Sunday, April 16th, Early Morning

Six uses remaining.

“Guten Morgen, Sirius.”

I took a deep breath, and held up one finger. Sirius raised one eyebrow. His piercing stare seemed to soften. After a moment, he reached up and brushed the red fringe out of his eyes.

“Just listen to me, Sirius,” I said. “Save your questions until I finish. Can you do that for me?”

“Um… sure. Yeah.”

I can do it. “Let’s say I ask you, ‘What’s with Guten Morgen?’ Think about how you’re going to respond for a minute.” I paused. “Tell me if I’m wrong. Your response is, ‘Don’t you think it’s kind of cool? You know, exciting and mysterious, and all. Like when lyrics have words in other languages.”

He nodded, slowly. “To the word.”

“Also, you want to talk to me about Anna.”

Sirius’s shoulders tensed. Bingo.

I took another breath. “You want to confess to her. And, this next part I’m not entirely sure of, but you’re probably thinking of the roof of the Astronomy building. Or, the fountain in front of the Art building.”

“Something like that, yeah.” A nervous grin spread across his face. “Are all women psychic, or is it just you?”

“Not exactly,” I said. “Sirius, do you trust me?” Last time… you told me that you did. And this time, it shouldn’t have changed.

But I need to know. I need to know if you trust me. I want you to trust me.

Because I want to trust you too. Because you’re my friend. And… because I’m in love with you.

I love the way you look after others. I love that you can’t turn your back when someone looks like they’re in trouble.

I love you, Sirius.

Breathe, Lyra. In, out.

It seemed like an eternity before he answered. But, in reality, he did so nearly instantaneously. “Of course I trust you. What kind of question is that?”

I couldn’t help but smile, and let out a curt laugh.

“Yeah. I trust you too.” Gaze up, eyes full of light, I took a step towards him. The sound waves of the footfalls seemed to bounce, and linger, off the walls of the clubroom and the hallway. “I’m a time traveler. I’ve lived through the next 12 hours three times, now. This is my fourth time waking up, and hearing you greet me with ‘Guten Morgen’.”

I studied his expression.

“Do you believe me, Sirius?”

He was silent.

“It’s…” he raised an eyebrow and closed his eyes. Sirius exhaled. “I won’t lie. It’s hard to believe. Please understand.”

“I do,” I said. “But do you believe me?”

“Is that why you asked me if you trusted me?”

“Yes.”

He shook his head, slowly, and scratched the back of his head. “This and that are two different things, though.” Sirius motioned for me to step aside, and looked around the room. “Did you set up a hidden camera, or something? Is this one of your pranks?”

“It’s not.” I had been hoping to tell him this later, but I suppose it’s now or not at all. “Sirius. I’ve been living these 12 hours on endless loop because you’re going to be murdered at the end of it. You and Anna both. And I’m here to save your lives. Do you believe me?”

“I’m going to be murdered?”

“Yes.” No hesitation.

“By who?”

By whom. “Velora Navis. You know who that is?”

“No…”

The room was quiet.

“Sirius.” I lowered my voice. Perhaps it was a conscious attempt to hide the mounting anxiety.

“Yes?”

Barely a whisper, now. “Does this mean you believe me?”

He leaned back, against the wall, and crossed his arms. Sirius’s foot was tapping. “On the one hand, I’ve just been told that Anna and I have twelve hours to live, and my friend can loop through time.”

Beat.

“On the other, I don’t think that you’d joke about Anna’s well-being like that. Or mine, really,” he said. “I hate to admit it, but your pranks have always been relatively harmless.” His eyes narrowed. “If you can call convincing my parents that I have a crippling addiction to kumquat pudding harmless.”

Just like the last time, I hid an involuntary smile behind the sleeve of my orange hoodie. “You’re really still not over that, huh?”

“I’m never going to stop guilt tripping you over it.”

I felt the tension in my body seep out, just a bit. “It’s not guilt tripping if it brings back happy memories. Positive reinforcement.”

“Kgh, well, the point being is… I think this is outside the scope of what you’d joke about. And you knew what I was thinking, down to the word. So… I believe you.” He started looking around wildly. No doubt, some part of him still half-believed that there was actually a camera set up somewhere. But, seeing nothing, he shook his head. “Yeah, I just admitted to believing that you’re a time traveler, and all that.”

I’d been holding my breath. I hadn’t realized.

In, out. “T-thank you—” My voice broke into a laugh. A laugh, a laugh, as my body doubled over. He began to say something, but I cut him off before he could. “I was— really worried. Worried that you wouldn’t believe me.

Despite everything, I pulled Sirius towards me. “T-thank you...” And then, I let go, and wiped my eyes.

“For what?”

“Believing in me. Duh.” I took a moment to steady my breathing. “It really means a lot to me.”

Sirius managed an awkward smile. “To be honest… you’re probably the one I trust the most.” A laugh. “What am I saying…?”

I wondered if he let his guard down like this for anyone else. If he did, I certainly had never seen it.

I like that about him. I do.

“Hey, Sirius.”

He looked up at me.

“I’m going to save your life. You and Anna both. So siddown. You should know everything.” I closed my eyes. “And call the others, too. We’re going to stop a murderer.”

Sunday, April 16th, Late Morning

Sirius hung up. “Antares said that he’s coming.”

“I got a hold of Mint,” I said. “Is Anna replying to your messages?”

“No, not yet.”

“Last active, six hours ago.” He raised an eyebrow. “Someone stayed up late.”

Oh yeah. I almost forgot about that. I still have yet to give her an earful over that. “She’ll see it when she wakes up. Worst case scenario, she comes when we were supposed to meet up for rehearsal anyways.”

