Tesseract

By Spring

Posted on Wednesday, 17 May 2000, at 2 : 56 a.m.

Author's Disclaimer: is located at the end. But there's a part in here that I know won't sit well with some readers.

Note: Yes, that's the same tesseract I'm talking about so now you know what happens. May as well stop reading now.;)

You are about to enter.... *cue ominous music* ....The Spring Zone...

Chapter 1

Elizabeth Bennet sighed to herself. Tomorrow. Tomorrow was the day it would all end. Her months long battle of wills against Fitzwilliam Darcy would end as she took his name in marriage and be forever more bound to him as his wife.

This happened to be a good thing because she loved him very much. The battle part of it came from her tendency to jump to conclusions and Darcy's habit of staring out windows and saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. Lizzy absentmindedly admired the sprinkling of snow on the ground as she followed the path deeper into the forest, letting her mind dwell on how she came to be in this situation. If she had accepted his proposals at Hunsford they would never have had to suffer from agonizing months of not being with each other. No more of those long tossing and turning, can't sleep, lie awake nights, wondering what he was thinking of you if he remembered you existed at all. Tomorrow, she would be Mrs. Darcy and all the tossing and turning would have a purpose and she would be Mrs. Darcy too.

Lizzy wandered farther and farther until she became aware of a certain strange glow just ahead of her. She searched her memory and could not remember a house or cottage ever having been in that section of the woods before and hoping that perhaps it wasn't a forest fire, in which case walking towards it would be really hazardous to one's marriage plans, she marched on to investigate, all the while thinking of all the reasons why she should have accepted Darcy the first time around. All at once, she came upon a clearing, perfectly round in form and utterly silent as if every living creature had flown from the area. The light, indeed, seemed strange to her for she had never seen such an array of colours before. Such wonderful hues of blues and yellows and reds all hovering softly over the pine needles that blanketed the ground and blending with one another as they touched. Like a rainbow mist. It was so bright and thrilling that she just had to go and touch it, to see if she could perhaps... catch some of that colour in her hand. She treaded across the clearing and ever so subtly the light surrounded her until, when she reached the center of the phenomenon, she was entirely encased in a whirling nebula of energy.

Completely enraptured, Lizzy danced around, laughing out loud and holding out her hands trying to catch the bits or purples and pieces of yellows that darted over and around her like little dragonflies on a pond. She stretched her arms wide and welcomed it, spinning around until she was dizzy with excitement. What a wonderful wedding present this is. I must go get Fitzwilliam so he can see it too , she thought and as soon as she thought that, the light became so bright white that it was painful to keep her eyes open. The little bits of colour that had been playing with her grew agitated and flew around wildly, darting specs in a white field.

Like a modern art masterpiece.

Lizzy dropped to the ground and held on as the forest dimmed and faded as the light took over and then, just when she thought she would scream... it stopped. She slowly looked up and opened her eyes and stared in amazement. It took her a few minutes to recoup after what had just happened but two things registered quite clearly. One was that she was still alive and the second was that she was now in a lane that led up to the Hunsford Parsonage.

"What the...?" Lizzy said to herself as she stood up, shakily. "How in the...?" Then as quick as she could she threw herself into the bushes and cowered. She parted the hedge and saw herself rush towards the parsonage and she was clearly not happy with things. Lizzy pinched her arm in an attempt to check her state of consciousness, which proved that she was, indeed, awake. She looked around helplessly. What could she do? Sitting in the lane wasn't a happy thought to her but neither was popping out of the shrubbery and coming face to face with herself.

"That insufferable man!" Lizzy heard her(other)self exclaim. "How dare he decide whom his friends can marry and whom they cannot? If he were the last man on earth I would row over to China in a canoe and live the rest of my life in a tree rather than be stuck on the same continent as him. OOOOOOOOOOOO, he makes me sick. There's no excuse for him."

Lizzy, still hiding in the bushes, started when she hear this for she remembered quite well saying the exact same thing just.. a ...... few months... be...... fore........

Lizzy froze when realization hit her. Ohmigod! This was the night! Someone... Up There had given her the very opportunity that she had been wishing for!

What the heck?

Wait! Wait.... Unless she had completely lost her senses.... But, Lizzy reasoned, even if she had, it still doesn't follow that she should not have a nice delusion in between cures.

Right?

Thinking of what to do and then quickly formulating her course of action, Elizabeth popped up out of the shrubbery like a Jack in the Box and overtook herself just before they reached the gate. Covering Elizabeth's mouth with one hand she grabbed her and dragged her off before anyone knew what was happening.

Which goes for the both of them.

