Disclaimer: Don't own a thing, except the crazy plot!
A/N: AU. This little idea came to me last year and now is when I'm actually getting around to writing it. I must warn you that I've only watched the movie once, so bear with me. This is what I hoped for Timothy and Joni after a few years apart. Hope you enjoy!
The Odd Life of Joni Jerome
It was said that there would be one hell of a storm that night.
Good, thought Joni. It had been too dry lately in little old Stanleyville.
Sneaking out from home had become second nature to the seventeen-year-old and, with little notice from her father; Joni went into the backyard and hopped over the wooden fence. She proceeded into the nearby forest and completely lost herself within its depths.
Unafraid of the darkness surrounding her, Joni walked on as the last cusps of sunlight vanished from the horizon and was replaced by moonlight.
Sighing, the quiet girl walked on, treading carefully through the woods and avoided low hanging branches and uprooted tree roots. It was a slow journey, this path being denser than others she'd previously taken, but she knew the land well enough and managed to escape the forest's mouth within the hour.
The air was getting heavier and damp; dew sticking to the exposed skin of her arms. It was getting cooler as well, her breath coming out in little puffs before her face. Still, she pressed on.
Having left the forest, Joni emerged to a familiar dirt road that would lead her to her favorite spot in the entire world; her meadow, her sanctuary. The one place she could truly be herself in. All the negativity of other people, the indifference of her family, and the hateful words of fellow peers melted and washed away like frost during springtime whenever she travelled to her little bit of heaven.
She allowed dreams to soar and run wild there, something she refused to permit herself to feel when in the 'real' world. People just didn't understand her or her needs. As time passed and she got older, nothing really changed. They all still thought of her as a weirdo, a 'little trouble-making rebel,' just because she was different from the other kids that graced the fine state of North Carolina.
It was strange to see just how different she was from other kid's her age. She had no friends to speak of, talked less than the deaf-mute students in her one sign language class, and (not to mention) had constant hallucinations of a little boy with green leaves growing from his legs.
Yeah, she was one real piece of work.
She didn't understand why for the past five years she kept daydreaming (sometimes straight up dreaming) about a young boy with messy brown hair, large green eyes, and damn leaves poking out of his knee-high gym socks.
She chucked it up there on her, 'Why-Joni-Jerome-Is-Such-A-Freaking-Weirdo,' list. She was due for a psych analysis any day now.
Besides, the whole black-sheep-of-the-town thing she had going for her wasn't so bad, per say. It left her with plenty of free time, for one, and people usually didn't approach or talk to her. She couldn't even communicate with her own relatives without things becoming awkward after a few minutes or so, where she would then proceed to excuse herself to her room and avoid the world at large.
In all honesty, she was lonely.
Was it sad that the little boy who plagued her dreams was the only good thing in her life right now? She couldn't even remember the last time she laughed, let alone actually felt any form of affection from another human being.
But this boy, this imaginary leaf-boy, he alone made her life tolerable. She longed for the day when she could say goodbye to all of this, to the miserable, little town of Stanleyville and just travel to all the remote locations she had only read about in novels. To be as free as she chose to be and not be so terribly alone anymore.
Maybe...even find love.
Sighing again, Joni began her long hike to her meadow. The walk would take at least another hour, since she had foregone her bike tonight. Undiscouraged and with purpose, the teenager continued the hike to her hideout, passing by the old bridge built over the lazy creek.
By the time she finally reached her secret place, it had begun to lightly drizzle. She hastily made her way over to the large oak tree, standing idly under its heavy canopy.
The wind suddenly picked up and with it came a heavy downpour. Even with the multiple tiny leaves offering her shelter, Joni could still feel drops falling through and waterlogging her clothes.
Lightening cracked across the black sky, followed by a loud clap of thunder. Joni, fascinated by the natural display, took a seat near the oak's base and watched as random streaks of light travelled through thick clouds like veins through a body.
She didn't think too deeply on why she was sitting there to begin with. Why she felt the need to leave the warmth of her home and come here tonight, with a full out storm brewing over her head. She simply observed and allowed herself to be for a while.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, she longed to feel the cool rain on her skin. Before she could even dismiss the thought, she found herself already standing and removing her thin top. It landed wetly on the ground and was followed swiftly by her denim shorts, sneakers and socks.
Joni Jerome- with her dark hair plastered to her back by rainwater and her crystal blue eyes looking into the very heart of the storm in challenge- stood under an oak tree in the middle of a secluded, woodsy clearing in nothing but her wet undergarments and she didn't give a damn.
A sudden sense of freedom enveloped her entire being and she heard a loud, boisterous noise in the air and hadn't realized that it had come from her; a joyful sound having escaped her parted lips unannounced.
She began to laugh; A powerful, uplifting thing that didn't stop as she began to twirl and dance under the oak tree, her lithe body moving to unheard music.
