Together Forever and Ever, But Only for Now 9

Author Note:So sorry about the long wait for an update on this story! Reviews help speed me up, though...:3.


Everyday was an adventure for Number Eight.

Even back on Lorien, the little seven-year-old loved to explore everything and always found something new to discover. Lorien was his playground, and having a Cepan now like Reynolds was perfect. After all, both of them were the models of curious young Loric with ambition and good heads on their shoulders. Being on a small ship was a bit troubling to both of them, but they were certainly making dude.

Eight even managed to make a best friend his age.

"You're super quiet," he told her one day and tilted his head to the side, "why?"

Marina blushed a little bit and he smiled. He thought that was super duper cute, just like her! She told him, "Um...cause I don't like to talk..."

"Why?"

"'Cause I don't know what to say..."

"Why?"

"'Cause I'm stupid..."

He frowned, "No you're not...why do you think that?"

"'Cause I am..."

"Why?"

She looked down and he gave her a big bear hug, "You can't tell me 'cause it's not true. You're super pretty and nice and smart and I like you 'cause you're my best friend!"

Marina looked up in alarm and smiled with tears in her eyes, "R-really?"

"Really really!" Eight grinned and grabbed her hands when they got done hugging, "come on! There's a place in the wall where you can right outside!"

"W-wow..." Marina whispered in response, accepting his hold on her hands and following him to the secret spot in the ship Eight had discovered all by himself on one of his many 'expeditions'.

He grabbed the drawer of the cooking area first, boosting himself up with ease and climbing ontop of the refrigerator. He frowned when she hesitated meekly, moving down and offering his hand. After he smiled, she was reassured enough to accept his grasp and heft herself up with a slight level of struggle. Still hand in hand, the two children crawled the top of the fridge. Once they were up and crouched as to not hit their heads, the little boy reached up and released the small hatchet that led up to a storage space with a small area still cleared out. There was solid material aside from the small window at the very top that cast a beautiful patch of starlight on the cold floor, and it took both of their breaths away.

"Right here..." he whispered in a soft voice that was quite unlike them.

Their hands still firmly held together, they crawled the rest of the way up and laid on their stomachs in the palelight. And somehow, they both knew in that gorgeous, perfect moment that neither of them would ever forget those moments where they were together as friends-best friends- under the breathtaking glory of a galaxy far away.


"Reynolds?"

"Yes, Eight?"

"Can we play with the finger paints again?"

The seven-year-old was completely bored- after all, one could only play with trucks for so long before getting exhausted of the same thing. Much to his disappointment, his Cepan frowned and shook his head a bit sadly. Ever since the last time the little Garde had gotten into the finger paint and got it all over the main part of the ship, Brandon had personally confiscated it from not only them but from the adventurous, kleptomaniac mentor Cepan. Now both Garde and Cepan were in a predicament for something to do for the day's adventure; it was quite puzzling to Eight.

"No fair..." he finally just whined.

Reynolds sensed the signs of a temper tantrum and got a spark for an idea, "Eight, go get the other Garde. I've got a better idea than those silly calisthenics today."

"Yay!" Eight, having always hated the routine of calisthenics, ran to fetch the others.

In no time, all of the Garde and Cepans were gathered in the main area of the ship. Reynolds stood in the middle of it all, handing out two different colors to each side in various materials. Soon, there were two teams with red and the blue representing the difference with the Garde and Cepans mixed up.

"Now," he announced proudly, "this will be a challenge of smarts, speed, bravery, and strength. To win you have to be giving your all and work as a team."

"This is stupid..." One grumbled bitterly, earning her a stern look from Hessu and getting her hand grabbed by Eight, who was a fellow 'blue'.

"Come on, the team needs you!" he insisted, eager for the new game.

Reynolds remained unfazed by One's reluctance to be a team player and held up two plastic blocks about the size of his hands, "The object is to get the blocks from the other side and back to yours without getting caught. I call this game Capture the Block, and now it's time to chose the captain."

"I think Reynolds should be ours!" Eight volunteered his beloved Cepan.

"Buddy, I'm the ref," the Cepan chuckled gently, "chose either Brandon, Sandor, Kater, or Adel."

