HYPOTHESIS

Defying all odds, we unlikely seven somehow travelled through time and prevented an apocalypse. We did so because flow of time was easy to change. Looking back on it, that malleability does not seem scientifically correct. What about the future that we pulled the world away from? Did it just disappear? Or did we divert it, like farmers irrigating fields? Then maybe that is a better way to look at the flow of time: an infinite river of possibilities, and the reality we know is just one molecule floating along in it… and if that's true, who knows how many other "molecules" are out there, floating along different paths? There could be alternate universes for every change, major and minor: universes where we failed our mission, or ones where the threat of Lavos never existed, or we ourselves never existed, or…

The pen stopped, tapped against the paper six times, then Lucca Ashtear leaned back in her chair with a harsh sigh. Thinking up an amazing new scientific theory like infinite split timelines ought to have sent her into spells of giddy laughter, but her feelings and her mind were not in the same place.

She looked at the mess of papers on her desk again, then out the window at the mid-morning sky. Ever since her time-traveling party had defeated the ancient parasite Lavos and gone back to their regular lives, she had been thinking almost exclusively about her fellow hero, Crono. Her thoughts centering on him wasn't a new or special thing; the lazy lunkhead had been her childhood playmate, and then later a useful guinea pig for her early experiments, so she had often wondered about how dumb he could be, or how much punishment his body could take. But during their adventure, the boy of few words had worked just as hard to change the future as she had… actually, she had to admit, he had worked even harder. He had always been good-natured and daring—he had to be to put up with her mad pursuit of scientific progress—but the adventure had shown her a completely new side to him, one both thoughtful and heroic. As stupidly nice as he was, she had never expected him to make the ultimate sacrifice to protect his friends. The memory of plucking him from a time freeze in the ruined future and pulling him back to the world of the living, clutching him and crying obscenities into his shoulder still sent uncontrollable shivers through her body; she could not drive the scene from her mind. Though she snarked and raged at him when the rest of the party was around, in private thinking about him filled her with wild new feelings she hungered to explore, both as a scientist and…

As her body swelled and fluttered, her white knuckles dug into the desk to stop the feelings. She shook her head with a growl. Even if she dared to pursue those urges and make a move on him, she knew she didn't have a chance. Given their proximity over the years—not to mention how much she had basically tortured him during her experiments—he had to have been rendered immune to any feminine charms she had. Besides, she thought with extra bitterness, the sweet, beautiful princess of the kingdom had designs on him too, and there was no way a bad-tempered kooky inventor like her could compete with that. She stared out the window and growled again, a cold swallow of reality spreading ice up her hot throat.

She sighed and turned back to her stacks of papers. As she tried to continue scribbling out her vision of the universe, her thoughts again flew back to Crono, this time with nasty whispers floating out of her mind and back into her ears. Her incredible theory did her no good; none of the split timelines in existence would give her the opportunity she wanted. She gritted her teeth and pressed the pen into the paper, trying to push it out of her head… but the flash-freeze of despair boiled back into anger and she swore out loud, stabbing down hard. A loud snap and a black blotch on the page made her yell and leap up as ink dripped onto her chair; she had smashed her pen.

"Lucca? Are you all right up there?" her mother's voice came from downstairs.

She dug around in the mess for another pen, but found none. She grabbed at her glasses and groaned as blackness smeared across one lens. "I-I'm fine, mom," she called back as she fumbled towards her workbench and grabbed a greasy rag. She would have to go into town to buy more pens, her mind grumbled as she wiped her glasses. Maybe the long walk would help her push her thoughts in another direction.

… … …

Lucca didn't often curse her mind for being so good at focusing on single ideas, but with the biting thoughts still chewing into her brain as she reached Truce's market, she wished she were as distraction-prone as some townsfolk. "Hey, can I get a dozen ink pens, please?" she asked the clerk, putting the usual amount of G on the counter.

The clerk took the money and replaced it with a stack of pens. As Lucca counted out twelve of them, she suddenly noticed a dark cloak standing next to her. "Ahem, erm, I'd like half a dozen cookies and a lollipop, please," came a forced rasp as a pale hand dropped several coins onto the counter.

