A/N: I couldn't take this idea out of my head so I started writing this a few months back. I hope you like it, please review. Oh, also if you're a big fan of Kingdome of Heaven, there's a really good story called Learning to Live ( www dot fanfiction dot net/s/3062898/1/) by Ancelin. It's a really good story and it deserves more reviews!
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters that you know of.
"Words in Bold" another language
Italics flashbacks
Italics/Bold letters, dreams
Trapped in Time
Prologue
—The year 2005—
It was the end of school for over a hundred seniors of Colton High School in Colton, California. Graduation was that night on the football field and not many couldn't wait to get their diploma so they could leave their homes and high school behind forever. While others, however, did not wish to leave high school, afraid of never seeing their friends once they part for college or backpacking to Europe or whatever they have planned.
One in particular was ready to get her diploma but was scared to go out into the real world. Thought unlike some of her classmates, the eighteen year old Estrella Mendoza had a full softball scholarship to Richmond University in London. She was grateful for her scholarship since her mother couldn't really afford a university for a long while. Although the teenager had a job of her own, she mostly helped her mother with the bills.
It was fifth period and Estrella was in geometry, bored out of her mind since it was a free period. The teacher was speaking to a couple of his students, writing in their yearbooks at the same time. Because her friends don't take geometry, Estrella was by herself, reading a book on King Arthur.
Once that finale, at least for the seniors, bell rang, Estrella quickly shoulder her book bag and walked out of the classroom. She passed the small buildings that were the language classrooms and over to the gate where the junior and senior students park their cars. She greeted the security that always covers the entrance and walked towards her black 2000 Eclipse. She couldn't wait to get home and sleep as tomorrow Estrella was to graduate.
Estrella unlocked her car and sat on the driver's seat, leaving the door opened so the hot air could get out, and she also saw her friends coming. Turning on her car, Estrella lowered all the windows to let the hot air to get out fully and let the music of Ivy Queen play out of her speakers almost full blast. Placing her things on the passenger seat, Estrella got out and closed the door, leaning against it. She watched her friends, studying them closer.
Monica Ferrer, her best friend since grade school, had brown shoulder length hair and blue eyes. She stood at five feet, seven inches with a well toned, and tanned, body, her chest on the larger scale. Her short jean skirt and white v-neck shirt revealed a lot of her skin and body. She does fairly well in school, enough to graduate.
She's fairly outgoing and would speak her mind out if the occasion calls for it. Monica had three older—over-protective—brothers who were all in their twenties. While they were growing up they taught Monica how to defend herself and to see past the lies that men tells her. In result, Monica was able to find a great guy who then became her boyfriend and become friends with her own.
David Guererro, Monica's boyfriend, had short, almost bald, dark brown hair and brown eyes. He stood at six foot, four inches, his muscular tanned body hidden by a blue shirt and jeans. He's pretty out going and sometimes keeps his opinions to himself if it would make the situation worse. He dressed up nice but not so much that he was considered as a prep or a geek, which was how his girlfriend likes it.
And like Monica, he did fairly well in school, but he was mostly advance in history, which was his favorite subject. He told them that he wanted to be a historian and study all there is about the past, to figure out anything new that historians didn't already known. His favorite era was mostly the Middle-Ages. Just something about the dark ages fascinated him, though he also likes the eleven hundreds as well.
Finally, Alex Aries, Estrella's other best friend since middle school, had brown hair with blonde highlights and brown eyes. He stood at six foot, six inches wearing a white shirt and jeans. He was muscular and tanned like David, but Alex was more of the bad-boy types rather the nice one. He's out going and would pick a fight with whoever messes with his friends, which was how he met Estrella in the first place.
It was the first day of middle school and Estrella was a nervous wreck. She was just minding her own business, walking down the hall when a couple of eight graders started to hassle her. Alex just happened to be passing by and told the older kids to back off. Of course they didn't listen and the leader of the small group pushed Alex, which resulted in the older kid getting his nose broken by Alex.
He got detention seeing as it was the first day of school and the teacher who was notified didn't see it fit to suspend him so early. And from then on Alex was Estrella's bodyguard, since she didn't have anyone to look out for her as Monica had a different schedule then her. Alex was like an brother Estrella never had and kept all the boys who were trouble away.
Getting out of her thoughts, Estrella smiled at her friends, letting Alex place an arm around her shoulders.
"You ready to graduate tomorrow night, Trella?" Monica asked excitedly.
"Hell yea! I can't wait to get this over with." Estrella tried to feel joyous but her friends knew she was scared.
"Don't worry, Estrella, I'm sure you'll be a great dancer and movie producer." David told her sincerely.
