"Before I can begin, I first need to tell you the story of how I came to Earth," Diane started, pushing her legs out beneath her and letting the billowing grass wrap around her feet. Sarah remained in her fetal position, but she tilted her head slightly so that she could hear better. The soft splashes of the waterfall behind them set a rhythm to Diane's words that Sarah quickly became lost in.

"We first learned of Earth when a nine-year old Helian named Terry went missing in 1960," Diane continued.

"Terry?" Sarah asked, the familiarity of the name straightening her spine.

"Yes," Diane answered. "You don't know her, but you know of her. She's Eleven's mother."

Terry Ives. Eleven had told Sarah some of what had happened to her mother. She had volunteered for an experiment led by Dr. Brenner and had ended up pregnant with Eleven in the process. When Eleven was taken from her after her birth, Terry was tortured by Dr. Brenner after trying to get her back. Unfortunately, she was too far gone for Eleven to stay with her. It was a sad story that sent pangs through Sarah's heart every time she heard it.

"We searched for her for several months when we found a rift opened between Helia and Earth," Diane explained. "Being a child, her curiosity must have gotten the better of her and she slipped through. Unfortunately, the rift closed shortly after we discovered it so we were unable to follow her to the exact location that it had taken her. Through our own rifts, we tried to continue searching for her on Earth, but the dimension was too big and we knew too little about it."

"Couldn't you see where she was with your abilities?" Sarah asked.

Diane solemnly shook her head no. "I can only see the outcomes of my own choices. I can see the possibilities of your future because having you was a choice I made. None of the options possible to me led to me finding Terry, so I could never see where she was."

Sarah tried to wrap her head around Diane's response but her forehead started to throb and she quickly gave up on ever truly understanding her mother's abilities.

"Earth is also...different...it affects our abilities in strange ways. But I'll explain this more shortly."

"What happened next?" Sarah asked. She was now sitting up and facing Diane with her legs crossed. Her face was still red and puffy, but the tears had mostly subsided.

"We felt that the only way to find Terry was to learn more about the dimension she had disappeared to," Diane answered. "We decided to send a team of Helians to different parts of Earth to immerse themselves in the dimension and learn about it first-hand. Adam and myself were two of the volunteers."

"So you've known James' dad for a long time?" Sarah asked with a raised brow. She could feel her anger beginning to boil again but she quickly quelled it.

"Yes, we were childhood best friends."

Sarah found herself once more unable to comprehend the information her mother had given her. Her mother and James' father were best friends, just like herself and James had been. It seemed that friendship ran in families.

"Anyways," Diane continued. "I was always so curious about what existed beyond our dimension and I wanted to study it. Adam felt the same way, so we agreed to go. We were both eighteen when we went to Earth. I was assigned to New York City and Adam was assigned to London. It wasn't long after I arrived that I met your father."

Sarah unconsciously pushed herself closer to Diane for the next part of the story.

A fond smile parted Diane's lips before she began speaking and she sheepishly looked down at the ground in an attempt to hide it. "Your father had just gotten a job as a police officer in New York City. He was so excited to finally be living in a big city and to be away from Hawkins. We crossed paths when he nearly hit me with his squad car."

"Wait, what?" Sarah sputtered, cutting Diane off.

"It was my fault," Diane explained with a chuckle. "I was still trying to figure out how intersections and crosswalks worked, and I started walking into the road when it was a green light. He immediately got out to make sure that I was okay, and as some might say, it was love at first sight. Your father gave me his phone number for insurance reasons, even though I didn't yet have a phone or really understand what a phone was. But when I finally did get a phone, I decided to call him, because I couldn't get him out of my head. It turns out that he hadn't stopped thinking about me either."

"I'd never really interacted with a human like that before," Diane continued. "I mean, he looked like me, talked like me, and acted like me, but everything was still so strange and new. He asked me out to dinner, and I accepted...after he explained to me what that meant. From there, the rest is history. He helped me to adjust to things on Earth...I had told him that I was from a foreign place and for some reason he accepted that as Canada," Diane paused to explain. "and we were married within a year. I learned so much from him about this dimension, but I learned even more when I had you."

Sarah looked away sheepishly at the mention of herself.

"You were such a beautiful baby. We were so happy," Diane said with a smile. Tears began welling up in the corner of her eyes as she spoke. Then Diane's smile faltered until it slowly slipped off her face. "But then the visions came."

"Of my future?" Sarah asked. Diane nodded in response.

"I could see a million different possibilities, and almost all of them were terrible," Diane elaborated. "And on top of that, my abilities were experiencing...complications..."

"What do you mean?"