As the clerk turned away, Lucca looked hard at the figure, her chest starting to shudder. She recognized the voice, even wrenched out of its usual sound. "Marle?" she asked.

The hand twitched, then grabbed her shoulder and squeezed with surprising strength. Lucca found her eyes locked with the panicked blue orbs of the princess of Guardia. "Shh!" she hissed. "Not now! Just wait a sec!"

The clerk returned with the sweets, and Marle pulled Lucca out of the store. Once outside, she looked around several times, then sighed and pulled her hood off. "Don't just say my name like that, Lucca!" she huffed. "Everyone knows that's my disguise now!"

Lucca scratched her head. "Sorry," she said, "I thought it was OK for you to—"

"Yeah, but now if they see me I get mauled every time I step outside! Sometimes it's just praise and presents, but sometimes it's worse!" Marle complained. "They cream me with questions! 'Why did the king raise taxes again?' 'Why isn't the king doing something about the Porre Military?' 'What's the king doing about global warming?' ACK! I just want to come down here and be treated normally!"

Lucca sighed and shook her head. Dressing like a shady creep was a stupid idea to try and be treated normally, but she wasn't in the mood to point it out.

Her face must have given her away, as Marle's annoyed frown quickly dissolved to concern. "Hey, what's wrong?" she asked. "You look kinda mad… Was it the global warming thing? Really, we're trying to—"

"No," Lucca muttered, her arms shaking at the princess's almost mocking cluelessness.

"So what is it?" Marle asked. "C'mon, you can tell me!"

Lucca bared her teeth. She was trapped; as ditzy as Marle could be, she doggedly worked to solve the problems of her friends… and for the moment, they were still friends. She grumbled under her breath, then looked at her hard; it was better to bluntly spit it out and start the great rift. "L-look, I like Crono, OK?!" she huffed. "That's what!"

Marle's eyes widened and she fell silent. Lucca sighed sadly and turned away, certain their friendship was over; she could almost hear the air between them ripping apart.

Marle shouted and started to rush at her. Lucca braced herself for a slap or even a punch, but instead found herself trapped in a tight hug. "That's great!" the princess squealed as she hopped a few times. "I'm so excited for you!"

Lucca's brain crashed, not at all clear on what had happened. She had just admitted that she liked Crono to Marle, who had glommed onto the boy almost immediately, and the sweet-scented princess was not trying to murder her. Her confusion escaped in a melodic: "whaaaaaa?"

"Have you told him yet?" Marle asked. "Oh! Of course not, if you told me first… Oh, did you want me to help?"

"W-wait, hang on," Lucca objected, pulling away from her friend. "Don't… don't you like Crono?!"

Marle beamed. "Sure I do! You're both my best friends!" she said. "This is gonna be so great! Now, what can we do to really wow him?…"

As Marle thought out loud, Lucca clenched her jaw as her brain raced to correct itself. Maybe, all this time, she had read Marle's intentions wrong… or, the nasty new voice in her mind interjected, she was playing a cruel joke. Lucca knew Marle wasn't mean or deceptive like that, but her doubts continued to assert themselves; there was no way this could really be happening.

"…OK, I've got nothing," Marle announced, snapping Lucca back. "Honestly, I don't know much about this romance stuff."

"Really?" Lucca asked, raising an eyebrow. "You don't know?"

"All I know is what I've seen at the castle, and read in the books in the royal library," Marle said.

Lucca scratched her chin, her initial wariness giving way to curiosity. Books always had the right answers. If Marle was sincere about helping her, those could be just what she needed. "Can I see them?" she asked.

"Sure! We can even have lunch!" Marle said, pulling her hood back up. "Just, y'know, don't say my name until we're outta town."

Her mind still muddled but willing to try what help Marle could give, Lucca followed her back towards the castle.

… … …

"'Never address a gentleman without a proper introduction… Never call upon an unmarried gentleman at his place of residence… Never look back at anyone in the street, or stare at others in church or at an opera…'" Lucca flipped another page, her eyebrows twisting between confusion and annoyance. "'Intelligence and interest in politics are not encouraged?!'" she read out loud at Marle.