"Thanks man that means a lot."
Alex then sighed, looking around all the seniors leaving the parking lot.
"So, where's your sister?" He asked Estrella curiously.
"Don't know but I doubt she would have wanted a ride anyways." Estrella said with a shake of her head.
"Do you think she'll graduate with us?" Monica asked. "I mean, with all the skipping she's done."
Estrella shrugged. "Who knows, you all know how Sarah is."
Everyone nodded, agreeing to this. Alex then kissed Estrella's cheek, letting her shoulder's go.
"Well, I have to be off. See you guys tomorrow night."
After saying their goodbyes, Estrella entered her car, put on her seatbelt, and drove home. She didn't worry about her twin, as they were never close to begin with, not even as children. Sarah was more of the rebellious twin, always arguing with their mother whenever she can.
Although she and Estrella looked alike, everyone can literally tell them apart. Sarah had black shoulder length hair while Estrella had light brown waist length hair. Sarah was a few inches taller and wore punk-like clothing while her twin wore baggy and comfortable clothing that fit her figure. But what freaked everyone out the most if they meet them was their eyes.
Sarah had dark blue eyes, which none of their family on their mother or father side has, and Estrella had light green eyes, which was the same case as her sister's eyes: none of their family on either side had green eyes either. No one knew where the colors came from, and both sides of the family demanded a DNA test to make sure that the twins were actually part of them and not switched around by accident.
And as fate would have it, the twins were really part of the family. So they only believed this was a new generation of children to come with different color eyes and not the plain old brown ones.
Parking in the driveway of her home, Estrella put up all the windows, gathered her book bag, and turned off the car. She got out and walked over to the entrance, wanting to take a quick nap. Locking the door behind her, Estrella walked through the living room and into the kitchen to grab a water bottle from the fridge. Once she got that, the eighteen year old walked towards the living room and up the stairs to the right.
Turning left in the small hallway, Estrella entered the door on the right and closed it behind her. She turned on her stereo, Spanish music filling the small room, and dropped her things on the floor before plopping on the bed. With a sigh, Estrella closed her eyes, letting the darkness take over for just a while.
A man no older than twenty-seven with wavy dark brown hair that fell to his shoulders and a trimmed beard and goatee, pounded away on hot steel. A boy (most likely the apprentice) stood aside, watching him with worry. He looked no older than fifteen years. The blacksmith was minding his own business, concentrating hard on the shape and form of the steel he was making when several horses interrupted him.
He looked up to see some of the women and children looking down the road, talking to one another or just merely staring. The blacksmith takes hold of the steel and places it into a barrel of water to cool it down. He walks out to the front of his shop, watching the local priest running in front of eight horsemen, pointing at him.
"That's the man! That's the man!" He was crying.
The blacksmith carefully took in the horsemen, noting that they were crusaders. They seemed to have stopped for supplies and such on their way to the Holy Land. One of the crusaders, a man with bleached blonde hair, a trimmed beard, and blue eyes, moved his horse a bit forward.
"We need all these horses shod. We need food, and we'll pay." He told the blacksmith.
The man looks to the boy sideways and nods. The crusader faintly smiles and looks back to the other horsemen.
"Says yes." He tells them as the priest nods at the others.
The crusader looks back at the blacksmith only to see him return back into his open shop. The rest of the crusaders all dismount and bring their horses closer to the shop. They took off their helmets and fur, sitting on awaiting chairs by a blazing fire in the middle of the shop, warming up quickly. One of the men—the oldest out of them, so it seems—placed his furs over a chair, looking to the right to see open space.
He stood up right and walked towards the back to look down below. Nothing but hibernating trees and plants could be seen, almost looking dead-like in this winter day. The first crusader to have asked the blacksmith for food and have the horses shod walked up to the older man on the left. He looks down at the dead-like land, not really caring for the scenery.
"The blacksmith is the man you seek. His name is Balian." He looks to the older man, who looks back at him briefly before both looking back down. "But know that he mourns. The burial we passed at the crossroads was for his wife. Their child died. She was overcome by grief and killed herself."
The old man sighs, looking back down at the land. "Do you still advise what you advised upon the road?"
"I do, my lord." He told him without hesitation.
The old man turns to the front of the shop, hearing one of his men ask what the carving above the blacksmith's head on a pillar said.
"'What a man is a man who does not make the world better?'" Balian answered him, continuing to pound away the horse shoe so it would fit the horse foot.
"Leave me with this man." He tells the priest of one of his men.
They both leave, the old man watching Balian continue to pound away. As the old man gets closer, Balian looks up at him as he stops the pounding.