Chapter 2

Elizabeth's muffled screams as she was dragged deeper into the woods were heard only by a servant (who thought nothing of it since the Missus often sounded like that when the Parson was feeling rather fit), a cow, two geese and a few stray bees heading back to the hive after pulling a ten hour shift in the flower bed. Therefore, no one came to her rescue. Finally, she was released and turned around to face her attacker and stopped short, her mouth hanging open as she stared at a person that looked remarkably like herself.

"Who are you?" Elizabeth asked, after she regained her senses.

"I'm you." Lizzy explained.

"If you're me, then who am I?"

"You're me."

"No that's not possible," Elizabeth insisted. They stared at each other for what seemed a very long time, scrutinizing certain aspects they had never noticed before in the mirror. Interestingly enough, they both wondered if their had had always been shaped like that or if it was just the lighting. Elizabeth shook her head to clear it, then she reached out and with her finger touched Lizzy's nose.

"Beep."

Elizabeth jumped back in surprise. "This is too incredible to believe. Prove that you are me."

Lizzy thought for a second then replied, "We have a mole on our left ankle."

"Oh please, anyone could have found that out," Elizabeth cried. "Tell me something no one else would know."

"Very well then, we have a birth mark shaped like a tiny roe deer at the bottom of our..."

"Enough!" Elizabeth exclaimed, blushing to her roots. "Who are you and how do you know that?"

Lizzy sighed, exasperated. "Look, I don't have time to really get into details but I am you about six months from now. It is hard to explain but just listen to me. Please. You are just about to do something very stupid and painful to both of us in just," Lizzy took out her timepiece and consulted it. "One hour. That does not leave you much time and I still have to try to get back to the future. Hello? Lizzy? Are you still with me?" She snapped her fingers in front of Elizabeth's face to get her out of that trance like stare she had.

"Wha? Yes, yes, I am. I.... What am I to do, then?" She asked helplessly.

Lizzy stated matter of factly, "You have to accept Mr. Darcy's proposal."

"What," Elizabeth shouted. "Are you mad?"

"You must, it is important," Lizzy pleaded

"Did I go completely insane? I can never marry that man. Even if he should ask me, I would not accept him and you obviously do not remember the conversation I just had with Colonel Fitzwilliam ..."

"But I do," Lizzy said, tears welling up in her eyes. "And I can't get into it right now but everything does turn out all right and Mr. Darcy does have a valid reason for everything, you just have to believe me. He's about to walk over to the parsonage right now and will overcome his snobby upbringing and misplaced social conventions to propose to me, you ... us. Don't you see? He's loved us all along and we never knew it. Those looks that he was giving you over at Netherfield were not to find fault but were of deep admiration. "

"Wait, what about Wickham and..."

"Nevermind Wickham, he's a phony and a rake." Lizzy said so fiercely and in such a tone that Elizabeth knew very well that she meant the truth.

Elizabeth struggled with this information for a few seconds, looking out into the woods, the lane, anywhere rather than at this duplicate that said such odd things to her and insisted she marry the very man she had sworn to hate.

Lizzy started to get impatient, time was running out and she had to convince this person to do something that she knew very well she did not want to do. "Lizzy," she said, softly and placed her hand on the other's shoulder. "Mr. Darcy is going to seem very.... rude when he proposes. You're going to react normally. Which is to say, you're going to throw him out on his ear. I wouldn't blame you, I did the same thing. " She grabbed Elizabeth's shoulders tightly and squeezed. "But you're not going to do what I did. Instead, you won't get angry. Just remember that he should be marrying a Baronet's daughter or even Anne De Bourgh, sick as it may seem. But he loves us. Really really loves us, more than anything in the world. That must mean something to you."

Elizabeth glanced at the person standing in front of her and nodded her head. "There's one thing. I don't love him."

"But I do," Lizzy pleaded. "He is perfectly amiable and even if you do refuse him again I will marry him tomorrow as I planned. But I want to marry him now and be his wife. You cannot deny me that. Please, there's not much time left and I have to get back or someone will find out that I'm missing. "

"But I'll be there," Elizabeth pointed out.

Lizzy almost screamed in frustration. "Will you accept him or not? I have to know."

Elizabeth paused, her answer on the tip of her tongue. She looked at the expression on Lizzy's face and changed her mind, "Yes. I'll accept him, if it means that much to you."

"It means a great deal to both of us, Lizzy." Lizzy smiled in heartfelt delight at herself "Thank you! You won't regret it."

"If I do, the consequences will fall upon you." Elizabeth pointed out. "I hope you know what you're doing."