Marle sighed and shook her head. "Yeah, they're pretty outdated," she admitted, "even by today's standards."

"No kidding," Lucca muttered, flipping a few more pages. She could never see herself following any of the rules in the book… or Marle following them, either. "Well, that was no help," she grumbled, sticking the book back on the shelf.

"Sorry," Marle said. "Is there something else I can do?"

Lucca folded her arms and stared at the floor; maybe she could trust Marle with one of her biggest concerns. "Well, it's just…" she said, "I don't know if he thinks I'm attractive. I mean, we've been friends for so long…"

Marle nodded. "Wanna try a new look?" she asked. "C'mon, let's go to my dressing room!"

Before Lucca could say anything else, Marle had pulled her out of the library, up two flights of steps and into a world of shimmering fabrics, silks and linens. She gawked at the two full racks of royal dresses, then at Marle. "These are all yours?!" she asked.

"Well, some are my grandmother's, some are my mother's, and others were made for me," Marle said, walking down the aisle, "but maybe there's something in here that'll suit you… Ooh!"

Lucca watched her pull gowns and blouses off the rack, then tried to catch the rainbow she started tossing back. "How about this? Or this? Oh! This one!" she exclaimed as she plucked. Within two minutes she had half a dozen outfits slung over her arm, and Lucca was almost buried under a dozen more. "C'mon, there's a mirror over here!" she said, starting for the back corner.

Peering out between layers, Lucca stumbled after Marle and dropped the dresses on a nearby chair. Marle pulled a silky sky-blue gown out of the pile and beamed. "This color would be great for you!" she said, handing it to Lucca. "Here, see what you think!"

Lucca took the dress to the mirror. As she held the dress over her body, her cheeks flushed as she realized what a difference it made: wearing something besides her frumpy work clothes might actually make her look… pretty.

Marle chirped in agreement. "Yeah, that one's perfect!" she said. "You want to try it on?"

Lucca imagined herself in the dress and the blush faded. As pretty as it looked, she thought of how tight it might be around some places, like her arms or her waist… and she preferred shorts to keep her legs cool, and the long gown certainly wouldn't do that. She sighed and looked in the mirror again, the image graying in her mind's eye. Marle meant well, but the fancy dress made her feel even more unattractive. "I… don't know," she said, putting the dress down. "I mean… I don't think it's me. Any of this."

Marle sighed and scratched her head. "Yeah…" she admitted, "Err, uh, I mean, why would anybody wear these casually, right?"

As the girls started putting the dresses away, Marle kept thinking. "Well, how about trying something else?" she asked. "Maybe add some lipstick, or eyeliner, maybe some earrings… You know, something subtle?"

Lucca shook her head. "I don't have any of that," she said, sticking the blue dress back on the rack, "and I don't have any money for it either."

"Seriously?!" Marle asked. "But we all got a ton of G from the trip!"

"I gave most of it to my parents," Lucca admitted. "The rest went into my experiments."

Marle folded her arms and looked pouty. "Well, I'm out of ideas," she said. "I guess you should just tell Crono you like him."

Lucca's neck froze. "Tell him…?" she asked.

Marle looked surprised. "Why not? You've always been straight-forward before," she said. "It's one of your best traits."

Lucca swallowed so hard she was sure Marle heard the saliva going down her throat. "W-well… it's just… it's that…" she stammered, looking at anything except her friend. Finally she sighed darkly. "I'm… scared. I think he…" she trailed off. She didn't want to finish the sentence. Even though she had been surprised that Marle was so supportive, she was certain Crono would not return her feelings. She knew the dumb boy had already fallen for Marle, though she didn't want to say it out loud… especially to her supposed rival.

Marle shook her head, frowning. "Come on, Lucca, you gotta do it," she said, putting the last dress back. "That's something you taught me on our adventure: if you want to know something, you've gotta get out there and learn it!"

Lucca bit her lip and played with her fingers. "But what if—" she started to mutter.