"I am sorry you lost your wife and child." He tells the younger man, stopping next to him. "I also have lost."
Neither of them says a word as Balian looks down, feeling the pain ever more. The old man sees this and decides to break the silence, walking a bit to the side to give the blacksmith some space.
"Some say Jerusalem is the very center of the world for asking forgiveness." He looks up at Balian, who looks back at him. "For myself, I call it here… now."
Not really interested in the way this conversation is going, Balian goes back to pounding on the horseshoe, wanting these men out of his shop. The old man walks forward to whisper to the blacksmith so that the priest nearby does not hear a word he says.
"I knew your mother," Balian immediately stops and looks up at the old man in confusion. "To be courteous, I should say that it was against her objections. But I did not force her. I loved her in my fashion. Balian, I am your father."
Balian only stares at the man before him, wondering if he should believe a word he says or not.
"I have forgiveness to ask of you." The old man continues, bowing his head.
Balian, however, could only get his emotions straight. So as not to jump into something that he would regret later, he walked away, getting back to work so these men could leave faster. The old man slowly looks up and turns to Balian, a bit hurt that this blacksmith would not acknowledge him.
"I am Godfrey, the baron of Ibelin." Balian looks back up at Godfrey. "I have one hundred men at my arms in Jerusalem. If you will come with me, you will have a living, and… you will have my thanks. There it is."
Estrella sits up on her bed, sweating and panting. She wondered why on earth she would be dreaming about the movie Kingdom of Heaven as though it were something real. Well, of course the war and the Kings for both Muslims and Jerusalem were real but not the story line of the movie. Estrella shakes her head; her thoughts too jumble to not get their meaning. Looking outside her window, she notes that it's dark and stands up from her bed, stretching out her limbs.
She walks out of her room and down the stairs to hear, as usual, her twin and their mother arguing away in the kitchen. Estrella sighs inaudibly, walking into the dinning room to see them going at it.
"I can't believe that you wait until the last minute to get all your things in, Sarah!" Their mother cried angrily. "What is wrong with you? Now because of this you're not going to graduate!"
Sarah sighs, rolling her eyes. "I'm not perfect, mother, like Estrella is! If I'm not graduating then I'm not graduating!" She yelled back.
"I'm not saying that you get straight A's, Sarah! I'm saying that you should have at least tried to pass your damn classes!" Their mother sighed frustrated, pushing back her hair from her face. "I don't care if you're eighteen or not, you're going to summer school and going register into school next year."
"WHAT? No!" Sarah cried angrily.
Their mother looked at the rebellious twin with a disappointed look. "Yes you are. You're going to graduate even if it means that you have to do it a couple of years more."
Giving an angry noise from the back of her throat, Sarah turns and walks away. She glares at Estrella who was sitting at the counter. Estrella looks to her tired mother, who was leaning on the counter, her hands covering her face.
"I don't know what to do with that girl anymore." She mumbled to her older twin.
Estrella smiles sadly at her mother, leaning forward and taking her hands in hers.
"Don't worry, I'm sure she'll be get things straight and be in college in no time." She told her softly.
Her mother smiled, holding her daughter's hands. "Thank you."
—Next day, after graduation—
"I still don't see why the hell I was forced to come!" Sarah said angrily, walking behind her mother and her twin.
"Because there was no way I was going to leave you all alone at the house." Their mother said before looking to Estrella. "Oh! The summer is going to be passing by so quickly and soon you'll be in London!"
Estrella smiles encouragingly, hugging her mother. "Don't worry I'll call everyday when I can."
Sarah only mocks them, rolling her eyes. They got into the Tahoe, Sarah in the back and Estrella in the passenger seat. They were on their way home for the small surprise party their mother did for Estrella. Not really wanting to hear her twin or mother talk much longer, Sarah took off her seatbelt and leaned over to the front of the car, turning on the radio, blasting the heavy metal loudly.
Their mother yelled at her to sit back down but Sarah was shoving Estrella's hand away when she tried to lower the volume. She tired to stop Sarah from hitting Estrella, taking her eyes off the road whenever she can. And because of this, she ran a red light and a truck hit them dead on. The truck flipped over several times until it stopped on it's hood.
Before any of the onlookers could go and help them the Tahoe exploded into flames, killing any living soul instantly.
—1180, June—
Sarah was lying on the grassy ground, bleeding from her mouth and nose, slowly waking up. She looked around and gasped, her eyes going wide. Men in amour surrounded her, pointing their swords at her. The last thing she had remembered was a pair of highlights and a flash of light blinding her.
"Who are you and how did you get in?" One of the men said in Spanish, interrupting her thoughts.