"Helians don't belong on Earth," Diane explained. "It tampers with our abilities, makes us weaker. Although, for some reason, it doesn't seem to affect children born of Helian and human parents, like you. Adam figured this out pretty quickly and tried to convince me to come back to Helia with him, but I wouldn't leave you. At least, not until it was time."

"So that's why Adam left James," Sarah realized. She still felt an anger rise in her at the mention of Adam, but it was a little quieter than before.

"Yes," Diane answered. "He went back to Helia and I stayed on Earth until the whole ordeal with your passing. I wanted to spend as much time with you as I could, but I could feel myself growing weaker and weaker and weaker. When I returned to Helia, I was laid up for three months."

Sarah contemplated Diane's story until a thought struck her. "But wait, dad said that you remarried and had a kid after I passed away. What happened to that?"

"An unfortunate lie that I had to tell him," Diane answered solemnly. "I had to create an illusion to help your father understand why I left. It hurt me, lying to him like that, but he wouldn't be able to understand all of...this." Diane gestured around them in reference to what she was talking about.

"You could have given him a chance," Sarah mumbled just loud enough for Diane to hear her.

A warm smile fixed itself on Diane's face. "I wanted to. But then you wouldn't be here with me now."

Sarah wanted to press forward with the topic, but she was so tired of arguing. A dull throb had overtaken her head and she dug her fingers into her temple in an attempt to make it stop. There was so much information to process and she didn't know whether she had the capacity to understand it all there and then. Instead, she switched topics.

"So what happened to Terry then?"

"We did find her, eventually," Diane answered. "But unfortunately by then it was too late. Her powers were too far gone and she barely even remembered Helia. A nice family called the Ives had adopted her and she seemed happy, so we let her be."

Sarah nodded her head, suddenly too tired to speak anymore. Instead, she spread her body out into the soft grass and stared up at the fluffy, white clouds passing by. One of them looked eerily similar to a demogorgon, but she shook the thought aside and focused on a new cloud.

Without moving her head, Sarah could tell that Diane had sprawled out beside her, and the two laid in silence together as they watched the clouds dance across the sky. Sarah still had so many questions to ask, but in that moment, she was happy just to indulge in the peace and quiet.

It wouldn't last long.

A glowing portal sliced a circle through the living room of the Byers' house, attracting the attention of Joyce and Hopper, who were sitting on the couch. They watched patiently as a figure passed through and the portal collapsed behind them. Before either could say a word, they exchanged a worried glance.

"How did it go?" Joyce hesitantly asked Sarah, who stood with her back faced to them. Sarah turned to meet them and Joyce immediately spotted the rings of red, puffy skin around her brilliant blue eyes. "Oh honey," Joyce cried, jumping up from the couch to envelope Sarah in a hug.

"He's...engaged..." Sarah answered slowly, her sore throat making it hard to speak from all the crying. She was so numb that she could barely feel Joyce's arms wrapped around her.

"I'm so sorry, sweetie," Joyce said. She took a step back to give Sarah her space.

"I can kick his ass for you," Hopper offered, rising from the couch to stand by Joyce's side.

A half-hearted laugh escaped Sarah's scratchy throat before she shook her head no. "I should have expected it. I've been gone too long."

"Are you okay?" Hopper asked, although he had an inkling what her answer would be.

"Not right now," Sarah answered. She blinked her eyes a couple times and ran her fingers along the creases to collect any stray tear drops before continuing. "But I will be."

"Well, I've got some good news that will hopefully cheer you up," Hopper said with a smile. "I called El and told her you're back. She bought the next available plane ticket back to Hawkins and will be here tomorrow morning."

"Really?" Sarah asked, her damp eyes lighting up at the news. She at least had that to look forward to. She had missed her sister dearly.

"And I called the rest of the party," Will added, appearing in the doorway. "Mike is already in town, but Dustin, Max, and Lucas will all be here by tomorrow night. I told them we were having a party reunion."

Sarah's eyes were nearly glowing now and for a brief second she forgot what had made her so sad only moments ago.

"And Jonathan and Nancy will be here in a couple hours," Joyce reminded her. "You'll have plenty of friends and family to help you feel better."

"I can't wait," Sarah said with a smile that erased any sadness that she had left.

☆ ★ ☆

"We're home!" a shout rung through the Byers' house and echoed around every room. Excited feet rushed towards the living room to greet the guests at the door.

"Jonathan!" Joyce cried, throwing her arms around her eldest son and kissing his cheeks. Hopper and Will both stood back so as not to get in the way and Sarah watched cautiously from the corner of the room.

"Mom, mom, enough," Jonathan laughed, gently pushing her off of him. "I'm too old for that."

"Nonsense!" Joyce responded, faking offense. "A boy is never too old for his mother's love!"

