction. Cierra dared a look towards her friend and saw Robbie glaring at her.

"What?"

"Please tell me you didn't," Robbie waved her hands like a magician, "did your hocus pocus and produced her out of thin
air."

"Not exactly. I was in the corridor. I saw her in the mist. Robbie, the ground crumbled under her feet and she was about to
fall to her death," she said, hoping Robbie understood.

"And you did what you always do and leapt without looking," Robbie concluded. "So, I take it we need to build her a house
once we get home?"

Cierra let out her breath. Robbie had taken it fairly well. "Yeah, something like that."

"Okay, I'm going back to bed. I'm hoping this was just a weird dream in the morning." The blonde went through the opening
in the canvas divider, leaving them alone.

JP returned a short time later and found the older woman holding their sleeping toddler. "Ready to explain now?"

* * * * *

Cierra spent some time telling her grandmother about her own past after her disappearance. Kiona listened stone-faced,
seething inside at the abuse Cierra had suffered at the hands of Vanessa. She had never liked the woman her son had
married but had kept it to herself since he was a grown man.

When Cierra explained about the money left in the trust fund the older woman became confused. "Cece, I live on a pittance.
Where could have I come up with money for that?"

"I have no idea. For every mystery I solve I stumble across another one."

"I'm sure we'll come across that answer in time. Now, I think we need some sleep. At least you do. I'll just doze there in the
chair while the two of you get your rest. The sun will be up in a few hours."

"How do you know that?" Cierra asked. There was no clock in the tent or even a window to look out of.

"That's my power, Cece. I can feel Nature's rhythms. When the sun rises and sets, the passage of the seasons, when it will
snow or rain."

"So that's why you never lost your gardens to frost. I always wondered about that."

"The farmers came to me to tell them when to plant or when to wait. They would give me small gifts to help me get by.
Things always worked out."

"I'm sure they do. Good night, Grandmother Kiona." Cierra pulled the covers up to her shoulders and drifted to sleep, this
time without dreams.

* * * * *

Kiona walked from the large tent the next morning, even before the rest of her family had awakened. She wanted to track
down that witch of a daughter-in-law and give her a piece of her mind. She wandered about the village and was considering
asking a stranger for directions to Vanessa's quarters when she spotted the vile woman, arguing with a man in his forties.
Kiona only heard the tail end of the man's words when he told Vanessa that if she didn't work she wouldn't eat. So Vanessa
was still up to her old, self-centered ways.

The shaman hurried to where Vanessa was standing, spitting hateful words after the man who was walking away from her in
frustration. She stayed just out of the woman's line of sight and waited. Vanessa hadn't aged well at all, she thought to
herself. Her darkness of heart was now marring what had once been a pretty face.

Her daughter-in-law made a gesture at the man's retreating back with her middle finger, no doubt something rude, and
turned away angrily only to come face to face with a ghost from her past.

Vanessa White paled as she stared into the eyes of the woman who had always looked down on her like an insect that she
was ready to stomp. "Mother Kiona?" she asked, feeling superstitious dread once more send shivers down her spine. She
had always been convinced Kiona was performing curses against her. The appearance of a woman long dead was proof of
her evil nature.

The shaman knew about those fears and had never done anything to convince her otherwise. It had suited her to have
Vanessa a little afraid of her harmless powers. But this time the shaman wanted a bit of revenge. Without a word, she shot
her hand forward like a snake and yanked out several strands of Vanessa's greying hair, then turned away, saying
something in her native tongue. Maybe she would make something like a voodoo doll. Vanessa had no way of knowing that it
wasn't something her people did. And besides, she wanted to see Vanessa squirm. It wasn't a very nice part of her but she
felt the spirits would understand this one lapse.

She returned to the large tent and heard the sounds of her family waking. She waited politely in the large common area for
them to emerge.

"Good morning, Mrs. White," JP said to her.

"I think you are of an age where you may use my name, JP Foley."

"It might be awkward, with our little girl having the same name."

"True, true. Then perhaps you could just call me Grandmother?"

"That would be fine," JP smiled. "Are you hungry? We're heading for the kitchen for breakfast."

"Without prayers first? I'm sorry. You're not of our people. You follow your own beliefs."

"Actually, I usually pray in the mornings at home, but the tent has no sunlight shining inside. If you want, we can find a quiet
place before eating."

