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A fanfic by Miss Matched and Baniigaaru

AKA: Whatever we decide to change our name to.

Disclamer: It's called FANfiction for a reason, folks. We only own this twisted little plot.

The sky was bright blue that day. An innocent, cloudy blue that usually only showed itself on mild days. That day, however, was the exception. "Why's the wind so cold?" He moaned, gripping his jacket around him tighter as the frigid wind whipped around him. Opening and closing his fists, he tried to keep his hands warm as he continued his walk home. Why hadn't he taken the bus? Because it had been so warm that morning... how deceptive some things could be, especially the weather. "Only a few more blocks to the boarding house." He reminded himself, hitching his backpack higher on his back, and trying to keep his hands warm by slipping them under the thick leather straps. Reaching the cement steps of Sunset Arms was like reaching the promised land, and eagerly, he ran up the stairs and flung the door open.

"Howdy Tex!" His grandmother greeted him, standing at the door with a pan in hand.

"Hi, Grandma." Though his voice lacked its regular enthusiasm, he was really genuinely happy to see her, even though she never remembered his name.

Grandma smiled, ""The name's Clementine. Come on in! You've been out in the cold too long, rounding up them cows. Grub's already out on the table." Arnold shut the door behind him, then weakly smiled.

"Thanks, but no thanks Grand- erm, Clementine. I'm really tired, I think I'll turn in early tonight."

Grandma, however, wouldn't let him walk to his room, "Nonsense, cowpoke. Eat, then bed." She ushered him into the dining room, where the rest of the boarders were already eating. Mr. Hyunn and Mr. Potts were arguing over something pointless, and Mr. Kokoshka tried to take advantage of their distraction by sneaking food off of their plates, only to get scolded by both his wife and Grandpa. Arnold plopped into the nearest empty seat, nearly falling out of it.

"You okay, Short Man?" Grandpa asked, worried. After all Arnold did look like a jigsaw puzzle ready to fall apart.

"Arnold is not well, Grandpa. I'll eat his food for him. Heh heh!" Mr. Kokoshka reasoned.

Grandpa scowled, "No, Oskar, you lousy bum!"

"Well the boy obviously needs some sleep." Susie reasoned with Grandpa, who muttered something about kooky bums. Mr. Potts nodded in a gruff manner.

"Yeah, the kid looks pooped. Almost half-dead." He laughed and turned back to the topic of discussion, "Right, Arnold?" But it was too late, Arnold was already asleep head first on his empty dinner plate.

"Where am I?" Arnold asked himself, as he viewed his blank surroundings. Oh, that was right. He was asleep, and therefore this was a dream.

It was dark... not a good sign for a dream, Arnold noted. Not even a pinprick of light shone through the inky blackness. Should he walk on? His legs began to move forward without him willing them to do so. Reminding himself that this wasn't real, couldn't be real, he pressed on, walking further into the darkness.

Just when it seemed unbearable, a ray of light. A spotlight, almost, upon a slab of dull, gray stone. And atop this stone, a fragile figure, facing away from Arnold. Matted, dull hair of what looked to be a golden hue at one time adorned her head. He stopped walking in fear.

Her hand slid off the stone, and then she beckoned. Small traces of blood could be seen on her fingers and arms, cuts and bruises decorating her skin. "Come closer," she whispered, her voice pleading, "Please?" She sounded so urgent that Arnold could do nothing but oblige, "And do sit, lest your legs give out on you. For what I tell you now, dear Arnold, concerns both fate and destiny." Another stone appeared in front of Arnold, and he took this as his cue to sit.

"What is--"

"Please, silence. I needn't prolong your sleeping..." The girl explained. She spoke in a whisper, yet her voice carried strong for such a frail body. She shook her head, and matted waves of swayed. "You've already seen this coming, I assume, so it shouldn't surprise you. You're very perceptive, you understand that there's more to things than meets the eyes." One thin finger began to trace the outline of a heart on the dull stone as she spoke, some blood marking the places her finger had been. "You've seen the masks, Arnold. The ones that people hide behind; cold, warm, indifferent, lying, honest, beautiful, ugly, plain, extraordinary. All masks, made to cover our wounded selves. Revealing the truth would do away with these facades. But insecurities and pride tell us to mold ourselves into what others want instead of what we want... and so easily how we truly are is forgotten. We mold ourselves to the mask, instead of molding the masks to us..." She paused, to let that sink in for Arnold.

