We're Back

The next thing any of them knew, they were sprawled out on the ground in front of the Telepod. Chrono welcomed the hard cobblestone in his face. For one, it told him he was still alive, but he also realized he was back home, at the Millennial Fair! He placed his hands to either side and pushed himself to his feet…

"Mmph!"

Or, tried to…

"Hey! Lucca! Nadia! Get off me! I can hardly breathe!"

"Welcome home to you, too."

Simultaneously they rolled off to greet the pavement personally. "Oaff!"

"We're back!" Chrono was suddenly cheerful.

The girls stood and stretched. Nadia was first to speak. "Okay, now what?"

Lucca tried not to laugh. "Sorry for putting you through all that, Princess Nadia."

"Quit calling me that!"

"All right then. But, sorry anyway."

"Are you kidding? That's the most fun I've had in months!"

Chrono shook his head. Sure it was. "Well, Nadia. I guess it's time to take you back home."

The girl jumped at the word. "I don't want to go back home."

Chrono pointed at the sun, just over the horizon. "It's getting late, and your father, of all people, is going to notice you're missing."

"Come on!"

Now Lucca joined. "Listen, Nadia. You've got to go back."

"No! The day isn't over yet. I'm not going home."

Chrono sighed. "Well, Lucca and me have to go back. So, if you're not coming, you'll stay here by yourself!" He stopped and scratched the back of his head. "Er… that is… unless you'd like to come with us."

"Yeah right!" Lucca covered her face.

"It's better than the alternative," her friend returned. "She could stay here by herself." He turned back to Nadia. "We could all go to my house. My mom probably already made me a…" he stopped, his eyes getting wide. "Mom!"

"What?" both girls asked.

"She's probably going crazy – I haven't been home in days!"

Lucca shook her head. "No, silly. You've only been gone a few hours."

"Excuse me?"

"Remember, we traveled through time? We're not on the same timeline?"

"You lost me."

Lucca gave Nadia an apologetic look, then continued. "Okay, this is us." She held up one hand. "We go in through this portal at – what time was it anyway? Let's say noon. Now we are in a different timeline." She held up the other hand. "The portal sent us to a specific point in time. So, no matter how long we stayed in the past – how long was it anyway? Three days, you said? Time did not travel in the present…" she waved the first hand, "until we returned, because the portal sent us to this particular time, only hours after our departure."

Chrono and Nadia were silent.

"Please tell me one of you understands. At least you, Nadia."

"Hey!" Chrono piped up. "I get it. At least… I get some of it."

"Look, never mind. Let's just say it doesn't matter. Now, Chrono, would you be the gentleman and escort the lady home?"

"We've been over this," Nadia glared at Lucca, hands on hips.

"Forget it." Lucca waved dismissingly. "I have to go home by myself anyway. My watch is a few days off, and I need it calibrated. Bye, Chrono, and don't drop her." She grinned and made her getaway.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Chrono and Nadia both did their best to leave the fair without getting sidetracked. Neither ventured to talk to the other – after all, there wasn't much to talk about aside from the generic small talk, and after the last three days, listening to someone talk about his last time at a social gathering or her day of spending money on various articles of nothing wasn't high on the list of things to do.

Once they had left the crowds of people, Chrono turned to the girl. "So, er… I guess we're going home, then?"

Nadia glared at him, but weakly said, "no. I don't want to go back."

"Well you can't just come to my home." Chrono waited for a response. "And that's where I'm going."

"Fine."

"No, you're not. I'm sure your father is missing you."

"Probably not."

"Sure he is. Someone is. Now come on, let's go."

"No…"

Chrono consciously put his hands to his sides. "All right. If you aren't going home, then I am!" He gave her one last look, and then stormed away.

"Wait!" Nadia cried. "Wait, don't leave." Chrono cringed, coming to a halt.

"You won't go home, and you sure aren't coming with me! If that's the case, you'll just stay here!"

"Why can't I?"

Chrono blinked. Either this was a new reverse psychology tactic, or he hadn't heard the girl right.

"Why can't I come with you?"

"Because." He lowered his head and gritted his teeth. "You can't."