Lizzy gave herself a big hug and told Elizabeth to feign a headache when the Collins' and Maria Lucas go to Rosings that evening. Not that hard considering the circumstances, first with the news that Darcy did indeed separate her sister from Mr. Bingley - she couldn't wait to hear his excuse for that one. Then being confronted by a person that claimed to be herself and lastly finding out that Darcy wasn't so bad and it was her destiny to marry him.

That was a lot to take after one afternoon and all she wanted to do was to lie down and sleep it off.

Lizzy turned to go back to the dancing light that brought her here (if it was still there) when Elizabeth called out, "Wait!"

Lizzy turned around again. "Yes?"

Elizabeth smiled a secret smile, "How did you get here," she whispered. "How did you do it?"

Lizzy shrugged and told the truth, "I don't know." Then she gave a smile that mirrored the one before her and walked away into the woods.

Chapter 3

Lizzy found the unusual light again with no difficulty and thinking that since she wished herself here, she may as well wish herself back. Taking the added precaution of sitting on the ground beforehand so she won't loose her balance again, she closed her eyes and wished and felt the swirl of energy claim her once more and then dwindle down to a mere whisper. She opened her eyes and saw that she was in a strange and large room, full of unfamiliar objects and someone was calling her name.

"Lizzy!"

Lizzy jumped quickly and looked around then with a rush of happiness thought, YES!, but in a calmer tone of voice she replied, "Yes?'

Darcy strode in the room, purposeful and commanding and Lizzy's heart beat wildly until she noticed a few wrinkles on his brow that weren't there just a few minutes ago when she last saw him. Surely nothing could have happened to make him so somber. It's been the same six months. Darcy's eyes swept over her and that was when she realized that she wasn't wearing much, she was freezing, it was in the middle of the day and Darcy was starting to take off his garments. He strode over and kissed her in such a way that her breath was stolen from her.

"Where have you been my love," Darcy asked when he finally released her. "I've been calling for you for an hour."

Elizabeth gasped at the emotions that he'd stirred with his kiss but managed to answer anyway, "I've been walking, I mean, resting and I.... fell asleep. A bit." She smiled sheepishly, looking at him through the lowered lids of her eyes and the strands of hair that fell provocatively over her brow.

Darcy smiled back wantonly, "You look almost wild, Elizabeth. Exactly like when you walked to Netherfield a year ago. I found you very stimulating then, just as I do now" His head lowered to kiss her again and all of Elizabeth's alarms went off big time, she pushed him and tried to get away but Darcy caught her arm and pulled her back to him, holding her close. He struggled with the knot of his cravat then yanked it loose, drawing it from the collar with a sigh of material. Then he fell back on the bed and looked at Lizzy who was blushing beyond her control. "You're playing with me, my dear." His voice growled but the desire in his eyes was apparent even still and Elizabeth didn't know what to do. Her mission had obviously worked and they were married but... but... she didn't remember it. She didn't remember saying the vows. She didn't remember the wedding. She didn't remember the honeymoon. She didn't feel married and... he was doing things that only married people have the right to do... Elizabeth's mind raced, what did I do? What do I do? He expects me to be a married woman of six months when in reality, I'm nothing of the sort. She felt Darcy put his hand where it didn't belong and he murmured into her ear something incomprehensible. Her mind screamed as she realized what was about to happen right here in the middle of the day even and she had no recourse but to submit for he was her husband even though she had never actually been there when it had happened.

Help!

"M.. mm... m.. muh... my dear," she stammered. "What are you doing?" She pulled the covers up to her chin because she also realized that she was still in bed, which would account for her soft landing when she arrived.

"Don't you think it's time to have an heir," Darcy murmured into her ear. "This is what I married you for, isn't it?"

WHAT?

"What?" Lizzy sat up quickly and stared at Darcy as if he just landed from the moon.

"Lizzy, we've discussed all this before," he whined. "Now lie back and let's get started. You know you like it."

Lizzy's eyes widened in horror but the protests she was about to scream out were muffled by Darcy's mouth on hers and so she fell prey to him.

HELP!

Later, as Darcy was pulling his on boots so he could leave, he filled her in on the news of the house. "Your sister is wishing to speak to you, my dear. She would not tell me about what but I will imagine that it has something to do with her wedding tomorrow." He leered at her knowingly and Lizzy blushed in remembrance and did not have a clue what to say to him or her sister. She got out of bed with shaky knees and went to the wash basin, pouring a measure of water into it.

