A/N: I started writing this a while back for a contest, but I didn't finish it in time because I lost the will to continue writing it. This was supposed to be for a Winter Fanfiction contest at Chrono Compendium dot com. The theme was dreams, and this story was loosely based on a dream I had about the untold future of the Chrono Trigger characters.

I might come back to finish it someday, but right now it's stuck where it ends here. Incomplete. Still, I hope you find something you like about it.

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Tick, Tock

He had supposed the dinner might mean trouble. Perhaps he did something wrong. Maybe the king was finally reaching out to him. Crono didn't have a clue of what was in store when he went to the Guardia Castle to have dinner privately with the King. There were many things he could say, but the last one he would expect would have been…

"…Crono, it has been 5 years since I have met you… and I have never really expressed to you how thankful I am that my daughter met you."

King Guardia the thirty-third gazed at the young red-haired man in his formal white clothing across the dining table. Crono sat there with a dazed look on his face, appearing stupefied.

In the past two years since Crono had married the beautiful Princess Nadia, he had never heard her father utter a word of approval. The nicest thing he ever said was "Take good care of my daughter" at the wedding. Hearing this come from the lips of his father-in-law was… overdue, yes, but nonetheless, a great thing. Crono suddenly found himself smiling happily at the king, wider then he would have thought possible. The king too, smiled, mostly from the funny look on Crono's face.

After a few moments of silence, Crono awkwardly responded.

"Er… Thank you your majesty… sir…" Crono stuttered with a shy look on his face, his eyes suddenly very focused on the half-cleared plate of roast beef and vegetables. He had suddenly forgotten the proper way to address the king.

"No sense in beating around the bush… I'm a straightforward man. You see Crono, I asked you to come here today because I wanted to talk to you about something very important…

Uh oh… Crono felt a sudden sinking in his stomach. Business time with the father-in-law usually was serious… especially if said father-in-law happened to be the king.

"…I'm… getting old. I'm not sure if I can keep the kingdom running in my last few years, so I want to retire and live my last few years without maintaining the burden of the kingdom…"

Crono, who had returned to cutting his steak, suddenly cut too deep and the metal of the knife screeched unpleasantly against the plate. Crono coughed and looked up suddenly, meeting the King's focused gaze. Crono was not a man who was easy to intimidate, but the King certainly had the upper hand here…

"…Sorry sir, I think I heard you improperly. Are you implying…" Crono began. As he spoke, he became aware that he was being somewhat impolite and shyly looked away before finishing his sentence. King Guardia simply smirked slightly; he had to admit to himself that he was impressed slightly with Crono for seeing where this conversation was going.

"Yes, Crono. The time is coming when you and Nadia will need to take over. Not immediately of course… I understand you're a bit behind in royalty training in comparison to my daughter." King Guardia said with a small chuckle, picking up his fork and stabbing a piece of beef with it, lifting it up to his mouth and biting it off.

Crono could hardly believe his own ears.

"Um, sir, I'm not sure if I have what it takes to be a king." Crono expressed honestly. He really wasn't confident in his ability to lead a nation. He knew the responsibility would be immense…

"Crono, I have a hunch you will do fine. Think about it… We both know good and well that the Crono in all the history books was you when you went back in time. I understand that you managed to help save our ancestor, Queen Leene, with the help of your inventor friend and the wielder of the Masamune…" Crono didn't see any reason to correct the King on that… even though Frog didn't wield the Masamune at that time.

"…You saved the Chancellor, eliminated the fiend threat from Truce, held off a massive fiend force at Zenan Bridge, fought and defeated the Fiendlord in combat, and even destroyed an age-old force that was soon to end the world as we knew it. I think you'd be fine as a king." The old man said.

"I know how to fight, and so did my friends. I don't think that it qualifies me to-"
"You also helped our ancestors fight against the rule of the reptites in prehistory. Helped the lost children of the future learn to have hope…" The King continued.

Crono sighed and stared down at his plate… It wasn't that he disliked the idea of being a king. He just really felt that it was not meant for him. Regardless… he needed to do what was necessary. If the king was soon to retire, someone had to take the helm…

"I… I understand then, your majesty. May I have some time to ponder upon this turn of events? Maybe could I talk to Marle about this?"

The King's nose wrinkled at the sound of his daughter's middle name.

"Er… Nadia." Crono clumsily corrected himself.

"I have discussed this with her. She says she won't stay in the castle unless you will, and I know better then to force her into anything when she's at her age… She's not a kid anymore…" The King said sadly.

With that, Crono suddenly moved back his chair and stood, leaving his partially finished meal. He walked next to the king, kneeled humbly, and then turned to go up the stairs, to see his wife. The king seemed to understand.

