So for those of you who were following the original version of this story, it's finally here! She Cares Mark 2! And only six months after promised!
For those of you who are new readers, allow me to explain the background to this a little. This is going to be AU as per some of the stuff I just found out online, but I really always thought it was kind of odd the way Gwen and Kevin were already fairly comfortable around each other in Ben 10 Returns, so I came up with a bit of a backstory to try and explain the events. This story is very loosely based off the song "She Cares" by Styx, so if you've never heard it, I seriously recommend it. It really fits Kevin and Gwen well, I think. Anyway, enjoy!
Disclaimer: If I owned Ben 10, Kevin and Gwen would have kissed by now.
I had that dream again.
It always started out the same way, just exactly like any of my dreams did. Nothing but flashes of color rising forth out of the darkness to disturb my otherwise peaceful sleep. But then the colors began to take form, just as they always did, just as they always had to, and as colors became shapes, I found myself in the Null Void.
Two years. It had been two years since I'd even been in the Null Void last, that summer with Grandpa when Ben just had to pick up the stupid watch and launch us into all this trouble. Yet somehow, every detail had etched itself into my brain in perfect clarity. It was all there, every detail, every fiber, every foul creature I'd had the misfortune to encounter. If I was perfectly honest, one foul creature stood out to me in particular, but I wasn't about to admit that to anyone. Even the portal was exact, crackling just the way it always had as I fought my way toward it.
I was not alone, of course, as I shot toward the violently hissing sphere of light that was my only ticket out of this living hell. I was never alone in these dreams, and it was the one thing that confused me above all else. It wasn't the fact I had a companion that confused me, though. It was the companion himself that threw me off. For the person- or rather, creature- with me was none other than the foul inhabitant of the Null Void I remembered the best, a rather horrifying amalgam of creatures straight from Ben's omnitrix.
This was one of those dreams where you watched yourself from above, as if you were just some bystander and not the person fighting for their life, and that was one of the things that always confused me. The version of me I could see from above had grown with me, the awkward little ten-year-old I had been on my last visit to the Null Void having been replaced by my twelve-year-old self, complete with the curls I'd begun to wear in my hair. But my mutated companion hadn't changed a bit from the last time I'd seen him. There was probably a logical explanation to this, of course- I probably just couldn't imagine him any older, since I didn't know a thing about alien aging- but that didn't make it any less frustrating.
But it was the next part of the dream that always concerned me the most. I would always make it back to the portal just in the nick of time, launching myself through it.
The dream changed again, and suddenly the mutant was in human form, smiling at me as if I'd been his best friend for years- which, of course, I hadn't. The mutant-turned-freak opened his mouth to speak-
And I woke up.
With a sigh, I turned on the light on my bookshelf. I wasn't even going to try and get back to sleep at this point- I knew from experience I was doomed to lie in bed awake for hours either way, so why bother? I might as well try and do something constructive. Like try and figure out why I was having this dream.
It wasn't in the least bit logical. Sure, the Null Void was a pretty scary place, and I was bound to have the occasional nightmare about it, but why was it the one event of that summer that kept replaying in my mind? I'd seen plenty of other scary stuff, so why did this stand out? Especially now, two whole years after it had all happened?
And why Kevin? I'd met plenty of new people that summer, so why was my subconscious singling out Kevin? He certainly wasn't the nicest person I'd met. He was nothing but a thief and a crook, and besides, I didn't particularly enjoy being kidnapped. Needless to say, there was no love lost between me and Kevin, and I couldn't think of one reason I would help him out of the Null Void. That was probably completely against some galactic law.
So what was the deal here? Usually when I had recurring dreams like this, they would be trying to tell me something, so what was it this time? Was there some reason I was supposed to help Kevin escape?
And if, by some trick of fate, that was what I was supposed to do, what of the part where he was human again? Was I supposed to do that, too? How? I wondered if it had something to do with my magic. I'd gotten much better at it, after all, watching it turn from the baby blue it had once been to a deep indigo. I could do all kinds of things now, like put up weak shields and sometimes even make magical stairs. I'd even managed to cast a few spells without talking before. Could I change Kevin back, too?
What if I did, though? What would Kevin be like? Would he still be the petty criminal he had been two years ago, or would he have changed? I wasn't sure if it was worth the risk. It wasn't worth the risk, if I factored in the dangers of the Null Void and the possibly breaking the law and the not having any valid reason to do this.
One thing was for sure, though- this dream wasn't going to leave me alone until I did something about it. And what could be so wrong about helping Kevin out? After all, it kind of was our fault he was in there in the first place, and I couldn't be breaking any really major law if they made portable Null Void projectors like the one Grandpa Max had. Kevin might have changed, too. At any rate, I doubted he would be such a hothead about trying to get himself in trouble after having to survive all that. Besides, if he hadn't changed, I could probably change him myself. I was planning on changing him back to normal physically, why couldn't I do it emotionally as well?
Well, that was it, then. I was going to do it. Just to stop my dreams, of course. But I wouldn't be able to do it without work. And I had a plan. Step one- visit Grandpa Max. There was a Null Void projector I had to borrow, and this Saturday was the day to do it.
I turned my bedside lamp off, and rolled back over to go to sleep. Planning a jailbreak, I thought as I drifted off to sleep. This could be fun.
Ta-da! Chapter 1! I hope you enjoyed it, everyone! I'll try and get chapter 2 up soon, I promise. For now, tell me what you think!
~M4