Chapter 3: Tragedies

Throughout the rest of the day at school, Tanya and Rodney had a great time together ever since they met each other this morning. They talked about each other at lunch time and also, Tanya would help Rodney at his homework while Rodney would help Tanya from her bullies.

Soon, the day was over and Tanya and Rodney both walked together home. After talking to each other for at least 20 minutes while walking on the pavement, they both reached Tanya's house.

"Oh wow, Rodney. It's been fun." Tanya said with a grin.

"Yeah. So…I'll see you tomorrow again at school, right?" Rodney asked.

"Certainly." Tanya said. She then quickly planted a small kiss on Rodney's cheek, causing the boy to blush. "Hey, it's just a kiss. Nothing special, right?"

After a few seconds of just staring silently at her, Rodney quickly reply, "Er yeah! Right! Nothing special at all." He said as he quickly rubs his cheek where Tanya kissed.

"Okay, gotta go. Bye! See you, tomorrow!" Tanya said as she quickly dashes over to the door of her house.

"Yeah. Bye." Rodney said as he waves his hand while watching Tanya.

'Wait til' mom hears about him.' Tanya thought happily.


Flashback:

It was 10 o' clock and it was time for the Snow Kids to go to sleep. "I'm exhausted." Tia said as she lies on her bed. She then turns her head to her roommate Mei and asked, "Can I turned of the lights?"

"Sure." Mei said with a grin. Tia then rolled over to the side of her bed and turns off her lamp. Mei then puts down her newspaper on the table next to her and went to sleep as well. "Good night, Tia." Mei said as she closes her eyes.

"Good night." Tia replied back. As she continues looking up at the ceiling, she is unaware that Rocket was walking by the corridor. She closes her eyes and went to sleep. But a few moments later, Rocket walked over to her, causing her to wake up. "Rocket?" She asked in confusion.

"Ssshh." Rocket hushed. And a while alter, Tia expect the unexpected. Rocket leans over and kisses her. After kissing her, Rocket quietly leaves the room while Tia stares blankly as she watches.

"Sweet dreams, Tia." Mei said, unaware of what just happened.

Tia soon smiles as she lies back down on her bed. "I think I already had, Mei." She whispered.

End of Flashback

Tia suddenly snapped back to reality once she realized that she had been continuously feeding her goldfish the entire time she had harking back to the past. Now, close to half a bottle of fish flakes floated about inside the tank. Meanwhile, her pet simply stared dumbly at the abundance of food, looking quite unsure of what to make of the magnificent bounty he had suddenly been blessed with. "Whoa, Goldie! Wait!" She yelped, as if he could understand her warning and restrain himself from attempting to eat every morsel until he burst. Wasting not a single moment, Tia bolted into her apartment's tiny kitchen.

"Where did that come from?" Tia muttered bewilderedly to herself as she searched her cabinets for a drinking glass. But she already knew what that was. That was the moment when she and Rocket had their first kiss. She knows it wasn't much, but it was still the most romantic thing ever happen in her life. And for some reason, she still enjoys and cherishes that moment till today. After finally finding a suitable drinking glass, she jogged back into the living room and scooped her fish out, just as he started to try and recklessly engorge himself. As she set "Goldie" next to his tank, Tanya enters the house happily.

"Hi mom!" Tanya said.

"Oh, hi Tanya."

"Guess what? I made a new friend today!"

"Really? That's great!?" Tia asked with a grin.

"Yeah, wait til you meet him!"

"I see. Tell me who he is."

"Well, he has dark skin, nice blonde hair and his name is Rodney! Oh mom, you got to-" But soon, Tanya stops talking when she noticed something. She noticed that her mother wasn't feeling ecstatic or delighted anymore. Instead, she was shocked immediately after she heard the name Rodney and his description her daughter told her. "Mom?" She asked in concern.

"No, it can't be. It just can't be…" Tia muttered.

"Mom, are you alright-"

"I can't believe this…first the visions…now this…"

"Mom?"

"It just can't be…"

"Mom, please. Are you alright-"

"IT JUST CAN'T BE!!" Tia immediately shrieked. Instantly Tanya went silent, almost shocked beyond the ability to speak.

