Hi there. To those who are following Subconscious, yes, it's still very much in the works c: Two stories at the same time is normally a huge no-no for me; however, I had the words in my head and *had* to get them out there before they left me.

This storyline is inspired by a thwarted theory I had after reading the fanfic Outside In by San Ookamitora. If you haven't read that one yet, definitely give it a boo. It's sweet and glorious!

If you are reading this, I hope you enjoy it. My goal is to update it twice a week, though if by some chance there is any demand, I will certainly do my very best to update faster.

Thank you for stopping by! Happy reading, to those who choose to read. c:

~KQSimply

A tranquil hush crept in alongside Riley's laboring chest, quietly locating her every ache and physical strife. With hands as soft as the morning mist that floated just outside of her window, it soothingly plucked the remnants of her suffering away, little by little.

Before long, Riley could not so much as thinly recall what the pain of her illness ever felt like.

It was beautiful. She felt feathery, calmed, and unfettered.

Free.

Take a deep breath, the gentleness of the morning air whispered, and let yourself rest. You fought so hard. You were so brave. Now, you can finally rest.

Her chest rose, and gradually fell.

There there, child...Rest.

She blinked as the morning, lovely and cool, kissed her, gently whisking her senses and all that she knew away with its tender lips as it withdrew.

A new phase of life finally woke in the ethereal darkness of a very special place.

The invisible hands of this phase waved themselves, drawing Riley's mist-like particles back together. For a brief instance she resembled a cloud, hovering before many sources of vibrant lights.

Awareness extended itself from within her as her form continued to take shape.

I'm…me.

I'm here.

…Er, I'm somewhere.

…But where, exactly?...

Well...I suppose there's just one way to find out.

Riley opened her eyes.

There was an impressive amount of nothingness stretched out before her. It felt disconcerting, all of this…nothing. It never occurred to her that so much of it could be gathered in one place, and that she could end up founded and conscious in the middle of it.

She turned her eyes down to her arms, finding them clothed in the bright, striped sleeves of one of her favourite pull-over sweaters. The length of her slender arms lead her down to the matter of her hands. Riley's flesh sparkled and floated before her, as though it was made up of tiny, stippled fragments of her original self.

Silently, she passed her hands over themselves, and a sense of vivacity and exuberance tickled her in return. She could feel again…but not the way she remembered.

She felt less like a person…more like an essence.

A spirit.

…Am I dreaming?

She began to walk forward, studying her converse sneakers as they crossed the solid void they stood upon.

This might be a dream.

I could be asleep.

But this was nothing like a dream. Somehow, though she felt distant and entirely too far from the brilliant comforts of the world she could still remember, Riley felt more alive than ever, and felt no subliminal desire to wake up again. How strange and confusing it was, to feel so alive in a universe where there was nothing else around her. She passed her eyes along the invisible walls of the emptiness, trying with all of her might to understand what was happening.

A heavy, looming sense of loneliness persisted for a while in the meantime. She couldn't be sure how long this lasted, for she had lost her sense of time somewhere between now and then, whenever then had been, if it had ever been at all…

And then, defeating the great tremendous nothing of this place, a new, brilliant light began to blossom in her peripheral vision.

Riley hastily turned to its source, her eyes rocking back and forth. Dizzy spells surged through her body as she watched a blurry shape take form. From mists...to cloud...to figure...to an odd class of…life.

A girl, unlike any other girl Riley had seen before, released herself from the shadow beyond her light as she opened her large, curious eyes. Her body was made of the cheerful rays of the happiest summer afternoon, or perhaps it was made of the brightest wishing star…her hair, short and free-spirited, was blue, like a clear night sky, and her celestial eyes matched even its glittery composition.

Immediately, these magical eyes found Riley's and their owner gasped, clapping her hands over her mouth, her body suddenly pin-straight and rigid. The two sole inhabitants of this No-World stood across the short distance from one another, and at first, neither girl could move.

Finally, the one with confetti-riddled eyes managed to utter a word into the stifling silence their collective shock had created.

"…Riley?"

Riley startled. Her body shuddered, begging her to take a step back, but…she couldn't. In fact, she wasn't sure she really wanted to.

"…is that you? Riley, is it...is it really you?"

Riley's eyes frolicked to and fro. "...I think so." The words surprised both of them as they slipped off her tongue.

The girl across from her slowly made her inquisitive approach. There was still a nagging sense to back away, but Riley was transfixed by her now, and couldn't bring herself to move. Her eyes were lovely and pleasant and hardly seemed the type to do her any harm. Curiosity got the best of Riley, and she was still.

A giddy, breathless smile crept onto the girl's face. "…Riley…wow…I mean, wow. This is…this is unreal. I never thought I'd..." she laughed, giddy with disbelief. "It's you. It really is you." She was directly in front of Riley now, almost toe-to-toe with her. Riley looked down, noting in a bizarrely casual way that the other was barefoot. "…But how? How is this possible? How can this be?"

Riley shook her head slowly. Sense was beginning to fill it, now that the two were so close. "I don't understand. What's going on? Who are you?"

The smile on the other's face only grew and grew. Her blue eyes darted about enthusiastically as she tried to put too many words together all at once. "Oh, Riley…it—it's—where do I start? How do I explain? It's complicated – but not really – I always thought I'd know exactly how to tell you if we ever met, but now that I'm actually standing in front of you—it's just so crazy—I, I—"

Spotting the utter bewilderment in Riley's eyes, she stopped herself, and drew a calm, steadying breath.

"I'm Joy."

"…Joy?"

"Yes. Yes!"

