Beyond the Gate II

(Author's note: I've decided that Helena's name is actually Natalie. It just is.)

Natalie stared through the open Gate, trying to ignore the way her heart was singing joyful recognition. At first glance it looked like a continuation of the same wood- dense with lush green foliage. But if you knew what to look for- and Natalie did- you could see the subtle differences. The shape of the leaves were different, as was the texture of the bark. The numbers of the petals on the flowers were not the same, nor were the patterns on the birds that occasionally darted past. And all of the shadows were just a touch... off, as though the atmosphere of this land bent the sun's rays at just a slightly different angle than our own.

Which, of course, it did.

It was Parador, all right. And if she stepped forward through the Gate Natalie knew she would not be able to come back until she could pay the Gate proper tribute, be it in item, deed- or person. That was the Toll- you could pass through one direction without payment, but to return always cost something. Sometimes something very dear. But... that had been when the Gate stood shut, stood sealed. What were the rules, now that it was stuck open?

Part of her longed to run through the Gate- what did she care what it might cost to get back to Earth? What did she have here, compared to what she might have again in Parador? Another part, her grown up part, couldn't help but think that if one was going to re-enter the magical land of one's childhood, one might want to go slightly more prepared than one did the first time. She still remembered what it was like to be literally starving to death in the northern mountains of Parador- she did not care to repeat the experience in this older, less-resilient body.

And a weapon, she thought. I ought to have a weapon, if I go back. It can't be a good sign that the Gate is broken. I should be prepared to help, not go in needing to be rescued like I did last time.

She suddenly wished she had spent more of the past twenty years on keeping her fencing skills sharp, and less on pursuing degrees in mythology and folklore...