UPDATE 2/17/19: From Chapter 5: Savior of the Saviors onwards, there is a major overhaul, especially to Lucas and Ness's characters. This was done in order to have a much better written other half of the story in general, since a younger me was not as invested in the other side of the story as I am now.

(Un)fortunately this means there is a very large chance whatever 'Nesscas' hints will be inevitably written out or at least a lot less 'in-your-face'. I, personally, do not mind no longer having Nesscas in this fic - but this is a fair warning for readers new and old alike.

Re-edited sections of the chapter such as cutting up sentences and the like to better match later chapters. Working on a major overhaul.

XIV: The Tree

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It had been a long time since Lucas had laid out on the grass to watch the stars.

After a moment in memory of the kind Magypsy Doria, the children of Tazmily, the saviors of the past, and Princess Kumatora all made their way back home on the train, most of the DP courtesy of Lucas. Kumatora had however eventually caved in afterwards and paid for herself and the other girls, to their surprise and delight. Lucas didn't oppose to it, but it did feel like a stab at what little masculinity he still had, or at least, that was what had crossed his mind then, though it disappeared immediately because he knew Kumatora only meant well.

As the sun sank below the horizon once more, bathing Tazmily in the quiet blue glow of the night, fireflies – as in little lightning bugs, not the weird creatures Lucas fought on an almost daily basis on his way to the Drago Plateau – bursting into life and dancing in the air. Caught up in their childhood, most of them stopped to watch in awe, with Alle even holding out her palm as one landed on it and skittered around curiously, making her giggle.

Lucas did not miss the soft look that had crossed Poo's face at that moment. The thought that the stoic prince thought dearly of his white haired friend made Lucas smile, if only a little, as he glanced at Ness, who didn't seem to care for the bugs, having seen many of them as a child in Onett. One landed on his nose, and the Onett resident went cross-eyed, staring at it, until he batted it away, sniffing. The action made him scrunch up his nose a little in such a way that he looked rather adorable, at least to the blond boy with the cowlick.

Lucas's stomach churned, but not unpleasantly.

"Oh, you're back!" He turned, and saw Nichol and Duster by the path to Lucas's house, waving them over. Boney wagged his tail as he paced around their legs, perking up at the sight of his blond master. It had been Duster who had spoken, commenting as they came closer, "Heh, guess this means you get to punch me in the stomach, huh, Tora?"

The pink haired young woman grinned. "Treat me out to dinner instead and we'll call it off."

"Why're you going to punch Duster in the stomach?" Lucas asked, bewildered.

Kumatora glanced at him and chuckled. "I told Duster we'd end up meeting with you guys at some point during the day before going home, and he said it wouldn't happen. We made a bet that if we did meet I get to punch him in the stomach."

"Apparently, taking her out to dinner constitutes as a substitute." Duster laughed good-naturedly before telling Lucas, Ness, Jeff and Poo, "Flint has been waiting for you guys. You'd best hurry back."

"I'd best get home too, or Dad will have my head." Nichol held a hand out to his sister, who took it without hesitation before they both waved goodbye to the group, heading on home.

Fuel shifted the 2x4 on his shoulder. "I have to get home too. Dad will need a little help getting dinner ready and I have to bring Angie home too."

"Oh, you should show Duster and Boney what you can do, Fuel!" Lucas beamed. "Duster, can you believe that Fuel can use PSI too?!"

The man raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Hold on a bit… uh…" Fuel walked over to a wide space covered in cobblestone, far from the houses and any combustible objects before declaring, "PK Firewall!" and slamming his lumber on the ground like he did before, and just like that, a wall of flames erupted from the end of his 2x4 and encircling him, completely covering him in blazing hot fire.

"(That's so cool!)" Boney yipped, wagging his tail wildly as Fuel let the flames die down again before coming over again.

Fuel held a hand to his forehead. "Is it normal to feel dizzy after using that stuff? PSI, I mean?"

"You're running out of energy, probably. You should probably go home, man." Ness cautioned.

Angie laced her fingers with Fuel's, looking up at the taller boy in concern. "Come on, Fuel. We'll tell your dad you'll be having dinner at our house, the two of you."

