Part 27 - Indeterminate Precognition

Amanda came down from her bedroom to find Christie waiting for her in their little breakfast nook. She'd slept in a bit since it was Saturday, and she was actually surprised her daughter hadn't left for taekwondo practice yet. Christie brought her coffee, toast, and fruit, all nicely presented. Knowing her daughter, Amanda grinned. "Okay then. Good morning to you, my lovely daughter. Thank you for fixing my breakfast. Now, what do you want, girl?"

Christie giggled. "Well, I was going to wait for you to get up anyway, so it seemed like a good idea to have your breakfast waiting."

"So, you really DON'T want anything?" Amanda asked, an eyebrow raised in query.

"Hrrmph. I didn't say THAT, now did I?" Causing both women to have a good chuckle at her mock indignation. "Okay, I was hoping you could drop by the dojang after the class finished."

"Oh? Something up at the Kims?' Amanda asked as she spread jam on a toast point.

"I still have that blasted dream I told you about. I'm pretty sure it's something to do with Valerie, but I have no clue what it's about beyond that. I plan to ask Grandfather Kim to help me with a meditation session later today to focus my precognitive talent. The dream keeps coming back every night! That bothers me because I'm not experienced enough with this thing to know what that might portend."

"I can certainly be there, dear," Amanda replied, "But you won't need my power as you did with the Cindy episode. You have far more power now than we had between us for that precognition."

"Yeah, I know. I don't need your power, Mom, but I darn sure need YOU when I do something like this. At least until we know if there are any hidden problems with using this talent. You haven't been able to find anybody to train me in this skill, so we're both flying blind except for what Papa Kim can help us with. I feel safer when you're there with me."

Amanda stared at her daughter, momentarily at a loss how to answer that. Wiping her lips with her napkin, she stood up and walked to hug her daughter. "Umm, wow. How many Moms get told by their seventeen-year-old daughter that she needs her Mother - for anything?" A few tears ran down Amanda's cheeks, and a happy sob or two choked out as she struggled for her composure. "Oh, god, baby! You need me? I'm already there! Want me to drive you? We can leave now!"

Christie hugged her Mom back and simply basked in their shared love. "Eat your breakfast, woman!" She finally ordered as sharply as she could manage as she began to lead her back to her seat. "I want you in primo condition for this little adventure! Carbs for energy are what you'll need. Eat!"

Grinning back up at her daughter, Amanda ate. "Yes, Ma'am!" She replied with her mouth - and heart - full.

~-~

Grandfather Kim was more than happy to assist. Soon after Christie's class had finished, he led the two McKellar women to his tiny office. "So, you've been experiencing another repetitive dream? Like the one you had about young Cindy's need to dance?"

"Yes, only more nebulous. I have no idea what's going on except a vague feeling it has to do with Valerie. Oh, and that it keeps coming back - like you said, Grandfather, repetitively. I didn't know you could be bored and asleep at the same time!"

The old man chuckled at that. "Well, then, let us see what you can see. We'll start with our basic meditation exercises. When you are comfortable in your safe place, you can begin to explore this vision. Amanda? Why don't you roll my desk chair over behind Christy, so you are within reach of her? If she thinks your touch will steady her search, I believe we should accommodate her. Are you ready, Jeja?"

Grandfather's use of the Korean word for 'student' signaled his readiness to act as Christie's guide. "I am ready, Sa Bum Nim." She replied softly.

"Very well, then. Let us begin with our breathing exercises . . ."

~-~

Christie and her Mother were home in the McKellar family room about two hours later. "So, what do we know?" Amanda asked as she handed her daughter a cup of her herbal tea blend.

"I'm pretty sure it's about Val. I spent the drive home thinking about it and what I believe I saw was that she's going to break up with Dan. Oh, he's the boy I fixed her up with."

"I remember," Amanda replied. "You believe that's what you saw? Why aren't you sure?"

"Because I'm inferring that from what I know I saw. The vision came down to Val looking sad - ALONE and sad, and Dan with another girl - a petite little pixie with very long black hair. I got a good look at her, but she's no one I recognize, but she and Dan appeared rather close, you know?"

"I do. I know Dan's family somewhat. His father, anyway. His company is a client of the law group I work for. I think I remember one of the law partners saying that he used to work overseas before becoming a department head at his company's local offices. It means he might be moving out of the country again. Do you have anything to support that theory?"

"Not really. My intuition likes the theory, and I'm sure something else could fit what I did see, but that's it."