Kiona smiled. Her daughter had done well in choosing her mate.

Cierra left their sleeping area with little Kiona on her hip and smiled brightly. "Look Kiona, there's your great grandma!"
she said happily.

The older shaman held out her arms and the toddler reached back without fear. That spoke well of how they raised her great
granddaughter. She bounced the child gently on her hips while speaking to her softly in her native tongue. The child giggled,
listening to the lady speak funny.

JP asked her wife in a whisper if she remembered to bring along her medicine bag. Cierra pulled the string from behind her
shirt. "We're going to find a spot for our morning prayers then go eat." she mentioned casually.

Cierra slipped her arm around JP's waist as they strolled around the village. Kiona pointed to a sunny spot with an eastern
view of a meadow. The family sat down on the still cool grass. JP and Cierra closed their eyes, clutching their bags while
Kiona chanted her morning thanks to the spirits for this new day. Little Kiona paid them no mind, reaching for a grasshopper
she had seen.

They stood after a time and headed for the kitchen. The sight of so many people had Kiona opened mouth in surprise but she
soon learned to ignore the din. She copied what her family did, taking a plate and filling it with whatever appealed to her. She
accepted a cup of tea from JP and followed them to a picnic table to sit down. Robbie entered the tent just as they begun,
looked at Kiona, then shook her head.

"So much for the dream theory. I'll be back in a few minutes," she told them, joining the line.

"I've never seen such a tall woman before," Kiona mentioned.

"Robbie is taller than average." JP told her, "But she and her wife don't mind the height difference."

"Another couple who prefer their own gender? How unusual."

JP nudged her wife. "You tell her," she whispered.

"Grandmother, you should know, the colony we begun...well, it started as all women who were like us. More typical families
have joined us since then but most of the couples are like us, liking our own gender. Some men couples too."

"I'm sure that makes life more interesting," Kiona said, nonplussed at the news.

Robbie placed her plate on the table and swung a long leg over the bench seat. "So, you're really Cierra's grandmother?"

"Of course."

"I can't wait to hear how you explain this to the council," Robbie snickered.

"Thanks Buddy," JP said, tossing a piece of bread at her friend.

"Hey, I'm not the one jumping all over the place, poking my nose into every gopher hole. Blame your wife on this one."

JP, turned her head and looked at Cierra innocently.

"Not a word unless you want to try out the wigwam tonight."

The butch quickly turned her gaze away and stared at her breakfast. She wasn't going to take any chances with that threat.

Destiny Unraveled, part 2

After a morning spent retrieving items from the former ranches on Earth, Cierra and her party were almost ready to leave.
They were stopping at the kitchen for a bite to eat before beginning their three hour ride back to their own village.

Kiona tucked in the deer stew with enjoyment since the only meat in her past diet consisted of small animals she had caught
in her snares. The red meat was a welcomed treat after so long. The gravy was rich and thick as well and the vegetables
were cut in hearty chunks. She used her bread to sop up the juices, not wanting to miss a single drop. JP watched with humor,
noticing that Kiona and Cierra used the same facial expressions when they ate. The two women probably had a lot more in
common and she looked forward to discovering those traits. Her eyes travelled from woman to grandmother and back again
as they finished their meals, only dragging her eyes away when Robbie spoke.

"Here comes little brother."

Cierra looked up with distaste then made a point of ignoring Rupert.

"Who is that young man, Cierra?" Kiona asked.

"My brother, Rupert. He's nine years younger than I am and we hate each other's guts. He's a mama's boy."

"Well, at least he's only your half-brother," Kiona told her.

"Why do you say that?" JP asked.

"Because," Kiona said, dabbing her lips with a dinner cloth, "Jackson told me that he hadn't shared a bed with Vanessa
since Cierra was three, when his wife first cheated on him. I suspect that his father was some man she met while running
around on my son. I have no idea why he never left her. Perhaps he thought a bad mother for Cierra was better than no
mother at all," she said with a sour look.

"After Daddy died, I would have preferred an orphanage rather than living with those two," Cierra huffed.

The four of them watched Rupert as he stepped up to the serving line to grab a plate. Then to their amusement, Charlie
walked up to him and strong-armed him from the tent.

"I guess he ticked off Charlie this morning," Robbie commented with a snicker.