"What? But-"

"Come on, your dad loves my mom's cooking. Er, baking." An uncharacteristically soft look crossed the brunette's face as she squeezed Fuel's hand. "Mom won't mind if you stay over, and maybe… you can stay after? We can have a sleepover."

Lucas wasn't absolutely sure, but in the light of the fireflies, it kind of looked like Fuel's cheeks had turned pink. "A s-sleepover?"

"That's a wonderful idea!" Alle exclaimed, making everyone look at her. "We haven't slept under the stars in forever, you guys! It's been like, what, years?"

Kumatora shifted her weight to her other foot as she crossed her arms. "So I'm guessing Duster and I will be chaperones to this whole event if it does happen?"

"No, not necessarily, though you can come and join us!" The gentle illumination the fireflies cast on Alle's face made her eyes shine with pronounced hope. "Come on, you guys. Please? I'll call Richie and Nichol and see if they want to join too if we're gonna have one!"

Poo, Jeff and Ness glanced at each other before Jeff spoke up. "Your parents let you sleep under the stars and that already counts as a sleepover?"

"Technically… they only allow it when it's near our house." Lucas rubbed his arm sheepishly. "Our area is the safest from chimeras, and the cliffs have the best view of the stars and the freshest air."

Angie looked miffed that her attempt at coaxing only Fuel to stay for the night had been ruined, but she still looked interested as she asked, "Hey, do you think our names are still on that old tree on top of the cliff?"

"You mean the one we etched on when we were ten?" Lucas cocked his head a little, closing his eyes, trying to remember, before nodding vigorously. "Yeah, it's probably still there. Nothing's touched that old tree in forever, so we should be able to see it still."

"We should go check it out!" Angie said excitedly, clinging to Fuel's arm. "Fuel, don't you think so?"

Fuel laughed. "Whatever you say, Angie."

"Does this mean…?" Alle turned to all of them. "Are we really going to…?"

"Yeah; we're gonna have a sleepover." Lucas replied, his heart soaring at Alle's beaming face. "I… okay, I'll tell Dad we're going to sleep outside tonight. You guys go gather the blankets and pillows."

Poo looked a little bothered. "Is this… customary of you here in Tazmily?"

"It used to be… before my mother died." Lucas looked away, and everyone fell silent, unsure of how to respond to that. After a few moments, however, the boy sighed and smiled weakly. "I'm sorry, that was a mood-killer. I'm glad we're doing this again, Alle, I really am."

"It's not a Tazmily kid sleepover without you, Luke." Alle replied earnestly, wrapping her arms around Lucas and giving him a gentle squeeze. "I'll go ask if Richie and Nichol can come with us now, okay?"

"Okay."

"Come on, Fuel, we still have to ask your dad to come over to our house for dinner." Tugging him along, Angie led the gentle giant away, her tiny hand engulfed in his large one.

Without another word, Lucas headed back towards his house quietly, the three unintentional time travelers trudging after him, the melancholy hanging low in the air. Duster gave them a concerned look before kneeling down, ruffling the fur on Boney's head, and heading off with Kumatora, not really intending to intrude on the sleepover. It was a sleepover for the kids in Tazmily, not 'Duster and Kumatora babysit nine teenagers', after all. Boney himself ran after Lucas, panting, until the blond slowed, letting himself walk at a more leisurely pace than his previous steps, which were slightly hurried.

As Jeff and Poo made to follow Lucas, Ness lingered a little, watching the three boys retreat to the house overlooking the ocean for a bit, hands in his pockets. The sudden melancholy that had fallen over the group at the memory of Lucas's mother's death hadn't flown over his head, so he was rather concerned about Lucas's current emotional state.

"Hey."

Ness blinked and glanced behind him. "Oh, Alle, you're still here?"

"..." The white haired girl had a firefly perched on her dainty little finger, glowing gently as she looked at Ness; the firefly's light illuminating her face as she spoke, "You're worried about Luke too, huh?"

"He's my friend; of course I am!" Ness exclaimed in reply, facing her fully. The firefly left her finger to float lazily around again as he added, "I mean… he just suddenly quieted down, and it's really unsettling 'cause-"

"You don't know what to do when Lucas suddenly looks gloomy, huh?" Alle's chuckle was light and airy as she reached out to touch Ness's chest, where they both assumed the heart was. "It's okay. Just let him know that we're – you're – there for him. That's how it works."