Joy took one of Riley's hands into both of hers and nodded feverishly, grinning with all of her might, as though this had answered the million and one questions sizzling in Riley's head in one fell swoop. Now, this couldn't have been farther from the truth, but suddenly, Riley was too distracted to care. The moment they touched, Riley felt tremendously good. A smile took over her that she refused to resist.

Touching Joy felt just like scoring the winning goal in a hockey game. It was like the face of a delighted puppy pleading for belly rubs. It was the consequential, core-residing sparkle of a hearty laugh.

A silly, abstract thought crossed Riley's mind just then. The idea was desperate to get out there and suggest itself, despite how outlandish it seemed.

Could Joy have actually been...?

Riley opened her mouth, and then closed it, and her question traveled no farther than this. A blinding white light suddenly deluged the void, immediately seizing Joy and Riley's attention. They spun around, finding themselves staring up into a large, oval window that shuddered open, allowing the piercing light through.

Joy seemed startled, yet unphased, as though a part of her had been expecting this. She released Riley's hand and began to step closer to the source, shaking her head in disbelief. "…I'm so confused…this really is impossible. One minute, we thought…w-we thought you were about to…I mean, you were so sick…we were scared, and things were starting to fade…and now, you're in here. But how can you be inside, if you're also outside?"

"You're not making sense. Nothing is making sense. 'In here'? Where is 'here'? Do you know where we are?"

Joy looked up to the window again and struggled in vain to provide Riley with an answer she might like. Riley realized with a bittersweet sigh that Joy was as clueless as she was.

There was a sound, next, to accompany the light. It was garbled and fuzzy, as though they had their heads were logged underwater, but even in spite of this, the instant Riley heard it, her heart filled with hope and a sudden desperation. Her vision swam ruthlessly against the intense light above her, aware, somehow, that this was where the sound of a familiar voice was coming from. Like watching a mirror defogging, a blurry face began to appear from beyond the abyss of white, only instead of finding her own reflection once the fog cleared, Riley found her mother.

She was awe-struck and speechless as she gaped up to the window with a deep sense of longing. She hadn't seen her mother in so long. Her last memory of her was not of her face, not even of her voice, but of the feeling of their hands as they held each other one night, when Riley was too ill to so much as open her eyes.

Riley called out to her over and over again. She fought frustration from her voice as her mother proceeded to ignore her.

"…Riley? Um…Riley?"

Belatedly, Riley turned to face Joy, and she felt something inside of her drop.

Joy was shaking her head.

"…If…if you're in here…she won't be able to hear you, from out there."

Riley clenched her hands into fists. "But where is 'here'? Where are we?"

She was getting sick of asking questions. She was ready for answers.

Before Joy could attempt again to fabricate an answer, her mother sniffled. It had been hard to tell, at first, that this had been the sound she had made, but Riley admitted with a cramp in her chest that her mother was crying as she spoke.

"…Oh…oh, she…she's beautiful…"

Riley flinched as though she'd been struck as her father appeared in the view to her mother's left. To her despair, he was in tears as well. Tears didn't suit him. Not at all. His face was red and his lips were swollen. Riley almost couldn't stand to look.

"…Ten little fingers," he was saying, "…ten little toes…yup...she's perfect, alright."

Her mother wept, trying to form more words around her quiet, muted cries.

"…she looks just like Riley…"

The words stole Riley's breath from her lips. Her eyes widened, darkened…she couldn't move. Everything was starting to hurt.

Joy shuddered. The sound of this snapped Riley out of her daze. Her eyes fluttered to Joy's position, where they found her standing before an oddly-shaped white sculpture with a translucent bulb of sorts on its top. Joy was regarding the strange instrument with shaking eyes. She seemed to be attempting to build a puzzle without touching any of the pieces. Her lips began to part.

"…I don't understand. Is this…is this the console? But it's so small. It's just like it was years and years ago." Joy realized that Riley was looking at her, and she swallowed. "…I'm sorry, Riley. There's so much to explain, and I'm…I'm trying to figure this out. Really. I thought we were in your head at first, but now I—"

"—In my head?"

Riley's voice stooped into what was almost a whisper. "...in my head...So…When you said, inside…when you said, 'in here'…you meant inside my head?"

Joy looked back to the window. Riley helplessly followed her gaze, staring back into her parent's tear-ridden faces. "…Yes…that's right. I can't imagine how crazy that must sound to you. But – but now, I'm not so sure where we are. It just doesn't feel right, here. It feels so…different." Joy was tucking her hands up before her chest, wringing her fingers together.

"…Welcome home, Taylor," Mom was saying through her tears. "Mom loves you so much."

Taylor.

Taylor.

Who was Taylor?

Riley turned to Joy desperately, but could not catch her eye this time. Joy had lowered her eyes back down to what she had called the console with a new curiosity ignited behind her eyes. Her right hand began to reach for the smooth globe that rested so neatly on top of the simple device she stood in front of.

Dad was lifting a set of tiny, pudgy fingers to his lips to kiss them. Riley looked down to her own hand in response; she could practically feel his stubble against her own hand as he did so. A lump formed in Riley's throat.

"Daddy's already crazy about you."

Joy's hand dipped; the globe revealed itself to have been a button. A sunny glow infused itself from inside of it as she pressed down, and a pleasant ringing tone played on the air around them

From outside, a baby cheerfully cooed, and Riley and Joy shot their eyes up to the window.

Mom and Dad smiled and laughed sorrowfully above them.

"There she is. There's my brand new happy girl."

"Riley is alive inside of you, Taylor."

"That's right. She's in our hearts...And she's in yours too."

"We love you."

Riley watched them.

Listened.

Looked down to the uncanny nature of her hands.

Gazed around her and her strange, empty surroundings.

"…Joy?"

Slowly, Riley closed her eyes, and she shuddered.

"…Am I dead?"