CHAPTER 7

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THE THREE MOST IMPORTANT WORDS

Theta sat in his room and didn't move or make a sound. He had been just sitting on his bed for several hours now lost in a sea of regret and sorrow. He had been like this ever since his last attempt to take the TT Capsule driving test had failed spectacularly.

He had been trying to take the test and pass it several times now, and each time he had failed in a new and ever more disastrous way. This last time though had been the worst one of them all.

He had landed his TT Capsule correctly after having performed all of the goals in the exam perfectly up until that point. He had truly thought at that moment that he had finally passed it at last. He was so wrong though. He had made one crucial mistake at the end. He couldn't get the brakes to come on. Without the brakes on, the TT Capsule just kept moving forward once it had landed and crashed into the other test Capsules destroying them all including his!

He knew that it was all over with now. There were no more Capsules left to do the test in, and he was sure after that last failure that none of the instructors would have enough courage to give it to him even if there were. Every one of his past driving instructors had taken a sudden early retirement and so had several others to avoid having to take the test with him themselves. It had gotten to the point where instructors were running in terror from him when they would pass him in the hall so that he couldn't ask them to give him the test next.

He had given up at last. He knew now that he was going to get thrown out of the Academy. No one could stay there without passing the driving test after all. He would probably never see Arkytior again, and it was breaking both of his hearts. The thought of never getting to travel in time and space was bad enough, but the thought of never getting to be with the woman that he loved had almost killed him.

He had just ceased functioning from that moment on. He hadn't eaten, slept, talked, or done anything else that entire day. All he had done was to sit there and think about what a world without Arkytior in it would be like. The thought of that was so repulsive and hurtful to him that it had just completely sucked the life out of him, and it had caused him to go into a horrible downward spiral of despair that he was afraid that he would never come out of.

Arkytior knew something was wrong from the start that day. She could sense it. When she had gone for an entire day without hearing one word from Theta, then she was sure of it.

She went into his room by using the key that he had given to her for emergencies and found him sitting there looking more upset than she had ever seen him. She knew that he had given up trying to pass the test and had already resigned himself to having to leave the Academy, and she wasn't about to let him get away with it. There was no way that she was losing him now.

She had already decided to tell him how she really felt about him after having accidentally found out recently that she was going to die young. Now as she saw him sitting there with his head in his hands in despair, she made a split second decision that this was finally the time to tell him at last. She knew that this would be her last chance. If she didn't do it right here and now, then he would leave, and she might never see him again.

She would not allow that to happen. Theta Sigma was hers, and there was no way that she was letting it all end here like this.

Steeling her resolve to go through with this, she eased into the conversation first by saying to him, "Don't give up, Theta. You'll pass it. You just need to study setting the brakes a little more."

Theta looked at her in utter despair as he said, "I'm not going to try it any more. I give up! I can't take it again anyway. I destroyed all of the test Capsules! There's nothing left to pass the test with now, and I don't think that anyone would be my instructor anyway. I see instructors walking briskly away from me in terror now in the hallway. I think they're afraid I'll ask them to give me the test next."

Arkytior decided to play what she thought would be her trump card as she said, "You can't give up. If you do, I'll never see you again."

Surely now he would see what he would be throwing away by just giving up and quitting like this. This had to make him want to come out of this quicksand of despair that he was currently suffocating in. If he didn't, then it would just kept pulling him down inside of it further and further until the person that she knew was gone forever.

Theta completely shocked her as he said, "It's better that way. I'm a miserable failure! I'll never amount to anything. You'll be so much better off without me. You'll find someone who deserves to have a friend like you. I'm just a helpless, miserable worthless . . ."

Arkytior could not believe her ears. The more that he talked, the angrier she became until finally she interrupted his torrent of self-pity by erupting into an angry rage that stopped him in mid-sentence.

"SHUT. UP! I won't hear you say one more word against yourself, Theta Sigma! You are the most wonderful man I've ever met. You're the smartest man on this whole miserable planet! You've always been there for me whenever I've had a problem and always helped make me feel better when I was upset or sad. You're not going to say anything more about how worthless you are! Do you hear me? I won't stand for it. You know why? It's because I love you! I love you with all of my hearts, you stupid, stupid oblivious brain dead man! How can you not have known how I feel? I've been practically throwing myself at you!" She screamed at him as every ounce of emotion that she had ever felt for him came gushing out of her at once.

She then stood there in silence hoping against hope that this would be what would bring him back out of his depression and finally make him realize just how much he meant to her all at the same time. She had finally laid it all for him now and gone for broke at last.

The rest of her life was on the line now, and it all depended on what he would say to her in the next moment. She had never been so worried about something in her life, and she knew that if he didn't say something soon that both of her hearts just might explode right out of her chest as the tension inside of her continued to rise to almost unbearable levels!

She let out a breath that she hadn't even realized that she had been holding as Theta smiled at her with more joy on his face than she had ever seen there before. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. She began to smile as she realized that she had done it. He was going to be okay now. They were both going to be okay now.