"What if? What if the sky were orange? What if cucumbers tasted like eggplants?" Marle broke in, grabbing her shoulders. "If you don't go looking for the answer, you'll never find it, and all the what-iffing in your head isn't gonna do it; it'll just make you go crazy!" She paused, then gave her friend a smile. "You know that better than I do, Lucca."

Lucca looked at her friend for a few tense moments, then gave another dark sigh. Marle was right; even if she already knew the answer, she had to talk to Crono. "Yeah…" she surrendered. "Guess I'll go, then."

"Yeah, that's the spirit!" Marle said, clapping her on the shoulder. "Just tell it like it is!"

Lucca thought about how she should approach him. It had to be somewhere quiet, where there wouldn't be a lot of people to witness the rejection. "We used to hike a lot in the hills," she thought out loud. "I could take him there…"

"Good! See, you've already got a plan!" Marle laughed. "Do you want me to come, too? Y'know, for support?"

Lucca clenched her jaw; she didn't want to see the look on Marle's face when Crono said he liked her better. "Err, no," she said, "I'd rather do it myself."

"OK," Marle said, smiling. "Don't worry; you'll be fine!"

Lucca gave a wary half-smile and started out of the castle, feeling her stomach glow with hot coals of dread.

… … …

Lucca left the castle and started back through the woods towards town. The gentle rustle of branches in the summer breeze did nothing to calm her. She wouldn't put it off any longer. She would just go to Crono's place and get things over with; the lazy dope was probably still in bed anyway, even though it was afternoon. At least he made himself easy to find, so…

Just then, her ears perked to the familiar whoosh of a weapon cutting air. She moved through some bushes and came to an open patch of grass. Crono stood there with his back to her, practicing his swings with a wooden sword. Her whole body turned to stone; she had forgotten he trained in the woods. The fates had sped things up.

She silently watched him dodge around the grass and cut at the air, his motions fast and fluid; his technique had improved since before their adventure, just like his personality. Her body softened and her pupils dilated as she kept watching him dance.

With another cry, Crono spun to his right and brought the sword down, then suddenly glanced at her. "Hey, Lucca!" he said, straightening up. "What's up?"

Lucca fell out of her trance, blinking furiously; for all the improvements to his swordsmanship, Crono's mouth had stayed the same. "Oh, uh, hey," she managed to spit out, her stomach boiling with hot sick. "How, uh… how's the sword today?"

"I'm kinda out of practice," Crono admitted, swinging his stick again. "What about you?"

Lucca's legs wanted her to run the other way as fast as she could, but she clenched her fists and made herself stay. "Ehh, just walkin'," she said. "Say, uh… you wanna come? You've, uh, gotta have good legs for swords, right?"

Crono raised an eyebrow; Lucca wondered if he could see right through her excuse. But then he nodded. "Yeah, sure," he said, sheathing the weapon. "Where're we going?"

Lucca's mind raced back, grasping for what she had told Marle. "Uh, the… hills?" she uttered. Immediately she realized how silly it sounded; the hills were on the other side of town from the woods.

Crono smiled, again not seeming to notice the logistical problem. "OK," he said.

He started out of the forest, and Lucca hurried to walk beside him, her innards twisting in all directions.

… … …

The pair of friends left the woods and wandered up through town, past Leene Square and its lively outdoor market, and up into the rocky hills that overlooked it. In the late afternoon sunlight, the yellow-green foliage reminded them of Truce Canyon, the little gorge in the middle ages where their whole time-traveling adventure had begun. Crono looked around and sniffed at the air. "Haven't been up here in a while, huh?" he asked.

Lucca didn't answer him. In fact, she had been quiet during the entire walk. He turned around and looked at her. "So what's up?" he asked again. "Haven't seen you much since we got back."

"Uh, well, it's…" Lucca mumbled, trailing off into silence as she shifted her weight. She had hoped Crono would be as quiet as he usually was so she could get her words straightened out, but it was just her luck he would want to be chatty right then.

He scratched at his hair for a moment, then his eyes lit up. "Oh, yeah, you were writing a time-travel book," he remembered. "How's that goin'?"