Sirius nodded. “Alright. And now… we wait.” His brow was furrowed. His shoulders looked like they could use a good massage. Though he always looked thin, his frame looked so much more wiry than before. Sirius looked like he had a thousand things to say, but didn’t know where to start.

There was a lump in my throat as he took a seat at the couch. “Did…”

“Hm?”

“You should call Rigel,” I said.

“Good thinking,” Sirius said. “Since that girl’s a longtime fan of ours, she might be after him, too.”

I doubted it, given her M.O, but despite everything, I really didn’t want to take the chance. Even if he really was the kind of person who might get violent, I still cared about Rigel. If nothing else, I wanted him to understand the danger he was in.

After the last call, the two of us had a little bit of downtime before the other Ireilas members arrived. I settled onto the couch and laid my head against the armrest. Despite having technically been conscious for thirty-six uninterrupted hours, my body felt fine.

Probably because I was waking up to a body that had just gotten a full night’s sleep.

Hmm… perhaps it wasn’t really that I was traveling back in time, but more that my memories were being continuously sent back by the Redshift.

It made me wonder. What would happen if I tried to learn a new skill during my time using the Redshift? Would the muscle memory be retained across timelines? My mind was tired, but my body wasn’t. Probably not.

Sirius stepped past me. Without looking up, I knew what he was doing.

“I thought vocalists weren’t supposed to drink coffee before a performance,” I said.

His footprints stopped. “That’s honestly a little freaky.“

“This is the fourth time you’ve made this for me,” I said.

Sirius’s footsteps stopped. “Is it, now?”

“Yeah.”

A pause. “What’s it like?”

“What’s ‘it’?”

“You know… watching the same people do the same things, over, and over, and over…” the kettle played a familiar jingle. “I can only imagine. That sort of thing has to take its toll.”

“Maybe.”

Sirius laid a cup of coffee on the table in front of me, and kept walking. The warm smell filled the air around me. A moment later, he was back, and draped a blanket over my body.

“Take it easy, Lyra.”

I sat up. “Don’t you think you should be more worried about the guy with a psycho fan?”

“I’m worried about you. Don’t change the subject.” Sirius took a seat at the foot of the couch. “Lyra, is this the first time you’ve told us?”

“That I’ve become Lyra Lee McFly?”

“You got married?”

“Wait, what the hell? No, haven’t you seen Back To The Future?”

Sirius shook his head, the heathen. I made a note to rectify that if we made it out of this alive.

“To answer your question, no. Lucky guess?”

His eyes were on my coffee, still untouched. He slowly reached for it, as his eyes locked into mine, and took a sip. Then, just as brazenly, he set it back down as if nothing had happened. “When you pointed that stuff out about the coffee,” said Sirius, “I noticed you weren’t sure that I was going to believe you.”

“Good catch.”

“Is it time to break Lyra Lee’s monopoly on this industry?” He grinned at me. “Seriously, though. Have a little more faith in your friends.” I was touched for precisely two seconds, then he took another swig of my coffee. “Are you gonna finish this?”

“Just take it already.” It was almost half empty. “And you know I don’t like it black.”

That damn smile. He got up. My eyes followed him as he picked up the other cup, already with cream and sugar the way I like it. “You’re not the only prankster.”

“Yeah, but you’re a lousy one.” I took a sip. “It’s gone cold.”

“That’s the prank.”

“That’s petty as hell.” I bopped his shoulder when he sat back down.

It was quiet.

The lukewarm drink somehow kickstarted my mind. I’d need a plan to convince each member before they arrive. For Mintaka and Antares, I’d been over it in the last loop. But for Anna and Rigel…

Rigel. Oh my goodness.

I hadn’t had the time to think about his confession in the first loop, but I needed to answer him properly. It didn’t happen in this timeline, but… if he can work up the courage to tell me, I need to work up the courage to respond, and to do it right. As for Anna—

“Hey, Lyra. Did I ever tell you about what I want to do when I graduate?”

I shook my head. “Where’s this coming from?”

“All this stuff about Velora… it got me thinking.” He paused. “Don’t tell the others, okay? I don’t want them thinking that I’m delusional.”

“I’m about to tell them that I’m a time traveler. We can be delusional together.”

“Ha-ha. Just promise me that you won’t.”

“Promise.”

Sirius hesitated and turned away. His chiseled jawline was facing me, directly. That, and his uncovered collarbones, too.

“I want to be a singer.”

“Like—“

“Yeah, exactly. And that’s not all,” he said. “I want it to be Ireilas.”

That was news to me, but it wasn’t surprising. “That’s so you, Sirius.”

“Now you’re just making fun of me.”

“I’ll be overt when I’m making fun of you, believe me.”

He nodded. “That’s true.”

I giggled. “Still, though. It’s not a bad dream to work towards.”

“I guess so. I’d have to survive today first, though.”

“I didn’t want to bring it up, but yes.”

He gritted his teeth. ”I wonder if I’ll have to deal with those kinds of fans in the future.”

That’s…

Sirius locked eyes with me again, and leaned in close. “Lyra. I’m sor—“

“What she does is not your fault,” I said.

Another pause, then another half-grin. “Is that something I’ve said before?”

This time, I shook my head. “Nah. It’s just that I know you. Again, that’s so you.”

Sirius closed his eyes, sighed, and downed the rest of the cup. “I guess so.”

He stared out the window, at the view that extended down the hill and overlooked the school. His eyelashes were kind of long, for a guy. Sirius reached up, and brushed his hair out of his eyes.

“Sirius.”

His eyes flicked to me. Earnest, curious, wide eyes.

“Don’t give up on that dream,” I said. I gave my best smile. I don’t mind that about him. “You can do it.”