Author's note – I'm not particularly sure where this is set. It could be some time into the future of post-Episode III, or it could be kind of an AU. I'll leave it up to you to decide. Also, know that both Jr. and MOMO are in their adult forms in this fic, though MOMO will only be spoken about and not making an actual appearance…
Gaignun Kukai, Jr. closed the front door behind him, shaking his head as he did so. Dammit, what's walking out on her going to accomplish? All it's gonna do is leave a mess for me to come back to. He began walking purposefully away from the house but stopped when he reached the end of the small walk. I can't deal with it right now. Maybe a walk will help to clear my damn head. I just need a break from it for a while. He took a deep breath and continued on, no true idea of where he was going in his head.
After some amount of wandering, he happened upon the small park that had been built only a few months ago. "Ah, why the hell not? It's not like anyone's around to see me hanging out at the kiddy park. It's too damn bad I finally grew up. If I hadn't, no one would even wonder about me being here, anyway. Okay, quit the damn talking to yourself!" He dropped heavily into one of the gently swaying swings and heard it creak noisily. "Whoops, still managed to forget I'm a helluva lot heavier than I used to be…" He hooked his arms around the chains of the swing and lowered his head, trying to ignore the inner voice telling him he needed to think about what had just happened at the house.
A soft exclamation of surprise had him looking up and drawing his eyebrows together. He watched the brunette stride forward, her emerald eyes alight with delight. "I wasn't expecting to run into anyone here, let alone you! You may have changed, but I'd still know you anywhere!" She dropped into the swing next to him and smiled at him. "How have you been, Jr.? It's been a long time since we've seen one another."
"Damn, Shion, it's really good to see you," he said with a grin. "I sure as hell wasn't expecting to run into you, either. What brings you to this neck of the woods, anyway?" He was shocked to see her eyes start to glisten suspiciously before she turned her head away. "Was that the wrong thing to say?"
"No, it's not your fault, Jr.," she said as she lifted her hand to cover her eyes briefly. "I came out here to think some things over, honestly." She dug her toes into the dirt to give the swing momentum, and Jr. simply watched her for a minute as she swung next to him.
"It's kind of funny that you said that, since it's the same damn reason I came out here," he said finally. "Though I'm wandering a lot closer to home than you are. I mean, you're pretty far outta the way, Shion. Your house is clear across town."
"I know," she answered morosely. "It's why we don't get to see everyone as much as I want to. So what do you need to think over, anyway?" The question was obviously designed to put the focus on him, and he allowed her to do it. He knew Shion well enough to say that she'd get around to her reason for coming to the park in her own time.
"Me and MOMO," he replied, heaving a sigh. "Things were great when we first got together, but they've been going downhill for a while. I don't know what the hell to do. I really care about her, and I don't want to break her heart." He fell silent, and Shion brought her swing to a halt to lay a hand on his arm.
"Want to talk about it? Tell me what's been going on? I've gotten better at listening," she told him quietly.
"Hey, I'd be nuts to say no to a friendly ear," he said with a quick laugh. "Where do I start? Might as well go back to beginning and work my way from there, right?" She gave him a nod. Glancing at her, he saw how much she'd changed over the time since they'd last seen each other. She'd changed her hairstyle, preferring to wear it longer than she had before. Her sense of style had become less outrageous, as evidenced by the lack of skin she was showing in the pantsuit she was wearing. He found himself regretting that small change, though he'd never admit it aloud. Dragging his attention back, he bit his lip. "You remember how happy me and MOMO were, don't you? She didn't think I could feel that way about her after all the stuff with me and Sakura got revealed, but I ended up caring for her in a way Sakura didn't ask me to."
"Yes, I remember. She was all lit up when you told her how you felt, and I was so happy for the both of you. What happened?" Shion asked, her eyes wide.
"I'm not even sure when the hell it all started to get messed up, but I guess you can say there were signs right from the start. I know they say opposites attract and all that crap, and it's true. You know as well as I do that MOMO and I aren't a lot alike in the way we view stuff, but I wanted to make her happy. I think I did for a while, but then things changed. She was afraid of getting me angry, so she'd avoid a lot of issues to keep it from happening. Like the reason I left the house today. She started out being pretty damn tough with me, which shocked the hell out of me. She told me she wants kids, Shion, and I'm not ready yet. If I'm honest, I don't think we're ready for them, or that we're ever gonna be. So I told her straight-up that I really didn't think it was the time to be discussing kids when we weren't even getting along all that good. She told me she wanted a family, and my voice got a little loud when I answered her that it wasn't happening at that point. She got all quiet and folded her hands in front of her, and I could see in her eyes that she was afraid because I'd gotten louder. Stuff like that is driving me crazy." Jr. got to his feet, and he began pacing before the swing set.
Shion said softly, "I don't think that's all, though. I can just look at you and see how tense you are, Jr. What else has been going on that has you like this? I've got plenty of time to listen."
He sighed and took a seat on the bench that sat across from the swings. She stood up, hearing the swing snap back behind her, and made her way over to him. She sat down beside him, and he sent her a reluctant smile. "I didn't think I'd ever be talking about this to anyone, and I sure as hell didn't think I'd be talking about it with you. No offense or anything."
