"All right, I'm taking off," Zach said, picking his backpack up off the floor. "I'll call you later. Maybe we can get together at your place and play some games or something. We haven't done that in a while, huh?"
"It's been a while," Stu conceded.
Zach started to leave the store, but paused on his way to the door. "You're different, you know that?"
"I am?"
"You seem a little..." He trailed off. "I don't know. Just different."
"I was gone a long time."
"It wasn't that long," he snorted. "Just a few months. But still. I can't believe you ran off to China without telling anybody. Your parents thought you'd been kidnapped. The police were looking for you...even Berly was worried about you. She was asking me about you all the time."
"I know. It was...an impulsive thing to do."
"And you still haven't told me what you got up to over there. Did you meet any girls?"
"One."
"What was she like?"
"Cute. Smart. A little rough around the edges, maybe, but..."
"And you left her behind?"
"I didn't want to," he said, sighing.
Zach squinted at him. "You've definitely changed."
"For better or worse?"
"I don't know yet. See ya."
"See ya."
He left the store, and Stu returned to what he was doing -- replacing a broken laptop screen. Phil had given him his old job back, at the computer repair place, and over the last few weeks he had slowly gone back his usual routine. He fixed computers, he played video games, he watched TV. Sleeping in his own bed, eating his favorite foods, seeing his parents again, and living in a world where zombies only existed in fiction, was like a dream come true.
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His experiences in the zombie-world had changed him, though, and he wasn't surprised that Zach had picked up on it. He knew now that there were other worlds -- worlds with aliens, and monsters, and weird technologies, and with their own unique histories. He knew that it was possible to reach these other worlds. He knew what it was like to have an alien living in his brain, and he knew what it was like to have superhuman powers. All this knowledge had given him an entirely new outlook.
But it wasn't just that. His adventures in the zombie-world had expanded his horizons, and after so many close calls, narrow escapes, and near-death experiences there, his old life now seemed...well, sort of lacking. He wanted to get more out of life, he realized -- he wanted to do more things, try more things. He wanted to improve himself. He was thinking about traveling. And he was toying with the idea of becoming a volunteer firefighter, like Phil. Stu had discovered that he liked helping people, and he thought this might be a worthwhile way to do that.
He had just finished replacing the screen, and turned the laptop on to test it, when he heard the bell over the door. A customer. He looked up...and started.
The customer was a young woman, with dark hair and dark eyes. He recognized her instantly. It was Luna.
But she seemed not to recognize him. "I have a question about my computer," she said, approaching the counter.
Stu stared. The woman looked exactly like Luna, but was it really her? No, it couldn't be. Luna was lost to him; he would never see her again.
Could this be Luna's counterpart, then? The version of Luna who was native to this world? That they might cross paths like this was incredibly unlikely, but...
Stu found himself unable to take his eyes off her.
"Is something wrong?" she asked him.
"No, not at all," he managed. "A question about your computer, huh? Well, maybe I can help. Do you mind if I ask your name?"
A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. "You know my name."
He blinked. "L-Luna?"
"Sorry," she laughed. "I thought it might be fun to keep you guessing. Surprised to see me?"
"Is it really you?" He resisted the urge to throw himself over the counter and embrace her. "How did you get here? And what are you doing here?"
"I missed you," she said simply. "More than I thought I would." Her smile was dazzling. "Does your offer still stand?"
He was so shocked by her unexpected appearance that it took him a moment to reply. "My offer?"
"You said you wanted to show your world to me." She spread her hands. "Well, here I am."
"Here you are," he agreed. He picked up his phone and called his boss. "Hey, Phil, it's Stu. Listen...would it be okay if I took the rest of the afternoon off?"