"…It's fine," she said, her teeth clenching; he wasn't making things any easier.

Her tone made his face became concerned. "Are you OK?" he asked. "You look kinda sick."

Lucca's spine burned at being found out, and she swallowed twice; it was time to start the painful experiment. "Crono," she said after another pause, "when we went through time, did you learn anything about yourself?"

Crono folded his arms and thought for a moment. "Oh yeah, lots," he said. "I learned I can use magic, fly a ship, chug ten bowls of soup without a break, and—"

"That's not what I meant, you…!" she snapped, then cut herself off; she had to focus on finishing what she brought him there to do. "Look, what I mean is… well… we've known each other for a long time," she said, slowly choosing her words and trying to keep it simple, "but during our trip… well… it's kinda like… I met you all over again."

She looked up and saw the confused face she knew well; he usually had that look whenever she finished talking. She had to make things even clearer. "I mean… the way I see you now… it's different from before," she said, still looking at anything except him. "I, well… Look, Crono, I, uh…" She paused again, her whole body feeling ready to burst into flame before she coughed out the rest: "I… like you. A lot."

She looked back and saw Crono's face had changed, but the new expression didn't help her jitters at all: his mouth hung half open and his eyes were unfocused, looking more shocked than anything. She stood there for several moments, waiting for him to respond, but he didn't. She seemed to have stunned him… or revolted him. Her arms sagged like wet noodles and she sighed darkly, the fear in her stomach sizzling into despairing annoyance. "This was a bad idea," she grumbled. "Just forget I said anything, OK?"

She turned and began to walk away. "Lucca, wait!" Crono's voice came, making her freeze in place. Now came the moment she had dreaded from the start, when out of his mouth would come the rejection. She didn't want to hear it, but she knew she had to, both as a scientist and a person. She slowly turned around with a clenched jaw and numb fingers.

When she turned around, though, it was her turn to be surprised; she had never seen Crono blush before. "You… do?" he asked.

Lucca blinked a few times. "W-well… yeah," she said again.

Crono's mouth twitched, then he turned away, sheepishly pulling at his hair. "I, uh… I always thought you were pretty cool… and smart," he said, then turned back and moved closer. "But I thought… you thought I was just kind of a dummy for your science projects… but…"

Lucca hung her head. She knew it. She had zapped, burned and prodded him away years before, and now came her comeuppance; now came the inevitable declaration of: "but I like Marle."

But then she felt his hands on her shoulders and looked up to see he was smiling widely, his cheeks still burning. "But, well… I was OK with that," he said. "'Cuz, well…"

She blinked several times, waiting for the words she knew were coming… but he didn't say them. She waited for a good thirty seconds, but he just stood there, grinning like an idiot. She frowned and looked away; the waiting was starting to hurt more than the actual words. "C'mon, it's not funny," she grumbled.

Crono gave a sad smile. "Yeah, I'm not good with words," he admitted. "So…"

Before Lucca could react, Crono's hands were on her back and he pulled her into a hug. "I really like you, too, Lucca," he said.

As his sweaty arms squeezed her like a happy vice, Lucca's heart convulsed like it wanted to explode, and her face became a confused strawberry. She didn't understand. There must have been some kind of mistake; Crono wasn't supposed to like her! That wasn't how she knew things would go! Maybe she had slid into an alternate timeline since that morning, or Crono and Marle had and she hadn't, or maybe defeating Lavos had changed something in the royal family's personality, or… Her mind raced around and around like a gerbil in a tube, but finally it wore down and quieted, with no answer reached.

From down in the square, the silvery ring of Nadia's Bell gently crept through her ears. The setting sun made all the leaves around her shine like gold, and Crono's warm chest and athletic scent robbed her of the rest of her worries and confusion. She unclenched her fists, rested her head against his shoulder and sighed, a smile finally creasing her mouth. Crono had often thrown wrenches into things before. Maybe there was no reason. Maybe she didn't need to know the reason. Very few experiments gave the expected results… and she had just decided she enjoyed being proven wrong.