Eight pouted a bit before looking at the other Cepans as well as his Garde teammates- One, Four, and Six. One was still pouty and Six had her gaze locked on Nine, who was smirking, so he turned to Four and shook his arm.

"Should we chose Brandon or Sandor?" he whispered not-so-quietly.

Four seemed surprised at his indecision, "Brandon, 'course. He super duper smart!"

Brandon, despite the slight childish-ness of the action, smirked a bit to Sandor before Eight protested, "Yeah, but Sandor's super duper cool!" Now it was Sandor's turn to smirk a bit at the other, more experienced Cepan.

"Let's just be Kater and move on..." Six mumbled, and her Cepan stepped forward with a small smirk to both of them.

"Step aside, boys," she instructed with a playful wink at them, "I'll show you how it's done."

In no time the two sides were at each other. Not very surprisingly, Six, Nine, and Five all ended up in quite the brawl in no time, each trying to escape the wrestling mass they were in to get to the other sides. Their Cepans, of course, were attemping to seperate them a little and keep the game fair as the others ran around like mad. Four and Two both kept tripping over their own fast feet, and One had given up on both sides and had stalked off to the girls' room. Three managed to almost get the block to other side twice, but he had to be stopped his Cepan reminding him it was the wrong side to go to. Seven was too shy to participate, so Adel was now coaxing her to try while EIght whined at Reynolds for everybody not playing right.

"Maybe a different game...?" Reynolds suggested helplessly, annoyed by the outcome himself.

Eight sighed, "We gotta finish this one first."

With that, he took off to the other side in a hurry. Nine noticed suddenly from his struggles and took after the older boy, letting out a battle cry as he grabbed up the block. Eight squeaked in alarm with a wide, satisfied grin on his face, taking off for his side, only to be tackled by the equally spirited child. The two boys rolled around, both grabbing at each others blue rag/red banana to get each other out. Nine landed an elbow in Eight's sides, eliciting a cry out and a kick the hip.

Suddenly, both's where swiped from above, making both squeal. Brandon towered over both, saying solemnly, "That's enough of that, young men."

"But we're playing a game!" Eight whined and clutched the block to his chest.

Four's Cepan merely picked both of them up, standing them on their feet steadily and taking the block with some level of prying, "And now the game's over."

"But nobody won!" Eight kept whining as Nine pouted, "IT'S NOT FAIR!"

"Young man..." Brandon's voice held a evident octave of warning, but the seven-year-old male was on a roll.

"You're so boring and unfair! Everytime we have fun, you're all like 'That's enough' or 'You have to stop because of blah, blah, blah'. I dunno know why Four loves you; you're not any fun and make everybody else all said! You're not the boss of me, or Nine, or nobody! You shouldn't even be the boss of Four! I'm tired of you...all of us are! You're the worst and I hate you!"

After finishing the little lecture with a hurt-filled glare, Eight ran to the boys' room in tears.


"E-Eight?"

"What do you want, Four?" Eight grumbled bitterly at the other boy's soft speaking. He wasn't in the mood to be in trouble all over again, not at all.

"Um...I wanted to give you a gift..." Four was nervous and it was evident by how he squeaked out his answer. Only because of that did Eight lift his red, tear-stained face from his pillow and look at the younger boy.

He was clutching something that looked Loric in his tiny hands. It was obviously a necklace, and Eight was not amused as he yelled, "I don't want no dummy necklace! Go away!"

Before he could completely ignore the younger's soft sniffles and apparent tears, he heard him whisper, "It...it a pendent.."

Eight thought on that one. His grandmother always told him a Loric pendant was always something to be proud of- it was for honor and pride. He looked up and was kind of surprised to see Brandon scooping up his Garde gently, taking the pendant and holding it out to the curly-haired Garde.

"I thought I'd give you yours early," he explained gently but solemnly, "keep up with this always, even on Earth. It's for your planet."

With his little hands shaking, the boy accepted the gift and slipped it around his neck. Even if he might have liked for Reynolds to bestow such a thing to him, he was honored someone as smart as Brandon would do it, too. Tears sprang back into his eyes as he threw his arms around the Cepan's neck, allowing himself to be lifted out of the bed and cuddled a bit with Four.

"I'm...I'm glad I know you," Eight whispered.

Even if it's only for now.