"But you didn't see anything that made you think anyone was at real risk? Remember, you knew Cindy would have been diminished if she hadn't gone back to try dance again. Anything like that concerning Valerie?"

Christie thought hard about that for a few moments and then blew out a breath. "Just that she was unhappy about something."

"Darling," her Mother said with a sad smile, "Girls your and Valerie's age are often sad, and often, it's about a boy . . . or boys. So what are you going to do?"

"Hey! I was gonna ask YOU what I should do. You're the Mom. You're supposed to know all the answers!"

"Nice try, kiddo. Now, what do you think you should do?"

"I don't KNOW, darn it! I think whatever I do beforehand could cause trouble. If they break up, she might think I had something to do with it. If they don't break up, she might think I was trying to break them up and lose trust in me. I . . . I might've told her that Charlie . . .and me . . . might be attracted to her. THAT way." Christie admitted as a vivid red blush suffused her cheeks.

"So maybe the best thing you can do is nothing for now. Take this as a possible warning and be prepared to do what girlfriends do for their BFFs when they break up a relationship."

"And just what the heck is that, pray-tell? Remember who you're talking to here, Mom, and just how ephemeral my real-world girl experience is!"

"Oh, I'm sure you can figure it out. Just be ready to run if Valerie calls out to you. She might need to cry, or she might need to vent. That's two reasons Best Friends Forever have shoulders and ears."

Christie sat quietly, sipping her tea, even though she really didn't like her Mom's herbal brews. Finally, she leaned over to kiss her Mother and said, "I need to think about this. I'm gonna go up to my room for a bit, Mom. Call me when you're ready to make supper, okay?"

~-~

That night, Christie was still thoughtful as the two women prepared and ate their dinner. Over ice cream as a dessert, Christie looked up at her Mother. "Mom? You remember back over Thanksgiving when you and Gran started my sorcery training? You materialized that scalpel so you could cut yourself."

"Actually, I summoned it from my medical supplies, but to answer your question? Yes, I remember."

"Are they any limitations on that? Like distance or how much weight or volume you can summon?"

"Hmmm. I don't really know if there are any hard limits. I've summoned items from over a hundred miles away when I needed something I forgot to pack. And I usually limit myself to things I could easily pick up by hand without straining. I'm not sure that's a real limit, but I've found that a fairly reliable guideline."

"So, something like a mug of coffee or a large take-out soda wouldn't be a problem for you?"

"As long as they were already poured and I knew where they were? I could handle those easily. Why?"

"Oh, just a notion. Is it hard to learn? The spell, I mean? Could you teach it to me now that I've emerged?"

"Easy-peasy. Help me with the dishes, and I should have you up to speed on the spell before bedtime."

"Thanks, Mom. Oh, and I've set up an open line to Valerie via our link. I'm not eavesdropping, but if she has any emotional events, I should be aware."

"Like having her almost-boyfriend break up with her?"

"Yeah. Kinda like that."

~-~

Over the next few days, Christie continued to study what she could find online about fixing broken hearts and other teenage angst. She made preparations while keeping her mental ear tuned to her girlfriend. One day, Christie saw Dan looking particularly down at their Wednesday morning taekwondo class. However, when she tried to catch up with him after class, he'd already left, not bothering to change out of his dobok.

Something was happening. Christie didn't know what, but she was positive something was going down that would involve her. She was just about to call her Mother to ask for advice when Valerie's emotions exploded across their link. Her friend was crying!

Dropping everything, Christie ran to her car. As she started the engine, she put every bit of empathy she could muster into her end of the link. The message was, "Hold on, girlfriend! I'm coming!"

~-~

Christie raced into Valerie's room to find her friend staring at the door as if waiting. Little white tear trails streaked her cheeks, giving evidence that Val had been crying before, if not then. Her eyes went wide as Christie hurried in, and she pointed at her friend. "You. . .you CALLED to me! In my head! I heard you telling me to hold on and that you were coming! How. . .?"

Breathing deeply from the emotion and her mad dash up the stairs, Christie plopped down in the chair beside Val's bed. "Okay. You remember I told you that sometimes I get these crazy dreams? That sort of mean something? Or not, but I've had one I felt was about you. Over and over again, too!" Christie gave her friend chapter and verse on what she'd known and not known and what she'd decided to do for her friend.