"Well, I did tell Charlie to forget they were related to me and do what he had to get them to work like everyone else. They'll
either begin pitching in or he'll throw them out of the village," Cierra told everyone.

"I feel sorry for the Council here. I just hope those two don't show up on our doorstep," Robbie said with a shudder.

"If they do they won't remain on Mother Earth, Robbie. I won't dump them on another clan and I refuse to have her
disrupting our happy home."

Robbie grunted, secretly hoping Charlie drove them out of his village.

* * * * *

The four adults and lil Kiona reached their village in late afternoon as the sun was beginning to dip lower in the sky, creating
long shadows. The days were growing longer, giving them a few more minutes of daylight each day. People greeted their
returning friends and eyed the stranger with them silently. Cierra was glad of that. She only wanted to tell the story once.
Dinner time would be soon enough. Until then she wanted to set her grandmother up in one of the newly built adobe homes.

While they were on the Wave Dancer, the people of her clan had decided that the project done for enlarging Sharon and
Emma's home should be taken a step further. They decided to build small, two story homes in between the already existing
buildings. The stairs for these homes would be built outside rather than taking up valuable space inside. The pipes of the
flow toilets already existed and merely had to be dug down to and an opening cut into the hard plastic pipes. Once the
planned buildings were finished some of the existing houses would be added onto, giving them extra room once the second
floor was erected.

The problem was that Kiona had nothing to start with, only the clothing on her back. They needed to get some items to give
her a start in her home plus clothing. They could borrow a few items for the night but tomorrow they would need to do some
sewing and make her clothing.

Once they kept care of their horses, JP headed over to the storage building and collected some of the spare items that they
collected for their own use or trading. She grabbed a fire starter kit, a kettle, a toothbrush and a jar of homemade
toothpaste, a roll of nearly gone toilet paper, candles, and a pitcher and wash basin. She wasn't even sure if a bed was built
for the house. If not, she and the carpenters would have to hastily make one after dinner. She would come back later for
some bedding and one of the rag rugs.

The house built between Sharon's and the Johnson's home was still unclaimed by anyone so they gave it to Kiona. They went
inside and JP was pleased to see that Eva had placed basic furniture inside. It had a two-chair table set, a side table for the
pitcher and basin, a mushroom lamp, and a built-in gravity shower. The smaller buildings wouldn't have the room for more
than that but it would be welcomed by most of the people.

Cierra went outside to take the stairs to the second floor and shouted down that there was a bed frame already there and a
feather and cotton-filled mattress. She climbed back down the steep stairs and said she'd go fetch the bedding.

"This place is actually much nicer than my home. I didn't even have an indoor toilet," Kiona mentioned to JP as she
inspected the water closet.

"We have no electric power here either although I'm sure you'll be fine with that."

"I'm quite accustomed to living simply, yes, but I already miss my mountains."

"But you gained a family and will make lots of friends here. We're a nice bunch of people," JP smiled.

"Considering that I was supposed to die yesterday, everyday is now a gift. I won't regret one moment of my life here."

JP couldn't resist giving the older woman a hug. Kiona returned it gladly. She wasn't one to turn away the healing gift of
touch. She was happy that her new family member had warmed to her so quickly.

"I hope to have a child's bed brought in. Sometimes parents like to allow grandparents to keep the little ones overnight,"
she winked.

"Ah, a built-in babysitter. I hadn't thought of that," JP teased.

"I have a feeling Grandmother is planning on lots of overnight visits," Cierra said as she peeked into the house on her way
upstairs with the sheets and blankets. Kiona didn't say a word, assuming an innocent expression.

* * * * *

"That is absolutely fascinating," Pam said to her. "You not only crossed time but you weren't limited to distance either. I
wonder if you could do either again."

"I'd rather she didn't," Sharon said. "So many things could go wrong with it. Just because she can doesn't mean she
should."

"I agree," Laura said next. "Nothing changed here that Cierra knows of so it was pure chance that she didn't cause a
backlash in the timeline. Maybe she was meant to bring Kiona here all along but another time jump can change everything."

Cierra felt the hairs on her neck stand up at the words. She had to do her best never to get caught in that situation again.

"But what about the distance trick?" Kelly asked. "Think of the time it could save her if she could say, pop over to visit
Keira's colony or find Janice to give her a message?"