"But the true self is still there... Arnold, Only a few in a lifetime receive this gift, the gift of removing the masks. Seeing how people really are, viewing what they tuck away from the world."

These words troubled Arnold. Wouldn't that be invading privacy? Looking at someone else's dirty laundry? And another thing bothered him, which he chose to voice. "Who are you? Why is your back turned to me?"

"I am your Interpreter. Just as your destiny is to see truth, mine is to help make things clearer. Someone to help you hone and sharpen your gift." She laughed, "Don't worry, as soon as you understand how to use your craft, you won't need me. You needn't see my face, nor know my name. Just know I'm here. That will be enough."

He stood up, "This is crazy! It's... this is just a dream. A nonsensical one at that."

The woman sighed, "There's so much more for you to hear... but proof will await you in the morning. You're waking up now... so I leave you with this thought: What if you had a greater purpose than you had ever dared to dream?"

The clinking of dinnerware was heard in the background to Arnold. All he could see was the faint gray shadows and the thick gauze of neutral. It seemed to Arnold if he waved his hand through the veil, he could probably catch something. But he didn't. He blinked his eyes, watching the interesting blurs come together. One small and tan blur surely was Mr.Potts.

He was saying something and it took Arnold's will to focus. "Huh?"

"I said, you okay, buddy?" Mr. Potts asked.

"Umm..yeah, I think so." Arnold rubbed his eyes yet the veil wasn't lifted. "Just tired, Mr. Potts. I was up last night doing a speech and then I was in charge of the project fair today and-" He yawned, interrupting himself.

"Now, now let Tex eat first." An aged voice came behind him. He looked behind him and was nearly blinded with light.

"Grandma...could you turn off that light? It's kind of bright."

"What light Tex? Back in the Ol' West, there ain't no such thing as e-lec-tri-city. Now ker-o-sene was somethin' we had plenty of, Texy." Grandma replied, smiling. At least what he could see of a smile. The light was all around him.

He put his hand over his eyes, "Umm... okay Grandma. Can you lower off the lights then?"

"Sure thang, partner!" The light faded as Grandma walked off. Arnold looked down at his potatoes. At least they looked like potatoes to him. He inhaled and nodded. Yup, potatoes all right.

"Excuse me." He heard Susie's soft voice and saw a pink and yellow blur get up from the table and walk past him. He looked out and said, "How come she gets to leave and I don't?"

Laughter from the boarders was his answer. "Eat yar tators, Tex." Grandma chided from behind him. He sighed and picked at the potatoes. For some reason he didn't feel so hungry. The dream kept repeating in his mind. The small girl with such... He frowned and took a big mouthful of the potatoes. Swallowing, he muttered, "I'm done, Grandma."

"Alright, Tex. Go on to yar pastures now, feller." Arnold got up and put his plate in the sink. He walked out the room, feet dragging on the floor, eyes half-lidded. He could barely see the stairs! But he kept walking upwards and onwards. With each step his eyesight got better and better. Blinking, he could see clearly.

Wow, he thought, this is- he had no words to describe how he felt now. He felt tired, sleepy, a little cranky, but to feel the veil being lifted like that! He looked up and saw the doorknob to the Office being opened. A woman with dull, almost white locks of hair and bags under her eyes walked out. She had sagging breasts, a bad slouch, and tiredly blinked at the world. Arnold froze. Who was she?

"Umm... hello?"

"Arnold!" The voice was Susie's. But he couldn't believe it. He shook with shock. "Susie" didn't seem to notice. She smiled and walked over, allowing Arnold to see a small scar on her chin and the bags under her eyes to seem bigger, more magnified. "Are you okay, Sweetie?" She put a hand to Arnold's forehead and looked confused. "You don't have a temperature. Arnold? Arnold?"

He went into the darkness again.