"How are you so knowledgeable about this sort of stuff?"

"Oh, I'm not, really." Alle let her hand fall back to her side. "It's just that… well, I live with Nana."

"And?"

"Nana doesn't exactly have parents."

"Everyone has parents."

"Not Nana." Alle shook her head sadly as she adjusted the strap of her dress. "For as long as I can remember, Nana's been the one kid in the whole town without any sort of relative. Richie and Nichol have their parents, Angie has hers, Fuel has his dad, Lucas has his dad, and I had my parents and sort-of grandfather. Nana had nobody."

Ness's gaze softened. "That's… really sad. How did she live here all alone?"

"My parents took her in the moment they realized that Nana was all by herself. That's what I meant when I said I live with Nana." The girl played with one of her braids idly. "She's like my sister, practically, and… sometimes I see parallels between her and Lucas during times like these."

"…?"

"You'll understand when you meet Nana." Alle shook her head, laughing, before shooing him. "Now, shoo, go after him. He's probably biting his knuckles off worrying about you."

Ness paled. "Would he really?"

"No, of course not!" The lilac eyed girl gave him an incredulous stare. "Just go, darn it!"

"Okay, okay!" And off he went, waving goodbye to Alle, who skipped over to Richie and Nichol's house to inform them and their parents of the arrangements.

Hours later, Ness woke up leaning against a rather old – practically ancient – tree to a weight on his shoulder. And a weight on his lap too.

No, wait, it was just Jeff and Richie, the former leaning on his shoulder and drooling, glasses askew, while the latter's head was on his lap, cushioned by a pillow. His cap was on Jeff's lap, discarded.

Shifting slightly, the boy tried to adjust his posture. In response, Jeff groaned and lolled his head over to the shoulder of the person on his other side, who turned out to be a fast-asleep Poo, Alle leaning into his shoulder and sleeping peacefully, nuzzling his neck in her sleep. Richie whined as Ness tried to move, and ended up rolling over, smacking Nichol in the face. Her brother grumbled and flipped over, burying his face in his pillow as Fuel snored loudly next to him, Angie sandwiched between the tall brunet and an unfamiliar blonde haired girl in a frilly pink dress that could only be Nana, though Ness couldn't see her face because she was turned away from him. She must have arrived when we dozed off. At least she came.

The 'sleepover' – or, as Ness liked to call it, 'a sleepover under the stars' – had gone particularly well. Most of the time was spent with the Tazmily kids examining the etchings on the tree excitedly, and then a few pillow fights here and there. Nobody had worn their pajamas to the 'sleepover'; they had continued to wear what they had worn that day, but nobody was really bothered since laundry day was the day after.

After much discussion of random topics, Poo had offered to end the night with a short show of PK Starstorm, much to everyone's delight, though his exhaustion was evident when he finally collapsed against the tree, eyes closed and breathing heavy, but a smile gracing his face.

Ness smiled fondly at the memory of the activities they had done. Everyone had been so excited to sleep under the stars again, and Alle had been hyped about Nana finally joining them that night, though it seemed that Nana had only barely made it, judging from the way she was curled up away from Ness, still in what he presumed was her work uniform. Alle had mentioned her working at someplace until late at night.

Wait… Ness's eyes narrowed as he flexed his limbs, looking around. Where's… Luke?

A rustling in the leaves above made Ness look up, and he squinted. Identifying Lucas's red and yellow shoe amongst the branches and leaves, the boy quietly stood up, making sure not to wake up anyone, before grabbing onto a nearby branch and swinging himself up, accidentally making one of his shoes fall off. The shoe bonked Nichol on the head and the boy growled into his pillow before falling asleep again.

Wow, that was close. With a sigh of relief, Ness precariously balanced on the tree branch he was on before looking up to find Lucas again. When he found a long fair skinned leg, he shimmied up some more until finally, he found Lucas's freckled face staring out at the ocean, looking wistful.