She smiled back at him gently. "None taken. Still, we both know what it's like to keep things inside us, right? Has it ever done us any good? So, how about we talk your problems with MOMO out, and then I promise to tell you what's been going on with me and Allen."
He shot her a quick look of surprise, but he kept his curiosity contained for the time being. "Fine, you've got a deal. Anyway, I get the feeling a lot of the time that my personality is way too strong for her. I kind of feel like I'm walking all over her. If I want something, and she doesn't, I still end up with it because she won't tell me no. I can see she's thinking it, but it goes hand in hand with how she seems afraid of getting me mad. She'd rather give in and let me have my way to avoid an argument. I don't want her to think she needs to tread so damn carefully around me, but I can't even get her to talk about it. How the hell can our relationship move forward if we can't talk about the problems we're having now?" He cursed and dropped his head to his hands.
"Oh, Jr., I'm sorry things have degenerated so badly between you and MOMO. Do you think there's any way to fix what's going wrong?" Shion asked, her green eyes sympathetic.
"I don't know," he replied with a shake of his head. "It ain't gonna be easy, especially since I let it get that bad to begin with. Now, we made a deal, so it's your turn to spill. What the hell brought you here of all damn places?"
She turned sideways to bring her feet up on the bench and curl her knees in toward her chest. With the professional image she presented in the pantsuit, it was odd to see her in what amounted to a child's position. "It seems we're having similar problems, Jr. I might not be experiencing exactly the same issues with Allen that you are with MOMO, but I guess you can say I'm paralleling you." She rested her forehead against her knees briefly before her emerald eyes met his sapphire ones. "Allen doesn't trust me. After everything that's happened, I can't say I really blame him. It still hurts, though."
"What do you mean? You two have been together for longer than me and MOMO have. How can he not trust you after all that damn time?" Jr. demanded.
"Because he's got a wall surrounding him, Jr., when it comes to me. It's probably because he doesn't know if he can trust why I'm with him. I've tried talking to him about it, but he insists everything is fine and that I'm worrying over something silly. If I try to bring up Kevin and that I've moved past him, his smile gets too bright and he just tells me he already knows. I know he's lying, because he makes it obvious. And the two of us are just so different in how we approach everything. He takes the slow and careful route, and I just want to charge in and get it over with. We can't seem to meet in the middle," she said, lowering her head to her knees again.
"You sure you can't get him to talk about it? I mean…damn, Shion, he's loved you for freakin' as long as I've known him!" he exclaimed, lost as to why Shion was in the situation she was in.
"Maybe it's not even him," she said slowly, raising her head. "Or not totally him, anyway. We all know how afraid of true commitment I am. He asked me to marry him, you know…"
Jr. stared at her. "And what the hell was your answer?"
"I couldn't give him one," she whispered. "I didn't know what I really wanted. A part of me wanted to say yes, but then this really scared part of me told me I wasn't ready. If I can't get him to truly trust me and my reasons for being with him, it doesn't make much sense to get married. Does it?"
"Shit, I'm not the best one to ask, Shion," Jr. said, rubbing at his temples. "Yeah, me and MOMO ended up getting married, but it sure as hell ain't working out. In the end, the only one who knows what's right for you…is you."
"So then do you think you're going to tell MOMO it's over?" she asked him quietly.
"I don't think I have a choice. I'm not making her happy, and I know it. There's too much damn crap that we can't seem to work past. And I care about her too much to just let her stay in a marriage that isn't doing a damn thing for her. It's going to hurt her, and I know that, but we'll be better off in the long run. It's just gonna be freakin' hard as hell to actually tell her." Sadness shone for an instant on his face before he focused his attention on her. "And what about you? You going to try and work things out with Allen? Sounds to me like you've got a better chance since it's not your personalities butting heads. You two just need to have a long talk about how you both feel, right?"
"I'm going to go back home and try, Jr. I don't want to just throw away what we've gained so far. I love him, and I want to see if it can work." She unfolded from her position and sat up straight. "While I'm sad to hear you don't think it can work with MOMO, I know you need to do what's best for both of you. I'm glad we had this talk, since it really helped to clear my head on some things. Thanks, Jr." She leaned over to hug him, and he returned the hug affectionately.
"Hey, what do you think friends are for?" he said lightly. "And thanks for letting me sound off about my problems. Now, we both better get back and do what we need to do, huh?" They both got to their feet and headed out of the park, parting ways at the entrance with one last friendly hug. Jr. made his way slowly back toward the house he shared with MOMO, standing outside the closed door for a few minutes. Well, if I'm gonna tell her, now's the time to do it. Here's hoping Shion can do what I couldn't, and that's actually make a relationship work. He opened the door and stepped inside to face what needed to be done, though he did so with a heavy heart.
Author's note 2 – So the idea behind this fic is simple – to show that two popular pairings, AllenxShion and, most especially, Jr.xMOMO, wouldn't be as cute and fluffy as they're made out to be. I think both would have some serious issues to work through, and that's why this story was born. Sorry if I offended any who like either or both pairings, but it's my view on them and I'm sticking to it! Constructive criticism welcomed, but any flames due to the viewpoint in this fic will be ignored. Thanks for reading!