Then her hearts almost stopped as Theta gave her a passionate kiss. She almost melted into his arms at the power and intensity of the emotion that he poured into it. She had never felt anything like that before, and she knew instantly that she wanted more. Their first kiss lasted for a very long time as neither of them wanted it to end. They were both finally declaring their love for each other at last, and it had been a long time coming after all.

Finally, Theta reluctantly pulled away from the kiss because he had something that he needed to tell her. It was something that he knew that he should have told her a long time ago.

"I love you too. I was just too afraid to say it. I am stupid! I'm so sorry. I . . . ," Theta confessed at last.

He was broken off in mid-sentence yet again by Arkytior as she said, "Shut up!"

She didn't want him to say it with words. She wanted him to continue showing her how he felt.

She kissed him this time in order to give him that message, and he quickly grasped what she wanted this time. She had never been as thankful for something as she was in that moment that for once his natural thickness had deserted him.

They kissed without stopping the rest of the night. This day that had started out as the worst day in Theta's life had turned into the best day of it instead.

That was just like Arkytior though. She always took everything negative in his life away and replaced it with something good. That was just who she was. That was one of the reasons that he had always loved her since the day that he had met her.

Theta passed the driving test the next time that he took it without any problems at all whatsoever. Arkytior had loaned him her old Type 40 TT Capsule that she had donated to the museum to take the test on since there were no others left.

Theta realized then that the reason that he had been failing was because he had been so worried about losing Arkytior if he were thrown out of the Academy. Once he realized that he wasn't going to lose her no matter what happened then all of the pressure was suddenly off of him, and he was able to pass the test with ease.

From that moment on, Theta and Arkytior were both changed forever. They were suddenly both happy and full of joy at every moment which was a great change for the usually sad and remote Arkytior. She still had the fear of Theta finding out about her powers lurking in the back of her mind, but that had receded for the moment amid the euphoria of their new relationship with each other.

They both expressed their feelings for each other openly and honestly at last, especially in public. They would now openly give each other a peck on the lips when the fancy struck them, and they didn't care who saw them or what they said about it.

Cliodna was filled with happiness for them every time that she saw them now. She couldn't be happier if she were with him herself.

She had also noticed that Arkytior was becoming a different person now ever since they had declared their feelings for each other. She was no longer as shy and timid as she had been before. She was finally coming out of her shell and becoming more confident and assertive.

She had also caught Ari giving Theta orders lately or actually telling him to shut up. At first, Theta had seemed to her to be shocked by this sudden change in Arkytior's behavior, but then Cliodna noticed that he had started to smile at it when Ari wasn't looking. He actually seemed to like it.

Cliodna took Arkytior aside one day shortly after she had first noticed all of this and said, "Hello, stranger. Are you still calling yourself Arkytior these days, or have you changed your name along with the rest of you?"

"What are you talking about?" Arkytior asked.

"You've changed your behavior, your attitude, and even your appearance in the last few days ever since you and Theta finally got together. I like all of the pink that you've been wearing, by the way. It's so you," Cliodna said with a huge smile.

"I guess I have. I just suddenly feel like I'm finally getting to be myself for the first time in my life. Theta's bringing out the real me at last. It's like I don't have to be afraid of anything anymore as long as he's with me," Arkytior said.

Cliodna looked at her oddly then as she asked, "What have you got to be afraid of?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all," Arkytior said just a little bit too quickly for Cliodna to believe her.

"You know that you can tell me anything, right?" Cliodna asked her in concern.

"Yeah, of course," Arkytior said in a short, clipped tone as she suddenly seemed to start reverting to her old personality right in front of Cliodna's eyes once again.

"I'm sorry if I said anything to upset you, Ari. I didn't mean to," Cliodna said with sadness.

Arkytior suddenly perked up again and resumed her new persona once more as she said, "It's fine, Cliodna. Don't worry about it."

Arkytior then shocked Cliodna by suddenly putting her arms around her and hugging her tightly. This was a huge surprise because she almost never displayed her emotions that freely. Most of the time, Arkytior kept everything she thought or felt hidden from everyone after all. Then again, this was the new Arkytior, wasn't it?

"You're my best friend, Cliodna. I love you like a sister. I'm not sure if I've ever told you that before. I just wanted you to know how I always felt about you," Arkytior said in answer to the questioning look on Cliodna's face.

"I feel the same way about you, Ari. I'm so glad for you because I've never seen you this happy before. I have to say that I think that all of this has really been good for you," Cliodna said as she returned Arkytior's hug.

It was finally a new day for Arkytior, and she actually had the hope now that maybe she wouldn't have to live in dread of her powers anymore. They hadn't emerged even once now since she had become so happy and content with herself and her life after all.

Surely as long as she was with Theta, she wouldn't ever have cause to be unhappy again. Therefore, she should never need to fear an involuntary appearance by her powers anymore since they only seemed to be triggered by extreme negative emotions.

She would soon discover just how wrong that she was, and it would all be brought about by the most unlikely of sources.

Next: Arkytior and Theta had been having a wonderful start to their relationship until a mysterious woman appeared out of nowhere and changed all of that. Who is this strange girl that seems to have caught Theta's eye against his will? Arkytior is burning with jealousy as she attempts to find out as much as she can about this strange human who can travel through time and space named . . . Rose Tyler!