"DP for your thoughts?" Lucas started at Ness's voice, almost falling out of the tree. At the sight of the grinning violet eyed boy, however, the blond relaxed, shifting so that the shorter boy had enough space to sit by his side. Ness climbed up and sat a few centimeters away from him, looking at him curiously. "What's up, Luke?"

"Us, obviously." The blond replied, gesturing to their spot above most of the others with one hand.

Ness snorted. "I meant what's up with you."

"My hair, if you have yet to notice."

"Now you're just being a smartass."

Lucas laughed; Ness decided that it was a lovely sound to listen to, and thus, grinned goofily upon hearing it. "The pot calling the kettle black, it would seem."

"Seriously though, are you okay?" The raven haired boy appraised his companion with a thoughtful look, hands keeping his body nice and steady on the branch. "Is something bothering you? You've been rather withdrawn the whole time, man."

"I certainly was not." There was a certain petulant tone in Lucas's voice that made Ness snicker loudly, which, in turn, made the blond flush a bright red despite the darkness. "H-hey, I wasn't! Don't laugh at me! A-and nothing's bothering me. I swear."

Ness rolled his eyes. "Sure you weren't, buddy. Was it…" Okay, tread carefully, Ness. "… Was it about your mom?"

"…" Lucas glanced away, biting his lip.

Ness's lips pursed in understanding. "… I won't ask further if it'll make you sad, man. I just… I dunno… I want you to know that if you… wanna talk about it… I'm here, okay?" At the blond turning to train his gaze on him, Ness rubbed the back of his neck with one hand awkwardly. "I mean, it's totally fine that you don't want to talk and all but I'm here if you do, okay?"

"… I can't understand how you can be this nice, but… thank you." Lucas's gaze softened, as did his voice. Shifting a little closer, Lucas inched sideways until they were sitting right next to each other, his right thigh and knee touching Ness's left ones. Such proximity normally would have made Lucas flush a slight red in embarrassment, but at the moment, he wasn't feeling embarrassed or anything. Rather, he was relishing in the quiet comfort of his friend's presence, said boy humming contentedly as they watched the water rise and sink lazily in waves.

"… Ness?"

"Yes, Luke?"

"Tell… tell me about Paula."

"Paula?" Ness blinked. "Oh. Um… what did you want to know about her?"

Lucas shifted, staring thoughtfully down at his knees for a few moments, as if deciding internally on something. In the end, however, he found himself leaning on Ness, the Onett native's shorter stature making his head rest on Ness's head, instead of Ness's shoulder. Oh well. "How did you… meet her, I guess? One of you guys mentioned having never met before going on a world-saving journey."

"That… would be Jeff's doing. I don't recall me or Poo saying that." Ness pondered the random act of closeness his friend was currently doing with heated cheeks, though he was thankful that Lucas couldn't see the maroon tinge on his cheeks. "Paula was the one who brought us all together, essentially."

"How so?"

"It was her PSI that called out to me and Jeff, and by means of extension, Poo, who was aware of his role from the beginning." Ness adjusted himself a little so that Lucas's head rested a little better on his before continuing. "She called out for me to save her from these cultists, and then she called out for Jeff to save us from our prison underground."

"Cultists?"

Ness laughed; he could practically hear the confused furrow of Lucas's brow, even without looking. "Yeah. They were obsessed with the color blue, and they were all like 'blue, blue'. Pretty weird stuff, if you ask me."

At this, Lucas snorted. "Can't be as weird as waking up to the sight of your brother sitting on your torso, his face way too close for comfort."

"Oh, boy howdy." Ness grimaced; Tracy had done that to him once, just to freak him out. Needless to say, his mother wasn't very pleased when Tracy ran downstairs with a black eye. Ness hadn't intended to punch her in the face, really, he hadn't. He had just been really startled. "Tracy did that once. It wasn't pretty."

"Sibling?"

"Sister." Ness clarified. "Pretty short-"

"Has to be, if you're related."

Ness made a face. "That was low, Lucas."

"As low as you?" Lucas seemed to sense that Ness was annoyed, because he managed to move away and laugh when Ness shifted and swatted at him. "Hahaha, sorry, I couldn't resist."