"A man," Jonathan corrected her, but Joyce hadn't heard him because she was too busy hugging Nancy.

"Jonathan." Hopper stepped up to greet Jonathan with a shake of his hand once he saw an opening. 

"Jim." Jonathan smiled, returning the handshake. His eyes then turned to the boy standing next to Hopper. "Will," Jonathan greeted his brother, his smile growing even bigger.

"Hey big bro," Will smiled back. The two took a step forward to embrace each other in a half-hug.

"How's New York?" Jonathan asked.

Will was about to answer when a loud squeal interrupted them and they turned to see Joyce fawning over Nancy.

"Oh, look at how far along you are!" Joyce cried, placing her hands on Nancy's extended belly.

"Yup, twenty-eight weeks along," Nancy said with a smile. "Although it feels more like two-hundred and eighty."

"That's how it felt with Jonathan," Joyce replied. "He stayed in there so long that he could have come out a college graduate."

"Mom," Jonathan warned her, but yet again, Joyce ignored him.

"And where's my favorite granddaughter?" Joyce asked, placing her hands on her hips and swinging her head around excitedly.

"She's right h--" Jonathan began to answer when he looked down to find that the toddler that had been hiding behind his leg was missing.

Everyone began to scour the room for the missing girl when a voice at the back of the room caught their attention.

"She's right here," Sarah announced, gesturing to the small child that was clinging to her leg. The little girl would not stop staring up at Sarah with her big, brown eyes and Sarah felt slightly uncomfortable. Between the Lab, the Upside Down, and the Diagonal, she hadn't had a lot of interactions with small children.

"Sorry about that," Jonathan apologized, rushing over to grab the two-year old, who let out a small cry when he pried her from Sarah's leg. "Barb likes to meet new people."

"It's okay," Sarah assured him with a smile.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Jonathan stopped for a moment to study the woman that his child had been clinging to, caught up in the familiarity of her face. "You look oddly familiar..."

Joyce stepped forward to place a hand on Jonathan's shoulder and when he looked over at her, he immediately found the answer in her eyes.

"Holy shit," Jonathan whispered to himself. His wide eyes couldn't leave Sarah's face as he formulated how she could be standing in front of him.

"Jonathan, language," Nancy calmly reminded him.

"But-but how?" Jonathan asked. He suddenly flashed back to that night ten years ago when they were standing on the gravel road and Hopper and Steve appeared through a portal with Eleven, but no Sarah. He hadn't gotten to know Sarah as well as the rest of the party had, but he had still mourned her passing. She had lived in their house for a brief time, after all.

"It's a long story," Sarah answered with a smile.

"Wait, is this...?" Nancy began to ask, taking a step forward to study Sarah as well. She kept looking between Jonathan and Sarah for an answer.

"Yeah," Jonathan answered after a couple moments of silence had passed.

"Holy shit," Nancy whispered, her eyes becoming as wide as his.

"Language," Jonathan reminded her. Nancy shoved him.

"It's so nice to officially meet you!" Nancy smiled a wide smile, sticking a hand out towards Sarah. "The Byers' have told me so much about you! I'm Nancy, Mike's older sister."

Sarah slowly shook Nancy's hand, trying to piece Nancy into the picture. When she had been in Hawkins ten years previous, she had never crossed paths with Nancy, but she had heard of her from the party. "It's nice to meet you too." Sarah returned the smile.

"Barb, honey, this is your Auntie Sarah," Nancy said, leaning down so that she was even with the toddler's height and pointing up towards Sarah.

Sarah was a bit startled by the introduction until she realized that it was true. Since her dad had married Joyce, that made Jonathan and Will her step-brothers. A smile flickered on her face upon the realization. For so long, she had had no family, and now it just kept expanding.

Barb's little hand waved up to Sarah, and Sarah returned the gesture.

"And this," Nancy began to say, resting her hands on her stomach as she hoisted herself back up to her feet. "is Robert."

"Or Bob, for short," Jonathan added. A fond smile flickered across Joyce's face upon hearing the name.

After the introductions were over, the rest of the evening passed by in a blur of smiles and laughter as everybody caught up with each other. Sarah learned that Nancy and Jonathan both had jobs with the Indianapolis Tribune, Nancy as a journalist, and Jonathan as a photographer. She also learned that Will was attending NYU for a degree in graphic arts, and had taken the semester off to work on his own comic series roughly inspired by the events of ten years previous. Joyce had bought Melvald's General, her old place of work, from Mr. Melvald after he retired. And of course, Hopper was still working as Hawkins Chief of police. Things genuinely seemed like they had gotten better for everybody in Hawkins.

But that wouldn't last long.

★ ☆ ★ ☆ ★