Lost and Found

     "Hello, and welcome to the Neopian Times' Faerieland office. How can I help you?" The Bruce sitting behind the desk was cheerful, though in her voice, Novelyx detected just a hint of frazzlement. Clearly today was a busier day than most.

     "Hello," Novelyx said. "We're hoping to take a look at some recent back issues of the Times? I'm afraid I've misplaced my copies, and my friend here needs-- She's hoping to--" Novelyx hesitated. She didn't want to say too much--it was up to Tagney to decide how much other people got to know about her situation, and—

     The Bruce's eyes grew wide, and she sprang up out of her chair. "Tagney?!?" she exclaimed. "You're all right?!? We thought you got washed out to sea!"

     A hush spread through the office, starting from the desk and reaching the edges of the room in a few short seconds.

     Tagney looked around, flustered. "I-- I--" she stammered. She turned to Novelyx, a pleading expression on her face, as several Neopets across the office sprang up from their desks and approached them.

     Novelyx stepped to the side, between Tagney and the Bruce receptionist, blocking Tagney's view of the office as best she could. "Could you please wait a few minutes, then follow us outside--only you?" she asked quietly.

     For a moment, the Bruce seemed to want to protest, but Novelyx didn't pay her much more attention. She wrapped a paw around Tagney's shoulders and shepherd her outside, around the corner of the building, and into an alcove in a nearby alley where she sometimes rested if running around Faerieland became too exhausting. Novelyx hoped the Bruce would join them soon--and only the Bruce--but her primary concern was for her friend, who was still clearly overwhelmed.

     "Tagney, it's okay. Whatever you remember or don't, it's okay. All those Neopets in there seem to care a lot about you, but if you don't know who they are, you don't have to talk to them. You don't have to try to pretend anything, okay?"

     Slowly, Tagney nodded. Novelyx saw dampness spreading through the fabric around her eyes, and it took her a moment to realize that these were tears. She'd never considered that Burlap Neopets didn't cry quite the same way as others, but as soon as she recognized the dampness for what it was, she wrapped her other paw around Tagney too.

     "I don't," Tagney said. "I don't remember. I don't remember any of them. I was so sure-- I was so sure that I'd always wanted to visit a Neopian Times office, but I never had, and they all seem to-- Did I work there? Was I a reporter? I--"

     "It's okay," Novelyx said. "Do you want to ask the receptionist who you are? She might know what happened. It seems like they thought something bad had happened to you." Ever since Novelyx had found Tagney, she'd been fairly sure something bad had happened to the Shoyru too, but she hadn't wanted to say that out loud. Now that there were other Neopets who seemed to know, she didn't think the subject could be avoided anymore. "If you don't want to ask her, that's okay too. I can tell her you don't want to know. Or I can ask her for you. Whatever you need."

     Footsteps sounded in the alley behind them, and Novelyx turned to see the Bruce walking toward them.

     Tagney glanced toward the Bruce. "Her name is Patricae," she said, a smile spreading beneath her tear-stained cheeks. "I remember that!" She wiped at her eyes, and, to Novelyx's surprise, the dampened fabric around them seemed to dry. Just like if she'd wiped away her own tears. "I think I'm okay now with just the three of us."

     Novelyx squeezed the Shoyru's shoulder. "If that changes, we can leave and go home whenever you want."

     Tagney nodded. "It's okay."

     A moment later, Patricae reached them. "Tagney," she said, tentatively.

     "Hi," Tagney replied.

     "Are you okay?"

     The Burlap Shoyru laughed. "I'm not really sure. This is Novelyx. She found me in a strange shop called Lost and Found last night and I--" Tagney's voice broke. "I don't remember anything."

     "What do you mean?"

     "Well, I remembered my name, and I remembered my petpet Jay, but that's it. Oh, and I remembered your name a few minutes ago after I saw you for the first time. Though I guess that wasn't really the first time?"

     "We've worked together for years," Patricae said.

     "Am I-- Was I a reporter?"

     "Ummm, no, not a reporter. You were a courier."

     Tagney's face fell. "A courier," she said.

     Patricae nodded. "Ummhmmmm. Good one. Best in the whole organization. Nothing got here or back to HQ faster or more reliably than when you took wing."