"There's only one way to find out. Let me give it a try," Cierra said, now curious herself. She focused her thoughts on Carey
and Sammy at their southern village, picturing them clearly in her mind. When silence replaced the murmurings of the people
around her she opened her eyes, finding herself in the corridor. The red mist was parting and she could see Carey sitting on
a log at a campfire as she drank from her favorite ceramic cup. Cierra stepped through the swirling mists and the rush of
sound, wind, and smells hit her rather than the silence of the corridor.

Then the cursing of someone who saw her pop into their midst without warning.

"Fuck! Cierra, where did you come from?" Joseph asked, standing up and pulling his hot, tea-stained shirt from his chest.

"It worked!" Cierra said, looking around her. "Oh, sorry. I was just in our communal building having dinner and tried an
experiment. I didn't mean to scare anyone."

Carey stood up while absently placing her mug on the log. "Are you telling me that you can jump distances now?"

"I guess so. I just did it, didn't I?" She explained the circumstances of discovering this new ability.

Her friend's face stretched with a huge smile. "That's so cool. Are you heading back now or are you gonna scare the crap
out of someone else?"

"What did you have in mind?"

Carey was about to suggest having some fun by sneaking up on one of her friends at the other village when something else
came to mind.

"Could you come with me, please?" Carey had her friend follow her to her room. She retrieved her small wooden box of
items she had brought from home. Mostly pictures of her family and a few mementos. She withdrew one picture that was
taken at Christmas the year before they had settled here and handed it to Cierra.

"I wanted to do this quietly, so people wouldn't get their hopes up if it didn't work. See if you can find them for me," she
asked of her friend. The shaman glanced at the photo. It was of Carey, her kid brother, and her parents in front of their
Christmas tree.

"Only if you came with me," the shaman told her shakily. Could it work?

Carey placed her hand on Cierra's arm while the shaman stared at the photo. Nothing happened at first but then Carey
found herself with Cierra in the place between worlds with red foggy mist around them. The fogged thinned and parted and
Carey watched as the view of another place came into view.

"Brian," Carey whispered as her brother was seen. He was so thin, she thought, and he was digging through a garbage can
for scraps of food.

"Can he see us?"

"No, not unless I bring him here. This is what you wanted, to see if I could find people's families and bring them to Mother
Earth, isn't it?" Cierra wondered about the can of worms she just now opened.

"Yeah, I was hoping. We all know the chance of finding any of them alive is slim but its not knowing for sure that rips us up,
you know?"

"I know. But what if those I find aren't suited to our world? Do I tell people they have to write off that relative or friend and
walk away? People will end up hating me."

"Then you have to do it without anyone with you. Cierra, I understand why the rules about no one unfit being brought to
Mother Earth, but not everyone will." Carey pointed her chin towards her little brother. "Cierra, if you touch him and say
you don't want to bring him here, I won't hate you for it, but I do want to try."

"Alright. Keep your hand on me and just step forward." The two women walked through the parting mist and into the cold
place where Brian was digging for food scraps in an alleyway.

"Brian?" Carey whispered, unable to believe she could see him after all this time. The young man spun around and backed
away from them. He tripped over the metal can in his attempt to escape from the people who just snuck up on him, not
looking at their faces.

"Brian! It's me, Carey!" she shouted at him.

He scrambled away a few yards then looked back. "Carey? Is that really you?"

"Hey Bro, it's really me. Come here," she told him. He struggled to his weak legs and stood there for a moment, letting his
body adjust to the sudden rise. He was so hungry he could barely move. He looked at his sister, dumbfounded at seeing her
after all this time. How did she find him?

Carey couldn't believe how bad off he was. He was a good fifty pounds underweight and was so filthy that she hesitated to
even touch him. Cierra could understand the reluctance but unfortunately, she had no choice.

"Hi, I'm Cierra Foley-White," she said, holding out her hand. He lifted his shaky hand and took her warm one in his own.
She allowed her barriers to drop enough to see that he was just a scared young man who had been all alone in the world
except for the sister who just found him.

"Let's head home, shall we?" she said, keeping his hand in her own. They took the step forward towards and Cierra jumped
them to the corridor then the barracks of the Napa-Sonoma village.

"Thanks, Cierra. I mean it," Carey told her friend.

"I need to get back before JP has a fit. I hope he does well here." With that, she returned to her own village.

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