When she felt that she could spin and laugh no more, the tired and drenched girl used her strewn clothes as a makeshift blanket and laid her body over it.
The minute Joni rested her head upon her forearm and closed her eyes; she was dead to the world.
The sweet calling of birds filtered into her head, slowly waking her to the day.
Groaning in discomfort, she realized that she had slept on something hard and wondered what it could have been to put that kink in her neck.
Shifting her body, she was hithered by a weight not her own around her waistline.
Gasping, the girl opened her clear eyes. The first thing she saw was her meadow; beautiful in the glory of the day. The sunlight reflected on every little drop of dew gathered on the grass, remnants of last night's thunderstorm.
The sky which had been a storming indigo the night before was now a peaceful light azure, any traces of erratic weather wiped from its canvas.
Rising into a seated position, Joni looked down at her semi-clothed body. Any lingering cold was replaced by dull warmth. Her skin shown bronze and copper in the light of morning and her long, wild hair had dried overnight, falling in waving curls down her graceful back.
Her blue eyes looked to her side and there she saw a mirage.
Instantly, a shot of memory ran up her spine and entered her still groggy mind. Images, meetings, words spoken that had been forgotten, the face of a ten-year-old boy who had told her he loved her, but had to go; had to leave her behind.
Had to set her free.
She hadn't noticed that she was shaking until she watched her hand tremble as it reached out to touch the illusion with a mind of its own.
She realized that it had been his arm around her waist that had held her down while in sleep. She also realized how close he was to her. The breath leaving the mirage's lips grazed her fingers as she gently touched them to his cheek.
Solid flesh and bone. Not a hallucination.
Joni closed her eyes and took in a long, shallow breath and released it slowly through her mouth. When she opened her eyes again, she took in the features she had not seen in over five years, though they were severely changed.
The little ten-year-old boy with climbing vines on his legs was not so little anymore. When once he was too young, now he was too old; too much.
His earthy, brown hair was long enough to braid and fell messily around his face; the sunlight capturing hints of chestnut in each individual strand. His face was relaxed in sleep, the skin a pale ivory with the exception of freckles along his nose and shoulders. The nose itself was slightly crooked, the brows defined and dark. The lips were rosy and pouting in his sleep.
Where once he had only tiny leaves along his calves, he now had a whole jungle vying to claim his body. His entire frame from the neck down was a work of living art; a masterpiece of wood and plant life. He had various vines, leaves, stems, branches, and exotic flowers growing from different limbs of his body, however, it did not cover him completely like living armor. He did have some pale flesh exposed; mainly around the chest and stomach area.
He was so beautiful.
And naked. Strangely, Joni didn't find any of this uncomfortable. She was literally sitting in a tiny forest clearing in only her lacey underwear and bra with a naked, plant-hybrid man sleeping right beside her and she didn't feel the need to scream and high-tail it out of there. She didn't feel the need to move at all; not even to dress her own nakedness.
For once in her short life, she felt at home.
Joni hadn't realized that her fingers had migrated from his cheek and were now tracing his purely masculine jawline, almost as if in a trance, until a little creeping ivy vine began to wrap around her ring finger.
Instantly stopping her caress, she watched in child-like wonder as the little evergreen brushed against the warm skin of her wrist, exploring and testing the new life coming into contact with it. It was an entity all of its own, having the mobility to move while its host was sleeping and inactive. She was beyond captivated.
Biting at her lower lip, Joni contemplated waking him. Though at ease, she still wondered why he had come back. Why he decided to come to her now and not before.
Why he took away all her memories of him.
Needing answers, but still alittle unsure, she kneeled next to his prone form and gently placed her hand over his shoulder. Coercing him to wake up with a little push, Joni leaned over and whispered in his ear.
"Timothy."
The three syllables of the name she hadn't spoken in so many years tasted like honey on her tongue. The breathy whisper of his given name escaped her lips like a prayer as she sat back on her knees and waited for him to wake.
It didn't take long.
She knew the moment he was awake for an invisible, vibrant energy circled around him that left the little hairs on her forearm standing on end as if shocked by electricity.
The numerous plant life inhibiting his body all began to shift lazily to his wakening. Joni was mesmerized as dozens of colorful daffodils, lilies, daises, roses, gardenias, orchids and so many other flowers that she couldn't possibly name, all began to open as if they too were hibernating in the nighttime.
The heavy perfume of them left her in a state of euphoria; purely feminine and carnal desires began to take root within her very being as they invaded all of her senses.
By the time Timothy Green, the boy of miracles, awakened fully to his first morning on Earth after so many lifetimes, he was roughly and rudely pinned down to the ground by a fierce and aggressive force of nature.
His illuminated, emerald-green eyes widened as he took in the young woman currently straddling his waist.
She was glorious.