"Such humility is no longer required, Prince Crono."

Crono smirked awkwardly and scratched his head, then nodded.

"Very well sir."

*****

Crono trudged up the stairs silently. Usually, he would never be at the castle at such a late hour, but he would be a fool to say no to the King inviting him to dinner. Thinking about it made him aware of heat. He suddenly regretted his formal wear – a white outfit similar to what he wore at his wedding. He absentmindedly shook his hands, now sweaty from the earlier encounter.

When Crono told Marle about the king wanting to see him, she seemed to immediately understand that she should stay at home… Crono now understood why.

"Prince Crono… King Crono…? What does that do to the Guardia name? Does that mean I have to change my last name to Guardia? Or will the kingdom receive a new name…?" Crono wondered aloud.

He reached an opening to his left. He walked through and acknowledged the blue armor-clad guards on both sides of him with a friendly nod for each. Both of them kneeled simultaneously at this gesture... Crono found the formality sickening. He had never understood what the big deal was back when Marle would complain about it… A few years of people addressing you like royalty was enough to make him thoroughly tired of it, though. He reached the end of the hall, turned to the staircase, and then to the main entrance, and walked out of the castle.

A small gust of cool night wind soothed the tense heat he felt in the stiff palace. The clearing in front of the castle decorated in a few places with boulders and smaller plants looked boring during the day, but it made great training ground for soldiers, as did the nearby forest. In the moonlight, the clearing had a sort of ethereal, otherworldly feel to it.

Outside, a lone guard stood carrying a sheathed katana in his hand. He immediately noticed Crono.

"Hey Crono!" The guard called, waving enthusiastically, jumping up to make sure Crono saw him. A tuft of orange hair was visible poking out the front of his helmet.

Crono smiled and waved back, then jogged down the stairway to the guard in the clearing before the forest.

"Hey Fritz. How's the night shift treating you?" Crono asked cheerfully. He always liked Fritz, since he first met the kid.

"Makes me miss being a merchant!" The young boy clad in armor said with a small sigh, shrugging his shoulders. His smile did not fade, though.

Crono looked at the katana in his hand, and grinned sheepishly.

"Did you take good care of my baby?" Crono asked with a light smirk.

"Yes-sir! I polished the sheath too… hope you don't mind. Gets pretty boring during this whole era of peace we've got goin'." Fritz said with an attempt at soundly joking, but deep down he and Crono knew it was true.

" I can't believe how LIGHT it is!" Fritz continued, handing the sheathed blade to Crono, who accepted his blade delicately.

"What I'd give for a REAL sword to use. This short blade they gave me is only good for scaring away little kids, pretty much." Fritz chatted.

"I know… sorry Fritz. I'd let you try it out, I just feel uncomfortable with it being used by someone else. It's nothing against you." Crono explained apologetically. Fritz smirked.

"Don't worry 'bout it man." Fritz said. That's why Crono liked Fritz. Fritz never held anything against him. It probably had something to do with Fritz owing Crono his life for the incident five years ago… Crono remembered his jailbreak rather clearly. It was a very strange point in his life. Poor Fritz, unfairly charged with thievery of royal relics, and sent to the guillotine by the cruel chancellor… Crono then remembered slaying that chancellor with Marle and Lucca, in his true form… a large blue-furred pig-looking creature with six claws. His brief flashback was interrupted by Fritz.

"So… can I see the sword? I just want to see the blade… you haven't showed us what it looks like yet." Fritz asked, clasping his hands together with a pleading look.

Crono smirked, then pulled the blade an inch out. A flash of a pink glow showed from the sheath.

"Woah…" Fritz said. The wonder in his face changed into annoyance when Crono lowered the blade back into it's sheathe.

"You got your wish!" Crono said teasingly.

Fritz opened his mouth to protest, but before a syllable could be uttered, Crono suddenly drew the blade faster then lightning and made what appeared to be a single stroke with the blade in a fraction of a second. About twenty yards away, a boulder suddenly popped open, the upper half shooting up two feet and landing symmetrical to its remaining bottom half next to it. Fritz stared awestruck at the boulder. The click of the blade being returned to its sheathe brought him out of his stupor.

"…Holy sh…" Fritz began, but stopped at Crono's expression. Crono looked about as amazed as Fritz did.

"How did you DO that man?!" Fritz suddenly exclaimed, waving his hands at the remains of the boulder.

"A great deal of practice… and a few trips through time." Crono said simply, with a smug smile.

"I'm surprised I can still do it. I haven't tried actually cutting something in a while. I figured being so lazy lately would slow me down." Crono explained.