Sarah cleared her throat, trying to stay calm. "I do not know, I just woke up!" She told them calmly.
"What is the meaning of this?" An ordering voice said from behind the men.
They parted to let the young woman see a man wearing finely rich clothing. He was somewhat fat and had gray hairs in his slick black hair. He wore many rings on his fingers and a golden chain about his neck.
"Who is this girl?" He asked his men.
The men explained to the man that they did not know and they just saw her sitting there. Thus giving Sarah the chance to look around her surroundings and knew that she wasn't in the era she was supposed to be. She looked down at herself and nearly cried out as she saw that she was wearing a pale red dress.
"My lady!" The old man said loudly.
Sarah sharply looked up at him, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion.
"I asked what happened to you, you are bleeding." He said, looking at her closely.
Thinking up a quick lie, Sarah made the fake tears come, inhaling deeply to make it even more real.
"I remember some man kidnapping after killing my to-be husband and my parents! He raped me and hit me over the head until I no longer was awake." She cried, burying her face into her hands.
She was grateful that she was good liar and could tell from the murmuring and the sympathetic looks that these men had bought it.
"Father, perhaps we should take her in?" The one who was asking Sarah questions earlier said.
Sarah dried sob, looking up when she felt a hand on her shoulder. The old man's face smiled down at her kindly.
"You shall be our new servant." He told her kindly. "Come child, let us get you warm and into clean clothing. I am Lord Antonio."
Sarah smiled in thanks, standing up. 'I wonder where that good for nothing twin of mine is?' She thought, smiling at the man's son, who smiled back.
"Where am I exactly?" Sarah asked kindly, sniffing every few seconds.
"Inmy father's estate in La Pobla de Lillet," He told her with a frown. "Where exactly did you come from, my Lady?"
"Barcelona" She told him the first thing that came to her mind. "I came fromBarcelona"
The lord's son shook his head surprise. "That is a week's time on horseback."
Sarah shook her own head, looking down as though deep in thought. "It is and I do remember the man making me drink something that tasted so horribly." Her voice wavered as though she was ready to cry again.
The son put his arm around her shoulders, hugging her. "Do not worry, my Lady, I promise that you no harm will come to you. My name is Alejandro, at your service."
Sarah smirked, knowing that she was safe here until she got used to this time and their ways. And after learning this she would then move on, waiting until she could find some kind of job.
"Sa—" Sarah cleared her throat, mentally hitting herself for giving out her real name. "Savanna Rios."
Alejandro took her hand and kissed her palm. "Nice to meet you, my lady."
—Figueras, Spain—
Estrella groaned in pain, her head and body throbbing. She woke up to see nothing but green grass, a few sheep's nearby. Estrella panicked, her breathing coming quickly. She sat up and held her head, feeling it spin. She heard voices coming in front of her and opened her eyes slowly to see a married couple, and what she assumed to be their son, looking concern.
Estrella stood up slowly, noting that she was wearing a blue dress rather her graduation robes or her skirt that was underneath. She looked up at the small family, who stopped before her.
"My Lady, are you all right?" The woman asked.
She stepped forward and took hold of Estrella's head, examining the wound that she had on her right temple.
"Where am I?" Estrella said in panic, looking around them.
The men looked at each other before the son answered her. "Figuerasmy lady… InSpain" He told her rather confused.
Estrella's breathing came faster and faster. "Sp—Spain" She asked to make sure she heard right.
The family nodded, confused at the reaction of this young woman. Estrella's breathing increased, feeling faint. She held out her arms to hold on to something, both men quickly taking hold of her.
"Where do you live?" The older man asked.
Estrella shook her head, tears forming in her eyes. "No… I do not…" She told them softly.
The family looked at each other, the wife looking at her husband with a look. The older man sighed, looking down at the young woman. She has calmed down somewhat as she was looking around her surroundings.
"Come, you may come live with my family." He told her, leading her towards a small cottage not too far off. "I am Emando de la Cruez, my wife Consuelo, and my son Sebastian."
Estrella smiled at them, nodding. "Estrella Mendoza." She told them softly.
Just like her twin, she knew that she was in a different era. All she remembered was bright headlights and darkness. Now she had to figure out how she gotten here and how she was suppose to get back.
A/N: Don't worry; the story line of Kingdom of Heaven is going to be in the next chapter. But you'll have review if you want to know what's gonna happen! Also, for those of you who are reading my other stories, I'm working almost every day and I don't really have time to sit down and just type up a chapter anymore. It may be an excuse, but it's the truth and just plain real life. Be patient, I'll start updating those stories soon again.