Her dark hair fell heavily past her shoulders in soft, curling waves, teasing her lovely dusky skin and off-setting her bright, blue eyes. Her frame was long-limbed and lean, with gently flared hips and high-set breasts encased and hidden within pale, pink lace. Just the sight of her near nudity had him at the very edge of losing his control. He wanted her; badly.
Joni wasn't all quite there when her body decided to make the first move and practically violate the sleeping man. She had perched herself over his deliciously bare abdomen, with her hands finding purchase on his pectoral muscles for balance. She was about to lean in and take his pretty lips by force, when suddenly he shifted and sat upright, taking her along with him.
That cleared her dazed mind instantly.
Ready to bolt, Joni was about to stand and take a couple of steps away from his intoxicating presence when, as if reading her mind, he clamped his heavy arms around her body, forcing her arms to lock to her sides. She felt instantly trapped and began trying to squirm away.
"Relax, Joni," a deep, husky voice said kindly, trying to soothe the quivering, nervous girl.
The growled order resonated within her body and instantly made her relax. Her palms were pressed against his smooth chest, catching the steady beat of his heart as she looked up into his lovely eyes.
The same, yet not. No longer a boy, but a man well into adulthood; being well older than her mere seventeen years of life.
He knew her instantly, as she had known him. It made her guarded heart weaken its defenses, just as it had those many years ago.
No, she could not allow this! He had left her then, he would leave her now.
"Timothy Green, why are you here?" She said as calmly as her speeding heart would allow. It came out more weak and needy than she realized for he raised a warm, calloused hand to cup her face, trying to bring her comfort.
And damn it if she wanted to admit that it did.
She felt soft petals and wood branches worm their way around her body; the little helpers trying to make her feel better too.
The man, who she had known as a boy, looked at her closely with his penetrating green eyes, trying to gauge her feelings. His hand began wandering over her face, later trailing through her wild, tangled hair. She could strangely tell that he was enjoying himself, playing with her skin and hair as if she were a doll or something.
Figuring that he (and his little helpers) wouldn't be letting her go any time soon, Joni decided to make the best of this situation. "How old are you now anyway?"
He seemed amused by her question, if the quirking of his lips was anything to go by. He shrugged as an answer, instantly pissing her off.
"Come on! Just tell me," she decided to change tactics, "Please?"
He was looking at her again like you would a strange, deformed creature. "I do not know. Time is different where I am from. I would assume older than you are now." Well, if that wasn't vague.
Leaving that train of thought for now, she decided to voice her other concerns. "How long will you be staying this time?"
"That is entirely up to you."
That threw her off. "Come again?"
He smiled fully then, all white teeth gleaming in the sunlight. His face neared hers and he breathed deeply through his nose; a guttural sound vibrating in his chest.
So that she wouldn't mistake his words again, he moved the hand currently in her hair to cup her swan-like neck and pushed her face into his, their noses and lips barely touching.
Temptation, that's what her lips were. He couldn't stop himself from stealing a kiss, wetting her lips with his tongue. He moaned deeply at the heady taste of her exploded in his mouth. She tasted of rain and winter.
"I will remain here on Earth for as long as you need me, Joni Jerome, for however long you desire me to be yours."
Her whole body was vibrating with warmth and something she hadn't felt in a long time; love. His innocent little kiss had her trembling with feeling and excitement. She felt everything she had longed to feel for so very long now. Things she would write down and whisper in her heart that she only wished she would find somewhere, at some point in her life.
The loneliness, the alienation she felt from everyone around her, gone in an instant. The minute he said those words, she knew he meant them; wholeheartedly.
He would stay for her; to be hers.
She hadn't noticed that silent tears had escaped her eyes until she felt both his hands lovingly brushing them away from her cheeks.
"D-Do you want this? I-I mean...you don't have to stay here with me, really. How would you fit in? I mean, you're a living, breathing, walking botanical garden! What if someone captures you and tries to experiment on you, like in E.T! I couldn't live with myself if something happened to you!"
By then all worst-case scenarios ran through her head and she couldn't see how he could possibly stay here on Earth with her. Before, as a boy, he could get away with the knee-high socks to hide his little leaves and vines from the outside world. But now...impossible.
"We will find a way," he soothed, kissing her temple and rubbing his face into her hairline. "I had to leave you then, I will not leave you now."
He leaned back and took her chin between his fingers, forcing her eyes to remain at his level. He slowly moved in and claimed her entire mouth; marking her as his, running his tongue along her lips and encouraging moans to escape her. He continued his assault, his little helpers aiding their master and tormenting the female squirming with delirium on his lap.
Leaving her hot mouth, he trailed his seeking lips along her jaw and ventured to that beckoning neck he loved so much. His lips licked and kissed and sucked their way to her pulse point and he growled his final words before he would take her as his, as she was always meant to be.
"I first came here to be their son. And now, I am to be your lover. From this day forth, we will be one, Joni. If I must leave this planet once more, you shall go with me too. Do you accept?"
She didn't hesitate.