"What-what?" Tanya replied, stunned.

Tia looked up angrily and lifts up and accusing finger at her daughter, shaking it with anger. "YOU ARE NEVER TO SEE RODNEY AGAIN!! You hear me?!"

"What? Why-"

"Go to your room, Tanya!" Tia cut her off again with another fierce bellow. Tanya looked at her stunned and dumbfounded. Tia soon realized what she has done. Her rage was soon displaced by a wave of deep regret. "Tanya, I-" Unfortunately, tears starts rolling down from Tanya's cheeks and starts sobbing hoarsely. "Tanya, I'm so sorry I-"

Suddenly, Tanya's face began to distort from a look of shock to a look of anger and with a snarl, she yell out, "I HATE YOU!!" With that, she immediately dashes off.

"Tanya! I'm sorry I-" But before Tia could finished, Tanya already went into her room and slam her room door shut. Tanya then immediately lies onto her bed and sobs on her pillow.


An hour later, Tanya heard knock on her door. It's obviously from her mother. "Go away!" Tia could hear her yell from outside her room. With a sigh, Tia puts her hand on the doorknob, opens the door and enters the room. She soon noticed Tanya, still lying on her bed with her face on her pillow.

"Tanya, I'm so sorry about what I did earlier." Tia apologized. "I…I was…well…I couldn't help it. It's just that when I heard about your new friend Rodney…"

"Oh yeah? What's wrong with him?!" Tanya yelled as she now turns over to her mom. Then she slowly sat upright on her bed and glares at her mother. "Why can't I see him again?!"

"Because…" Tia begins to say.

"Yeah?"

"He's your brother." Tia finally said it as she drops her head in defeat.

"Brother?" Tanya whispered in shock. Her new friend Rodney is her brother?

"Yes. Please come to my room. There's something I want to show you."


A while after Tanya followed her mother to her room, Tanya soon sits next to Tia on her bed. Tia then opens the drawer of the table next to her bed and took out the same photo album she took out the other night. She opens the album and shows her wedding photo to Tanya. Tanya gasps when she sees her mother , in a wedding gown, next to a man wearing a tuxedo.

"That man. Is he?" Tanya asked.

"Yes. He's your father. His name was Rocket. When we were teenagers, we were teammates of the Snow Kids, a team representing Akillian in the Galactik Football Cup. When I first wanted to join the Snow Kids tryouts, I chose not to ask my parents permission about it, knowing that they would forbid me from participating. Instead I hired a pair of actors to record a message to convince our coach Aarch I had their permission to join the team. I arrived on Akillian on the day of the tryouts via spaceship and promptly crashed the ship, knocking myself unconscious only to be saved by the boy who will eventually be my boyfriend, Rocket. He pulled me free of the wreckage before it exploded. We both made into the team, and during the Galactik Football Tournament, we became closer and closer to each other. One time, I help Rocket by reuniting his parents who both had an estranged relationship. Using a photograph stolen from Rocket's father's home, and my parents' diplomatic connections, I was able to locate Rocket's mother Kira at Genesis Stadium. I affect a reunion between the two during Rocket's sixteenth birthday party but things do not go as planned. Rocket, who believed his mother to be long dead, is horrified both by his mother's abandonment and his father's lies. He in turn takes his fury out on me, asking me to stay out of his business. However by the time our team face the metaflux crisis and Rocket's parents reconcile, their relationship no longer seems acrimonious. We both finally kiss after I learns he has convinced my own parents to come and support me and to patch up our relationship. However our relationship undergoes one further small strain as Rocket fails to know how to behave around me and consequently shuts me out. However some timely advice from Aarch helps to set Rocket back on track and before the Galactik Football Cup final. our relationship is solid." Tia explained.

"Wow. That was an amazing story, mom. So what happned to dad?" Tanya asked.

"Many years later, after me, Rocket and my teammates retire and replaced by a whole new team to represent Akillian in the soccer tournaments, me and Rocket of course, shortly got married and we had two healthy children which we named them Tanya, which is you, and Rodney. Rocket and I were able to find a job as entrepreneurs. But a few months later, a tragic day came to Rocket's life. He received a call one day, learning that both of his parents both had a nasty run in with a drunken driver and…"

"And what, mom?"