"So that's the cutting power of the legendary Dreamseeker…" Fritz said.

"The full cutting power is more impressive." Crono said, without explaining it to Fritz. When Crono got that sword, he tested it against the blade he used against Lavos in his second battle against him… the one he survived in. The blade he used at that time was the Rainbow, forged from the Rainbow Shell that they found in 600 A.D. The Dreamseeker sliced clean through the Rainbow…

Crono didn't even want to know what his blade would do to the Masamune.

Crono then turned to the forest… he remembered that he had a wife expecting him home soon. Sure, he was early, but this was the longest he'd gone without seeing his wife in a long while.

"Well, I gotta run. See you around Fritz!" Crono said, turning to Fritz again with a wave and a smile. Fritz nodded and waved.

"See ya around Crono. Stay sharp man!" Fritz said.

Crono was almost to the first trees, when he heard Fritz call to him as he walked away.

"Hey, Crono! Uhm… could you maybe teach me some sword tricks sometime?" Fritz asked, his hands cupped at the sides of his mouth hoping to sound louder.

Crono turned back, at the beginning of the forest path.

"We'll see Fritz!" He replied loudly, with a grin.

*****

The trek through the forest was uneventful. The meager creatures that inhabited the forest stopped getting in the path a long time ago, mainly because Crono and his friends had always killed the damn things. He silently walked along the path out of the forest, and gazed up at the night sky, eyeing the two moons.

"Wonder how all the others are… were… will be doing." Crono said to himself. He thought of Glenn, the new knight of Guardia, now a great hero with many a story written about him, some of them closer to the truth then others. He remembered sparring with the amphibious swordsman back in the older days. His old blade, the Masamune, rested in the Guardia treasury now… Crono never touched it. The blade was meant for two hands, and was very heavy, but Crono would have still been able to wield it. It just didn't seem right. He didn't like the idea of using his old friend's blade. He remembered what Glenn –back then, Frog- always said.

"Crono… you have the potential to be a great swordsman."

"You always were better at it then I was, Frog." Crono whispered to the clean, night air.

His walk reached his end near Leene Square, at the corner of a small forest where three houses sat. The middle house was his mothers; the left was an old neighbor's, now vacant since said neighbor moved to Porre. The one on the right was his and Marle's, purchased mostly with cash earned on their journey through time, though they were fresh out of it and had since then spent a great deal of money borrowed from the King to maintain it. It was a small little house, with two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a living room, identical to his mother's house. He kicked his muddy boots off at the doorway and walked into the house.

As he walked in, the first thing that happened was something impacted into his chest, then he fell backwards and hit his head on the door.

"Ow…" He said. The object that crashed into him, however, did not notice.

Marle wasn't wearing her hair in a ponytail. Her blonde hair was straight and fell around her gracefully. She was dressed in her favorite white blouse and white pants. She and Crono matched today.

"So Crono, what did you say? Will you do it? Huh?" Marle's questioning began. She had a bright smile on her face, but then it faded as she realized that she kind of hurt her husband.

"Oh jeez… I'm sorry Crono, here, let me heal you!" Marle said, pulling herself and Crono up, then clapping her hands together and closing her eyes to mutter some words.

"Eh, that won't be necessary Marle." Crono said.

Marle stopped mid incantation and opened one eye.

"You sure Crono?" She asked.

"Yeah, a bump on the head isn't gunna do me in." Crono said with a smirk. Marle then resumed her questioning.

"So, did he tell you about it? Did you say yes?" She asked excitedly.

Crono nodded his head to the first, then held a finger up.

"I said I wanted to talk to you about it first. What do you want to do?" Crono asked.

Marle smiled beautifully, making Crono feel a little lightheaded. He loved it when she was so joyful…

"I told him you'd want my opinion. Well, I honestly don't care what we do, as long as I have you around Crono." Marle said, placing her hands on Crono's shoulders, leaning upward to his face on her tip-toes.

Crono wrapped his arms around her to support her, and leaned down and kissed her quickly.

"Well, right now, I'm not sure what I want to do." Crono said with a shrug. Marle smirked slyly and once again leaned towards him.

"Well he have time to think about it hun. I missed you this evening." She said, grabbing Crono's hand and pushing him against the now closed door with her other hand on his chest.

"I missed you too pretty girl." Crono said with a silly sideways grin.

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A/N: I'm sorry it cuts off there! I had a whole part typed up for what happens after, but I hated it and got rid of it because it was not even close to quality work and the story felt forced from there.

The story may or may not continue. Still, I could use any pointers you may have on my writing style. A little encouragement might help me finish it sometime :)

Thank you for reading!

-tt