It had been a full twenty-four hours since everything had happened. Mona Lisa was sleeping on a sleeping bag in her room. She had to be tired, thought Kate. It had been a busy day for her, being real and all.
After coming back from the ride, they had a girls' night. Kate gave Mona Lisa a manicure and did her nails. Then, she taught Lisa how to do the same for her. She braided Mona Lisa's hair and had her try on her jewelry. And before they went to bed they gave themselves facials. Lisa laughed so hard when she saw her face in the mirror. "You do this to look pretty?" She asked, looking at the green cream that masked her face.
Kate had no explanation. She laughed with Lisa.
"I wish you could see my old life. It is much more proper. Not as much fun. You could probably teach the other people things," said Mona Lisa.
"I am not sure I would want to go back 500 years. They would probably think that I am crazy!" Kate said.
Mona Lisa smiled. "You are probably right," she said.
She thought of all the events of the past day and decided that maybe none of the paintings would work. Maybe she needed to create a painting that wasn't just about a grade. She needed to paint from the heart.
She told Gina and Will about it that morning and they all agreed it was a good idea.
"Hey, it is worth a try," said Gina.
So, Kate painted her very best. She her heart into it, and it showed.
When done, she knew it was the very best work she had done.
"The background reminds me of your home, Kate," noted Mona Lisa, pointing to the details.
"Yes, it is home," she said, picturing the nature she knew so well. It matched her picture perfectly. In the foreground were The Thinker, The Scream, and Mona Lisa.
"Do we cut it," interrupted Gina. She was holding a big scissors in her hand.
Kate became suddenly protective of her work. "No, not now. It isn't ready."
"I thought you wanted to use it to return the paintings to where they came from. Now, you don't want to do it?" Gina sounded annoyed. Kate didn't blame her but she really didn't understand.
"Leave Kate be," said Mona Lisa. "She has worked really hard."
Mona Lisa fingered the necklace that Kate gave her, a genuine pearl on a chain that her grandmother got her when she turned ten. "Your first double-digit birthday," grandma had said, clasping it around her neck. It was the only really nice jewelry that she had. And Mona Lisa told her that it was better than all the jewels she had owned back in her life. She smiled at Kate. That smile was captured perfectly in Kate's painting.
