Finally, after months of discontinuation, I pulled myself back to this story!
I'm so sorry about the two chapters being so spaced apart!
Skidding to a halt, Ness successfully landed (somewhat) near his destination. Though, do to his lack of concentration, he had also flawlessly burned the soles of his shoes out of existence. He was considering teleporting to the preschool where Paula lived, but he didn't want to risk burning his shoes off entirely.
The sounds of ghosts echoed eerily behind him. He had nothing to fear, as he knew. Those ghosts never set off outside of the tunnel that lead to Threed. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glance at a silvery figure, red beady eyes seemed to be glaring right through him. He was used to that too, of course.
Though he had more than enough psychic energy left, he'd decided to walk, even knowing that the gravel from the paved road would painfully stab at his exposed skin with every step. And despite the walk across the city he had before him, he felt full of energy. Even the wind seemed to be pushing him forward.
It seemed that only the nervousness forming inside of him was the only thing preventing him from running at full sprint to Paula's house.
His upbeat steps had grown a bit lethargic and unenthusiastic.
It was already long road, but the drawn-out pace he kept was making the trip seem like an even greater distance. After awhile, he found out what was slowing him down- his mind.
Stopping dead in his tracks, Ness contemplated about just what he was about to do.
Well, what could go wrong? he asked himself for the first time. And surprisingly, several things came to mind.
She could say 'no', for starters. he knew this from the start, But... if that happened, that might ruin our friendship, and then...
He pivoted 90 degrees on the pavement. Should I turn back now, or keep going?
After a few moments of thought, Ness tensely traveled up the road that lead closer and closer to the heart of Twoson. This time, he didn't let himself stall even with the pessimistic thoughts that clouded his mind.
The trees and grasses now rolled by faster, and the rocks poking at his bare skin were hardly noticeable. With every step, he quickened until he bounded along the road.
When he saw buildings creep up over the horizon he knew that there was no turning back now. No time to think, no time for second thoughts.
A running ribbon of blue water now ran by the paved path that Ness had been traveling. The grasses around the river were both much longer and greener than the short lawns of Onett back home.
He then caught sight of it- Polestar Preschool. And thankfully, since it was a schoolday, no one was outside. Ness tried to clear the bad thoughts from his mind now more than ever, just in case he said something stupid. The uneasy boy approached the premise and stood behind the school's bordering wooden fence. As usual, bright flowers were scattered all around the lawn and a bench rested next to the door. The green roof looked as deep as the river that bordered some of Twoson from the beside it.
Golden wings whisked by the boy's brown eyes, skimming his face. Out of habit, Ness made a lunge for the creature that was all too familiar to him. Trapping it in his cupped hands, he took a deep breath and released it. As usual the glowing insect hovered above his head for only a moment, and vanished. Calming sense now took the place of his growling anxiety, and though it still remained, he ignored it.
"Mrrow?"
The new voice made Ness jump a couple feet. Looking down, he saw a cat he had never before in his life seen conscious.
The cat had jet black fur, but a snow-white head. Ness had only seen it resting on the Preschool's roof every time he came by.
The feline studied Ness for a moment and took a long look at his face. An act of intimidation, the boy reasoned. So he began to decode the cat's thoughts.
"You're the one who saved Paula, yes?"
The large feline's voice was neither feminine nor masculine. It puzzled Ness to no end, but he politely nodded.
"Thank you. This place is always lonely without her around..."
The cat dipped its white head down in a bow and glanced back up at Ness once again.
"The little ones are going to come outside and play very soon, so I must get back to my 'lookout position' on the roof."
"Alright, then."
"I'll be seeing you around, I hope?"
"I guess so."
The semi-mouser began to step back towards the home and school where Paula lived but then turned around one last time. Its tail now lashed back and forth.
"Whatever you're about to do, let me remind you that Paula is a kind human, and takes her allies seriously. Good luck, my friend."
Blinking at Ness, the cat turned back around and made a dash for the preschool's west wall.
And just like the cat said, the door of the school creaked open. A flood of children gushed from the opening, like water spilling from a broken dam.
Looking back up at the roof, the boy saw the cat he had just spoken to. Sound asleep as usual.
"Domino!" a familiar voice called from the doorway, "Domino, get down here!"
Instantly, the boy recognized the voice. His eyes darted back down to the Preschool's entrance. Standing there was a girl with shoulder-length blond hair with blue eyes. A ribbon tied some of her hair back, it also matched the familiar pink dress she was worn every day on their journey not so long ago. Paula.
Her blue eyes didn't catch sight of Ness, but were instead fixed on the roof of her home.
"Silly cat," she mumbled, lowering her gaze, "Looks like someone's missing lunch!"
She looked straight forward to seek out any children who seemed to be wandering off, but instead of finding a wandering kid, her eyes locked onto Ness who gave a nervous wave. A bit startled, she blinked twice before acknowledging him.
"Hey, Ness!" she gave a wave back, "What brings you here?"
She began her way across the white stone path to the house entrance, wading through the pack of playing children as she walked. Ness' stomach began to churn once again, and he forgot to answer.
Now in front of him, Paula looked worriedly at the boy.
"Hello, Ness?" The boy still remained speechless and thoughts distant. "Earth to Ness!"
Ness, now snapped out of his daze, gave an answer.
"Oh, hi! How's it been?" He wanted to kick himself for his reply, due to the fact that it had nothing to do with his question.
"Oh, good. The kids at the preschool have been behaving very well since I came back. How have you been?"
"I'm fine, too. King's still a scaredy-cat, though."
Paula gave a chuckle at the comment. Though she had never really me King, she had heard stories back when they were traveling.
"Same old dog, then?"
"Yeah. Same old, same old."
A long uncomfortable silence laced the air between the two, and before they knew it the children were being herded back inside by Paula's mother.
"Listen, maybe we could talk later? I have to go back in and help mom with the kids..."
"No, wait. Please."
Paula's mom signaled her to go back inside. The blond haired girl glanced back at Ness for a moment.
"Please?" he asked urgently.
"Five minutes, Mom!" Paula hollered back to her mother, who nodded. The door clicked shut once again.
"So, what is it, Ness?" she asked, slightly irritated. This made Ness lose even more of his nerve.
"Oh..." Ness started quietly, unlike his usual self, "Well... I wanted to tell you something, but I forgot what it was..." The color of his face changed into a deep pink color.
Paula looked at him for a little bit and concentrated on his forehead. Ness stiffened, not sure about why she was doing this.
"Ness?" she said after a while.
"Y-yeah?" he stumbled.
"You do realize that I can read your mind, right?"
He blushed a deeper red. He completely forgot about that.
Paula began to step a bit closer to the boy, making Ness' heart race faster than an Exit Mouse eating a Skip Sandwich.
"I like you, too." she whispered, pulling him in to a hug.
After a moment of shock, Ness began to hold her, too.
It was far better than he ever expected from even his own dreams.
I know, I know... They didn't kiss, but they're thirteen in my headcanon. So sorry if you were reading this for that.
Also, I added that cat in just for the sake of putting it in. Sorry, also, if you didn't like that segment either.
Again, first fic of this genre, so tell me how I did!
That'd be so nice of you, but be gentle if you didn't like it. Wimpy, yes. But I am a bit unsure of this piece...