"So," Valerie said thoughtfully, "You might have had a vision about Dan's Dad having to move his family to Tokyo to take over their office there? But you weren't sure, and you didn't want to mess my head up needlessly if you were wrong?"

"I've only had one other of these experiences, Val. I saw some flashes but got nothing solid to make me think I was right either way."

"But you saw Dan with another girl - one you don't know."

Christie winced. "Yeah, that bothered me a lot, but Dan's a really good guy, and I couldn't see how he'd do something like that. So, I've sorta been spying on him, but until today, he's just been the same old Dan."

"His dad told him they were moving this morning. He was still in his dobok when he came to see me. I was almost more upset for him than for me."

"Well, it's too bad for the pair of you. You should have had more time together. Heck, you never even got to have a date!"

Valerie smirked at that. "Date?"

"Isn't that what you hoped for?" Christie asked uncertainly.

"Oh, that, too, I guess," Valerie said with a dismissive wave of her hand and then giggled. "Actually, I was thinking of sparring with him. I really wanted to kick his ass, ya know?! So, you were preparing for the worst, eh? What was on the agenda, huh?"

"Yeah, about that. You know that Charlie and I are sort of girl-experience deprived, right? So since I had no flippin' idea what to do, I did what every teen would do in my place."

Valerie's eyes narrowed. "You either asked your Mother, or you googled it."

"Both, actually. Unfortunately, the stuff on Google was mostly about helping older girls. According to the web, they tend to get drunk on too much wine a lot. I didn't think the nurses would approve of you swinging from the chandelier - if you could find one - and Mom wouldn't buy the wine for me anyway."

"Nice try, McKeller. So what did you do, and I don't see my freaking pizza, either!"

"Well . . ." Christie held out her hands in front of her as if carrying bowls. "Alakazam!" She said, and two single-serving boxes of ice cream from their local gourmet ice cream shop appeared in her hands. "Chocolate or strawberry, Stevens?"

"Are you kidding? CHOCOLATE!! Gimme!" Her friend retorted, reaching out for her treat.
As they sat enjoying their ice cream, they chit-chatted about how things were, as Valerie put it, 'on the outside.'

"My Aunt Jessica got her daughter Karen to have some of your gerbil poop analyzed. It's just inert blood and anomalous protein residues. Not toxic or anything like that, but Aunt Jess thinks it might insulate/disrupt electrical impulses between brain cells. The Johns Hopkins University Hospital lab has never seen anything like it. Might be a good research topic for the medically inclined sorceresses to pursue after we get you all fixed up."

"Gonna give me another treatment today?" Valerie asked as she licked her spoon.

"Aunt Jessie is coming back later in the week. I want her here when I do anything like that. I did the last three treatments with her just watching, but she's a doctor, and I'm not. I want to have her watching, just in case anything goes off on us. You're just too damned important to me, Valerie. If all she does is slow me down, so I don't overdo or push you too hard too quickly? It's worth it. I want you to be happy, healthy and live a long full life. I'm not going to rush this."

The tears were back now, but Valerie was smiling, too. "Thanks, Christie. You're damned important to me, too. Just thanks."

The two girls ate in companionable silence until the last dribbles had been scraped from the take-out cups. Christie then took both containers, the spoons and the napkins and sent them to her kitchen waste can. "And voila, no evidence. Except for that smudge of chocolate on the tip of your nose."

"You!" Val laughed as she wiped her nose with a tissue. "So, anything special going on at the dojang?"

"You know that Grandfather's 90th birthday is coming up soon? Young-Soo and Master Kim have a major bash planned. Lots of big names from the Federation and from the schools are coming. Wilma and I had this idea for a special performance for him, but we've been having a little trouble refining it at the dojang. You know how Grandfather always suddenly just 'appears' out of nowhere? Makes it kinda hard to keep it all a secret, so Wilma and I are planning to go over to Madame Renee's dance studio so we can work on it in private."

"Ooo, tell me more!" Valerie enthused.

"Look, I want to make sure I can do it first, okay? It's kind of a free-form Poomsae done to music. If we get it right, I'll make sure that Wilma videos it so we can show it to you, okay?"

Valerie curled her lip. "Okay, but you know stress is bad for me, so don't keep me in the dark too long."

"Okay, I promise. Now, I have to run. It's my night to fix dinner."

"See you, McKellar. Thanks. Love you, girlfriend, but just one thing?" Christie stopped at the door and cocked an eyebrow at her friend. "I'll love you more if you zap us in some pizza next time!!"

~-~