Chapter 1: Making Plans

Disclaimer: I do not own the Mother/Earthbound series.

"It's a good bet that we will see each other again," said a certain boy who resembled a pig in both appearance and mannerism, "all right! I'll be seeing you!" The pig like boy peered through the cockpit of his arachnid-like contraption and looked at our hero Ness and his friends as if he were taking in their faces for the first time. The boy, whose name was Pokey, raved at Ness with a renewed frantic energy, "so now which one of us do you think is the cool guy?!" Before Ness could respond, Pokey disappeared in a vermillion flash.

That was five weeks ago, when Ness and his three friends Paula, Jeff and Poo vanquished the villain Giygas and saved the world. Nobody except a small handful of people knew of the great struggle that Ness, Paula, Jeff and Poo endured to ensure a brighter future for the human race.

Now, Ness was at school, learning and playing, much like other children his age. Instead of receiving a hero's welcome, he was greeted with piles of homework, which numbered in the hundreds, as far as Ness could tell.

Ness never truly liked school. After his adventure, he found school to be more of a place that clamped down in a death grip upon his prostrate freedom. Ness had tasted the ambrosia of the world that waited for him outside of Onett, and he wanted to drink more deeply out of the cup. Coupled with the fact that his adventure wizened him, the purpose school had become lessened in Ness's mind because he knew everything that the teachers tried to teach the students. Ness began to take to the realm of imagination and daydreaming to occupy himself. He often revisited the memories he created during his adventure. He was fond of remembering his friends Jeff, Poo and especially Paula.

One night, Ness went to his room, tired and bored with the trite tasks school assigned him. His mother walked through the doorframe leading into his room. Ness clambered into his bed. His mother gave him a warm hug as Ness sat propped up by the pillow in his bed.

"Good night, Ness," his mother said, giving him a gentle kiss on his forehead.

"Good night, mom," Ness responded.

His mother left the room, and Ness was eager to let the comfort of dreams and sleep takes him in an embrace of their own. When he finally was asleep, he awoke in an odd place. He was on a desolate landscape. Nothingness spread as far as Ness's eye could perceive. Ness looked up at the sky. There appeared to be no sky. It was as white as snow, complimenting the ground's look and texture. A soft gale blew into Ness's face and his eyes watered.

"Ness?" Ness had heard a female voice call out to him in the wind.

"Who's there?" Ness spoke into the void.

"You don't remember?" The voice began to sound so familiar to him. Ness remembered that the voice held so much importance to him. It reminded him of a name. But what name? It was on the tip of his tongue, so close to his heart.

"P…Pa…" Ness started, forming his words cautiously.

"Almost there, Ness."

"Pa...Pau…"

"Yes? Say it. C'mon, you know you want to say it."

"Lawrence." Ness finished.

"LAWRENCE?! WHO'S THIS LAWRENCE PERSON?!"

"Nah," said Ness, "I'm just pulling your leg, Paula."

Suddenly, the gale blew harder and faster, as if late to deliver some important news or cargo. He saw a form. The form was that of a little girl. Her skin was fair, her hair was blonde, and was adorned with two red bows. She sported light pink dress, and took a nice pose with her hands stationed at her sides.

"Phew! I thought you were seeing a girl named Lawrence. Err, I mean, I thought you forgot my name. Hi, Ness," Paula said, "it's so nice to see you again."

"Nice to see you too," said Ness. "How are things at Twoson?"

"Alright. My dad is still as protective of me, as ever."

"How are Jeff and Poo?"

"I don't know. I don't see them often."

"So, how come you called me through my dream?"

"Can't I say hello to my friend?" Replied Paula."I missed you, Ness. Everything became boring when we defeated Giygas."

Ness tried to hide his face, which was colored in cherry red. "Really?" Ness asked while hiding his blushing face.

"Really," answered Paula, "but I also have something to ask you."

"Fire away."

"Well, you know that summer vacation is coming up, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I was thinking…maybe we should go on a trip when vacation starts."

Ness became excited. His five weeks of school was the perfect incubator for wanderlust, and it shown now.

"Great!" Exclaimed Ness. "We can invite Jeff and Poo, too!"

Paula tried to hide her small disappointment at Ness's statement. It would be absurd to say Paula held some measure of disdain for Jeff and Poo. It was just that Paula was hoping that Ness and she would embark on their trip together and alone. It would've been the perfect opportunity to tell Ness of her affections for him.

"Sure," Paula said. "I'll tell Jeff and Poo about the trip."

"Great," responded Ness. "So I'll see you all on the last day of school?"

"Yep," said Paula.

Soon, Paula disappeared into the ethereal horizon. Ness thought he caught the hunger inducing smell of freshly cooked, well done steak. Then, the dream seemed to shudder and groan as if the place grew ill. Then Ness felt himself float away in the invisible landscape.

When Ness awoke, he became aware of too many experiences; the tightness of the sheets that wrapped his body in a small cocoon, the brightness of the light in his room, the wet beads of sweat that slide down his face in rivers.

"Wake up Ness," his mother called from downstairs. Ness groaned. It was too hot to go outside today. He slipped out of his PJs and into his usual attire: a striped shirt, some short jeans and a red baseball cap.

"Wake up, or you'll miss the last day of school." Excitement welled up in Ness. He grabbed his backpack and headed to school with renewed energy.