Once she finished washing up, and to ease her mind from the whole day in general, she looked around the room getting familiar with her surroundings. She saw from the view out of the window that they were at Pemberley and she must be in her bedroom suite. It was richly furnished with rather ornate decorations, more frou-frou than she would have chosen but still, it was a pretty room. She looked at Darcy and sighed. What was that all about, she wondered. Hurt from his comments and baffled about what had just happened, she suddenly became aware of her own family's presence in the house. Outside the room, she could hear her mother in one of her fits storming down the hall towards... well, Lizzy didn't know exactly where since she wasn't familiar with the house very much - she vaguely knew the layout of a few public rooms due to her visit last summer with her aunt and uncle. Her mother was on one of her regular tirades and Lizzy rolled her eyes at Darcy to share the joke as she had become accustomed to in the last weeks but the look on his face stopped her. Why was he so grave and silent? In the past few weeks he had shown to her a much lighter side of himself, able to laugh at the things that she laughed at.

Funny how she didn't feel like laughing.

Darcy groaned out loud. "I can't believe I let you talk me into letting your family come here. Why your sister had to be married from Pemberley, I have no idea." He got up and left the room through a door she hadn't noticed before and Lizzy was left to fume for herself.

Puzzled as to his behavior and still sore from their earlier activities, sat down at the vanity to think things over when a girl of no determinable age came into the room with barely a knock and automatically took charge, beginning the preparations to get her mistress ready for dinner. Lizzy let the girl, whoever she was, take over and sat still while her hair was being redressed (it really was in a shambles) and pondered about what might have happened in the past six months. She knew (she hoped), she was married and that was good, but her husband was especially... well... We are still newlyweds, she thought as she shifted uncomfortably in the chair, and perhaps he's under a lot of stress lately. But... well.... It had not been unpleasant, just unexpected and kind of awkward, however... well... she'd think about that later. For now, she tried as hard as she could to remember anything that happened, the servants' names, where the rooms were located, the name of his dogs, anything. But everything came up a blank. This was something that had never occurred to her. She had thought that once she had accepted Darcy's proposal at Hunsford, the experiences that came afterward would also be hers and everything would be all hunky-dorey. But since she came from the future to alter the past, the memories that she had were still hers, but they had changed for everyone else. It was like she had been in a coma for the last half year.

HELP!

She blinked as she tried to sort the whole thing out and wondered how she would get along for she would not know her way around as she should after six months. The door opened and Darcy came back in and greeted the girl calling her Sally. Figures, Lizzy thought, they're all Sally. She bobbed a curtsey and left them to their privacy. He smiled as he watched her leave, then his eyes hardened and he complained in a dictatorial tone of voice, "Why must your mother insist on butting into everything? She just now insisted on viewing my milking pens. What does she know about milking anything but her fits and spasms as she calls them?"

Lizzy exploded, "If my mother is inquiring as to the way this estate is functioning, it is only to be sure that you are treating her daughter in the manner in which she should be treated! She's being concerned for my welfare. Not like some people I can mention," she spat out at him.

"Oh, right," he drawled. "Being a nosey busy body is more like it. If she were so concerned about her daughters even half as much as she was about examining my silver yesterday evening, then she would have held a tighter reign on your foolish sisters. Now I have to suffer along with the rest of you knowing that my youngest sister in law is out somewhere in the world - missing - with the biggest reprobate ever. How low for a Darcy to fall." He strode to the window and looked out.

Lizzy drew her breath in sharply, " Just you remember, Sir, that a Darcy herself had almost fallen prey to the exact same reprobate you spoke of. And how dare you say such things about my family! What has come over you? I... what did you say about missing?" Lizzy's heart skipped a beat in dread.

He looked over his shoulder, annoyed at her rant. "Miss-ing, as in Not Found. Your father couldn't find them in London. Probably didn't even look," he mumbled to himself.

Lizzy's mouth hung open. "But, you found them! Surely you did and you paid him off and they married and..." her voice trailed off as Darcy whirled around and faced her.

"What? Me go after Wickham? I wouldn't go so far as to cross the street to spit on him. And why should I look for him? Your sister was old enough to know better, let her pay the price for her own folly. And that's the last I have to say on the subject. And I never want an invitation to my home offered to those barbarians your have the misfortune to be related to ever again, do you hear?" He turned back around to look out the window disregarding the tears that flowed freely down his wife's face.

What happened to you, Fitzwilliam?

help

Long after Darcy had left her and when she felt she could face humans again, Lizzy left the room and headed down the hall. Wandering downstairs, she followed the sounds of voices until she reached the parlor where her family was gathered along with a man of portly structure and a simpering gap toothed smile that made Lizzy's pores ooze. She nodded politely to him and greeted her family, paying most attention to her mother in penitence for the way her husband had talked of her. She sat still and avoided her husband's gaze, hurt and humiliated by everything and not knowing what to do, she well...