"They both died from the accident."

"Oh no."

"Yes. He was so devastated from the news that immediately, it seems that he has vanished from my life. He immediately went into alcoholism and he doesn't care about his work and his family anymore. He quit his job and became a parasite."

"Parasite?"

"A person who is useless who always relies on other people's work and gives nothing back. Since Rocket lost his job, I had to work harder in order to support the family. But it's just my job which I had to work harder, I also had to clean the house harder, take care of you and Rodney harder, then a year later, another tragic day happened. And it was the day how me and Rocket seperated."

Flashback:

Tia slowly walks over to Rocket who is sitting on the couch. Rocket turns to her and asked, "Well? What's up?"

"Well…I lost…my job." Tia said uneasily.

"Why?" Rocket asked, stunned.

"Because…my boss said I haven't been taking my job…seriously."

And what was Rocket's response? He immediately stood up and angrily raised his hand and swung it across Tia's right cheek. "WHY?! WHY CAN'T YOU TAKE YOUR WORK SERIOUSLY?!" He bellowed.

Tears stung Tia' eyes. "It's because…I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE! Ever since your parents died, you became nothing but a useless bum, lying around at home and I have to deal with both work and home! In the day, I have to go to work so that I can support you and our children and in the night, I have to go all the chores around here while you sit back and relax like some moron! All this is really stressing me out! I really can't take this anymore!!" Tia screeched, finally ending with a hoarse sob.

Rocket went silent and stunned. He realized what he has done and said in concern, "Tia, I-"

"I HATE YOU ROCKET! I treated you as my husband and this is how you treat me?!"

"Tia, please-" But Rocket got cut off by his wife again.

"No! Don't 'Tia' me! Because you know why?! You have no right to say my name anymore! And why do you have no right anymore? Because I WANT YOU OUT OF MY HOUSE!"

Rocket soon clenched one of his fists tightly and snapped, "Oh, that's it!? That's it?! Fine! Why the hell did I marry you in the first place!? You are nothing but a girl who is nosy in my family's affairs! Why do you have to be a busybody and curious to know about my parents' relationship? For what?! So that you can help them reunite and we can be a family again?! Well guess what?! You are not part of my family back then, so why did you do that for?! JUST STAY OUT OF MY LIFE!!"

"Fine! Then what the hell are you doing here!? Just go!!" Tia yelled.

"Fine! I'm out of here!" Rocket yelled back. He then marched into his room and slams the door after he gets in. With a whimper, Tia buried her face in her hands, sank onto the floor and sobbed.

End of Flashback.

"You didn't know that happened because you and Rodney were still very young back then. Anyways, after that, Rocket took Rodney with him and they both left the house. And I never seen him again for years." Tia finally finished explaining. Then she slowly turned to Tanya and added, "So please Tanya, don't ever see Rodney again."

Tanya then took a moment to decided. She then looked back at her mother and said, "No, mom. I wish to see Rodney again."

"Why?" Tia asked.

"Because…what if, dad has changed. If you can give me a moment, let me talk to him and-"

"No Tanya! I forbid you!"

"And why?!"

"Because it's for our own good. I do not want to see him ever again."

"No! If you are able to help Rocket when you were young then why you couldn't you now?!"

"Because-"

"Because what? Now you're too scared to face him?"

"No, Tanya, it's just that-"

"I'm going to find Rodney and ask him to bring me to Rocket. I'm gonna help you two reunite again and you're not going to stop me!" After Tanya finished, she got up from the bed and raced out of the room.

"No, wait, please!" Tia cried. But Tanya ignored her and quickly wore her jacket and raced out of the house door. Tia raced to the door, calling out after her.

"Tanya! TANYA!!" But no matter how much she yell, they were hopeless as Tanya never came back. She sank onto the floor and sobbed.

END OF CHAPTER

Ryo: Probably the most saddest chapter I ever written. Poor Tia. Stay tune for the next chapter and read and review!