THE MOMENT
"Surprising maybe, but I wouldn't call it weird," Della laughed. She was having the time of her life and it was a very welcome change of pace. She'd been lost in the multiverse for year. She lost hope over time, and it seemed like the worse she felt, the universe wanted to show her how much worse it could be. Each world she visited got bleaker than the last, then scarier. Then, she gave up completely and saw sunlight again on the very next Earth. And now, she was confident she was in love. "Roller derby with ninjas and wizards sounds pretty exciting, but why do you keep asking me if something's weird?"
She was touring downtown with the most handsome gentleman she'd ever seen, and it was a beautifully sunny day. They'd passed an electronics store showing a roller derby match when he asked her about it.
"You're from a different universe," Albert shrugged with a smile. "I'm just trying to get a baseline, is all. The last thing I need is a misunderstanding over something I think is innocuous, like bringing you flowers,..." he smirked. "...or surprising you with an anniversary tarantula."
"That's not a real thing...," she narrowed her eyes at him. She wasn't entirely sure he was kidding; but, she felt like she'd known him her whole life. They'd only met the previous day, and he quickly gave her a sense of safety.
"Guess you'll have to stick around a year to find out," Albert winked.
"Or I could come back, now that I know how to control it," she added with a deliberate squeeze of his hand. She was still thanking him for everything she'd learned about herself. He was the first person she met on this new Earth; she almost literally fell into his lap when she landed.
There was no way to hide that she'd come from 'nowhere', and he quickly asked her if she came from an alternate universe. When she finally admitted to it, he led her to a company named Sharp Development, and they explained she was the one taking herself between universes. She was something known as a Unique Soul, and Traversing realities was one of her core powers.
"You know what pizza is, right?" Albert asked as he came to a stop in front of a familiar-looking pizzeria. She'd never visited it, but it looked like most other shops she knew. "Flat with red sauce, cheese, and meat?" he asked as he let go of her hand to mime out a large round pizza.
"Oh yeah! I love Mexican food; but, on my Earth we called them tacos," she replied with the same smirk he'd used earlier.
"Oh, then you probably won't like pizza," Albert nodded with a solemn expression and took her hand to lead her away.
"Stop, you knew I was joking," she said as she pulled him back. "Right?" she briefly doubted her ability to read him.
"Yeah," he nodded with a grin as he opened the door for her. She walked in with him close behind. Except, she looked at the menu board and immediately spun around to push him back through the door before he made it in all the way.
"Yes?" He asked with a confused smile. She wasn't smiling, and instead looked concerned.
"You didn't set this up, right? This is a real, normal restaurant on your Earth and not a prank?" she asked.
"Are you sure you know what pizza is?" he asked as he nodded. "I didn't set up anything, that's a normal restaurant."
"Yes," Della sighed. "I know what pizza is... but oh my god, your Earth is so weird!"
"You're serious?" Albert asked. In a way, he was glad he finally found the edges of what was familiar to her. But he still didn't know what that was.
"Yes!" she said. She turned to look into the restaurant. There were plenty of people there. It was 'normal' to their Earth. "It's a good thing I really like you...," she said as she reached for his hand again and stared into his eyes. "Your Earth is wildly weird, and I'm kind of worried about what else I'll discover... but, if you're with me I'm game," she said.
"I don't know what you discovered this time?" he asked as he smiled at her.
"We'll need to cover a lot of history, I need to know how this horrible reality came to be...," she said as she looked up into his eyes. "What kind of demented individual even conceived the idea of pineapple on pizza?"