Changed the subject.

The portly man hobbled over to her and breathed out his salutations in a manner so repugnant and smelly that Mr. Collins seemed like a bronzed God in comparison. Lizzy held her breath but managed to nod and smile her way through. She noticed that the man, whom her mother addressed as Mr. Gruntling, walk towards Jane and take her by the arm in an intimate manner. Frowning, she looked around and suddenly exclaimed, "But where's Mr. Bingley?"

The whole room turned towards her and stared in shock as Jane, overcome with emotion, ran out of the room.

Chapter 4

"Elizabeth Frances Darcy, have you lost your senses? You know very well that Bingley has been dead for three months." Mr. Bennet viciously hissed the last two words, glaring at her. They stood near the fireplace in Pemberley's library, away from the prying ears and hysterical women Lizzy's comment had created.

"What?" Lizzy cried out horrified at the news. "How?"

HELP!

Mr. Bennet stared at her astonished and then slammed his fist down upon the desk. "Are you quite well, girl, or do you pretend not to remember that his ship sunk after sailing for the Continent? How dare you mention him in front of Jane like that? And her fiancé?"

Lizzy's knees buckled from under her and she collapsed into the chair behind her. The news swept over her like a tidal wave. Bingley - dead! Jane - marrying that awful man! Lydia - gone! And she - married to that! What had she done? Everything was ruined and it was all her fault. She looked up suddenly. I can't drag Jane and Lydia into this, it's not their fault. No! It was not ruined. She would change it all back and then Heaven help Darcy if she ever laid eyes on him again.

She ran out of the room, down the hall and opened a door that she thought would lead outside but instead found a closet. She ran some more and opened another door and found a small sitting room, Another door and this time it was a hallway. She ran down it until she reached the end and opened the door there and found herself outside.

In the distance, she could see that blaze of light so she ran towards the light...

Well....

Her lungs ached and burned with effort but she did not stop until she reached the center of this strange and mischievous thing.

She fell in a heap to the ground and closed her eyes, "Please! I want to go back and change this! It's not right. Nothing is right. Please let me go back!" She kept repeating her pleas until she opened her eyes and found that she was back in Hunsford Lane again and she saw herself waiting in ambush to overtake herself before she refused Darcy's proposal.

"Wait!" she called out and Lizzy turned in surprise to see herself emerge just as she just did before from out of nowhere, looking decidedly agitated and worried.

"Lizzy! What happened," she asked. "Are you well?"

Lizzy bent over to catch her breath and gasped out the words, "Mistake... everything... backwards.... Bingley dead.... Jane... marry... goon. And Fitzwilliam is so mean," she wailed finally.

Lizzy strained to hear herself speak but what she heard was enough to alarm her. "Are you certain you don't want me to change our mind?" She pointed to Elizabeth just reaching the door to the parsonage.

"Yes! I'm absolutely certain. I want nothing to do with this. Things happen for a reason, I see that now. And you'd be grateful to me if you only knew what I've just been through because of this."

Lizzy's eyebrows raised an inch in surprise. Then they both turned as they heard Darcy's footsteps on the path to Hunsford. "There he is," she said as she admired the way he walked.

"You look. I don't want to see him," was the reply she received.

So she watched as Darcy was shown into the house and then turned towards the other. "We have to go back," Lizzy said. "I marry him tomorrow but there's an extra one of us. What do we do? Shall we draw straws?"

"No!" Lizzy said fiercely trying to be heard over the bickering that was coming from the parsonage, "You go back. I can't marry that man knowing what I know now. I couldn't love him the way you do."

"But where shall you go?"

Lizzy thought for a moment. "I think I will go to the Continent. I've always wanted to live a Bohemian lifestyle and now here's my chance. Maybe I'll write a book about this and start a whole new genre called science fiction. Because no one would ever believe this happened."

"Yes, that sounds perfect," she agreed. "You will write to me and tell me how you're doing won't you? If you need anything, you know my fortune is yours, do not hesitate to ask."

"Oh, I won't," Lizzy winked and headed towards the village.

Lizzy watched her leave and turned to look as Mr. Darcy strode from the parsonage, down the lane to Rosings and wiping a tear from his eye.

She smiled and turned away to her future, confident that this, at least, will go right.

"Do you, Fitzwilliam George Darcy, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do," Darcy replied firmly.

The priest turned toward Lizzy and asked of her, "And do you, Elizabeth Frances Bennet, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, for as long as you both shall live?"

Elizabeth looked deeply into his eyes and immediately knew that this is as it should be. Softly she replied, "I do."

The End!

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