Nadia almost laughed. "That's a silly reason."

"I don't… want you to."

"Well I don't want to go home. There you have it. One of us is going to be wrong."

"I don't have time for this." Chrono threw up his hands and turned to leave again.

"What, you're just going to leave me here?"

"Yes, I will!" He glared in her eyes. "Now come on!"

That stopped Nadia short. "What?"

"Are you coming, or do I have to leave you here?"

She smiled.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Hello, I'm back!" Chrono called as he stepped into his home. His mother turned from her daunting task of adjusting the curtains, which had fallen a hair out of the track.

"Chrono! Wow, you must have had some fun, because you've been gone all day! – and you brought… a friend. And a change of clothes…" her eyes narrowed.

"Er… yes." He fidgeted a little.

His mother gave him her special mind-reading stare. He shot back with his own this is not what you think! – stare. And, of course, they ignored each others warnings.

She turned to address the girl standing very close (and at the same time very far) from Chrono. "So, what is your name?"

"I'm… er, Marle."

"You don't remember?" Mom chuckled.

Nadia stood in silence for a moment, as if cornered.

"Oh, I didn't mean to embarrass you." She looked again at her son. "All right, Chrono, you're just in time for dinner."

"What?" he shot a worried look at Nadia.

"No, I'm kidding. But I can make dinner for you, and your friend Marle."

"Oh, no, no!" Chrono jumped. "Er – Marle was just on her way home… and I was taking her. We're just stopping to check in… and…"

"Right."

"Marle just lives a few minutes away, honest."

Mom peered at the stranger. "Is that why you look so familiar!"

"No, no. Maybe you have her mixed up with someone else."

Nadia could see Chrono faltering, so she came to the rescue. "I'm just visiting for the fair. You know, the Millennial Fair."

"I know the Millennial Fair. What other fair is there?" Mom chuckled to herself again – which greatly unnerved Chrono. "All right then, if you're just on your way home, it was nice meeting you, Marle. Be sure to stop by some other time. And Chrono," she called as the two hurried out the door, "I'll get dinner ready when you… never mind."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"That was close. I told you this was a stupid idea." Chrono held his hair in his hands.

"What's so stupid. All I had to do was tell her I was someone else visiting relatives – why did you tell her we were leaving? As if she wasn't suspicious enough?"

"You want to go back there?" He pointed to his house around the corner.

"We can't now!"

Chrono held up a hand. "I'm sorry. But I can't take you anywhere – you just draw too much attention."

"I do not! I didn't at the fair!"

"Forget it. Just… we told my mom we'd be gone a few minutes. I need to take you home."

Nadia sat down hard. "I thought I made it clear we weren't going there."

Chrono heaved a great sigh and continued. "There is no way you can stay here. If you don't come with me, you'll be stuck out here. To make matters worse… you're a princess. If you go missing, the entire kingdom will be out looking for you." He smiled triumphantly. "Now will you come, or will you wait for the royal guard to drag you by your ponytail all the way back?" He glared into her eyes.

She refused his glare. "Yes."

Without an extra second, Chrono turned on his heels and stomped off. Nadia stood stunned for a moment – "and that's all, I suppose. Hello, goodbye." – before tentatively following.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I know it has been a long time - but I'm sure the updates won't come any faster. Except maybe during holidays, when I have some time off. But for now, bear with me. I'm writing as fast as I can without removing things from the story.

One thing I need to say right off the bat - bad grammar. If you are into reviewing, go ahead and point out all the bad grammar. Some of the grammatical "errors" are actually put in on purpose - especially when in quotes. I do this because sometimes if I change the rule for a sentence it has a certain impact... I don't do it often, though. The best examples would be glaring fragments or run-on sentences, and those pesky sentences beginning with AND, BUT, or OR.

Second, characters: I don't know about you, but I am surprised at how these characters are turning out. I know, you're thinking he's the author, he should know his characters. Wrong. I only decided their basic traits. Then, when the plot happens, their characters can emerge, often changing what I was planning to write a few chapters later. So if you don't like some of the character development, you're in a real pickle because you can't blame anyone except your personal tastes...

I'll update whenever.