     Novelyx suddenly remembered something from the records room--there was a 42453 Meteor Street on Roo Island, and based on the maps, it would have to be very close to the Neopian Times Headquarters there, and not far from the water. She squeezed Tagney's hand gently, a reminder that she didn't have to ask the question if she didn't feel ready to.

     But apparently she was.

     "You said you thought I got...washed out to sea?"

     "There was a terrible storm. Almost a year ago now. Maybe more than a year ago? Lots of houses destroyed, and HQ was damaged pretty badly. But they found everyone who was on the island at the time, safe and sound--everyone except you. We thought you got washed out to sea and were stranded on one of the islands out east with no way to get back home or send a message. We've sent boats out, of course, but there are so many of those islands, and some of the waters out there are so treacherous, the captains said, and we..." Patricae trailed off. "We're really glad that you're back. [i]I'm[/i] really glad that you're back." She moved as though she wanted to embrace Tagney, but stopped herself. "And I'm really sorry we didn't do more to find you."

     Tagney didn't reply. Novelyx shifted to try to read her friend's expression, but she appeared curious more than anything else, as if she were listening to Patricae tell her someone else's story.

     ***

     Novelyx sat with Tagney in her kitchen as the sun set on Faerieland. The two of them had talked for a while after they'd returned from the Times office, but Novelyx had run out of questions she thought it was okay to ask, and Tagney hadn't seemed keen on filling the silence herself. It was surprising to the Aisha that she could sit in silence so comfortably with Tagney--just exist, in the same space, at the same time, with no need for any greater connection than that.

     Eventually, as the last light faded from the sky, Tagney said, "I don't understand how you found me in that shop. Patricae said my house was washed into the sea by that storm, but how did I end up there?"

     "I've been thinking about that," Novelyx said. "And I have a theory. It's a really strange one, but there was some really strange magic there and I think it makes sense." She didn't mention the strange dream she'd had the night before about desperately trying to hold onto something and how that made her even more certain in her theory. "I think that Lost and Found collects things that were meaningful to Neopians that would have been lost or destroyed in disasters, and tries to get them back to their owners." It explained the shop's mysterious appearance, the odd feel of the magic inside, the boxes with house addresses on them, the chipped mementos and waterlogged books. "What I haven't been able to figure out is why you and Jay ended up there. You're clearly not someone's treasured possession, you're your own Neopet. And petpet. Or why the shop showed itself to me. But I'm glad it did."

     Tagney shifted in her seat.

     "Something wrong?" Novelyx asked.

     "I thought I was remembering something, but it's gone. Do you think the Lost and Found could have mistaken me for a plushie?"

     Novelyx hmmmmed. "You know, I thought about that. And it made sense at first. But it doesn't explain your Snowbunny. No one could mistake Jay for a toy, she's too cute. That thing she does with her nose when she's sniffing something new--that's way too adorable for her to not be real. I mean, maybe. And maybe Jay could have followed you there or something--she was clearly awake while you were still sleeping or whatever, but... I don't think so. I think there's something else to it."

     "Like what?"

     "I don't know. Maybe Lost and Found wanted a shopkeeper and thought you'd be a good fit?"

     Tagney perked up. "That could be fun. I could try to find the Neopets all those keepsakes belong to! There were addresses on the boxes, we could figure out who lived there, and send them letters and invite them to come see if anything of theirs is in the shop?"

     "Does that mean you don't want to go back to work as a courier for the Times?"

     Tagney shook her head. "I was so disappointed when Patricae said I wasn't a reporter," the Shoyru admitted. "I think I want to do something else. And there's no home to go back to on Roo Island anyway, it looks like. But I can set up a room in that back room of Lost and Found, maybe, stay there, and--"

     "It's just a theory," Novelyx interrupted, smiling at the gleam of excitement in Tagney's eyes. "We should make sure I'm right first. But tomorrow. It's late, and I'm exhausted, and I don't even think I'd know how to go about asking a magical, maybe-sentient shop whether it wants you as its shopkeeper, so I think we'll have to figure that part out too."

     "Is it okay if I stay here until we do?" Tagney asked.

     "Absolutely."

     The End.