"Whatever, you beanstalk." Ness rolled his eyes before scooting back to Lucas's side, as if inviting the blond to lean on him again, which he did. "Anyway, like I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, she's pretty short for a girl her age, but it's scary how she's quickly becoming taller than me. Really cute, I guess. Our neighbor's little brother likes her."

"Neighbor's little brother?"

"Picky Minch. Nice kid; he's the only good Minch there, honestly speaking." Ness scratched the back of his neck with one hand. "Pokey was nice, but then he turned evil and wanted to destroy the world with Giygas, so… yeah. We used to be childhood best friends."

Lucas gave him a sideways glance, even though he knew Ness wouldn't see it because of their position. "That's sad."

"Guess it was, kinda, in a way, but I got to meet Jeff, Paula, and Poo because of them, which is good." Ness smiled softly. "And… by extension, I got to meet you because of following them here." A pregnant pause passed between the two of them as Fuel made a loud snore and Nichol made a corresponding noise of irritation. "… You and your friends, I mean. Not just you because obviously I also met-"

"Ness, stop, I get it."

"Sorry."

"… They still haven't placed where you guys came from on the maps, you know."

"It's weird, yeah." Ness rubbed at his cheek ruefully. "It's like the world we knew was destroyed and this is the only island for miles and miles. But that can't be true, right?"

Lucas made a slight shrugging motion with his left shoulder. "I wouldn't know. The Nowhere Islands is the only home I've known all my life and these Pigmasks are basically taking apart everything I've known and slowly replacing it with their technology."

"Modernization isn't necessarily a bad thing."

The blond sighed, his breath escaping in wisps in the cool night air. "Yes, I guess so… but it doesn't really make me all that happy."

"Hey." Ness, on impulse, grabbed Lucas's hand, which had been on the taller boy's lap, and laced their fingers together, squeezing it reassuringly. That always worked with Tracy. "That's okay. Not everything has to be something you're happy about, right? You're entitled to your own opinions about things, and if it's not okay with you, then it's not. There's nothing wrong with that. Your opinions matter."

The tips of Lucas's ears turned slightly red at the sudden handholding Ness had initiated, but at his words, he made a small smile, his gaze tender. "… Thanks, Ness."

"For what? I was just telling the truth." Ness grinned cheekily, knowing that Lucas would know he was grinning even though they weren't looking at each other.

The two boys laughed – quietly, so that the others wouldn't be disturbed – to themselves, Lucas's head still resting on top of Ness's, their knees still touching, and their hands still laced together, watching the waves lap and crash against the large stones in the distance. Despite the chill of the night, the two boys were actually feeling rather cozy, just sitting there with each other, breathing slow and steady.

"I'm feeling kind of…" Ness yawned a little. "Sleepy now, damn. Should we climb down?"

Lucas blinked, lifting his head from its spot on top of Ness's and moving away a bit, the shorter boy immediately feeling colder at the missing contact. "You can go down, Ness. I'll be up here for a little while longer, okay?"

"Still got some things to think about, huh?" Ness finally turned to look at his friend fully, and finally noticed the redness in his friend's ears and cheeks. In the light the moonlight cast over most of the Nowhere Islands, Lucas's face was illuminated in such a way that it brought attention to his facial features, and Ness couldn't help but notice the way the sky was reflected in the blond's expressive eyes.

The stars seemed to twinkle just a little more in Lucas's eyes.

Lucas nodded, turning his head to look at Ness. "Yeah, I guess so. I can't really sleep when I'm bothered about something. You should go sleep."

"I can't just leave you up here, dude." Ness lifted a leg and straddled the branch so that he was facing Lucas fully, hands gripping the branch. "What if you fall asleep mid-thought and you fall out of the tree? Who'll be there to catch you?"

Despite himself, Lucas's ears colored a little more, but he tried to play it off with a teasing smirk. "So you're saying you'll catch me if I fall?"

"Of course!" Ness declared matter-of-factly, something that startled Lucas. At his friend's look, he raised an eyebrow. "Why's that so surprising to you?"

The blond blinked again, and then rubbed the back of his neck, laughing nervously. "I-It's not that surprising-"

"It was written all over your face, Luke, don't lie to me. Why were you so surprised?"

"I wasn't surprised that you'd catch me." Which was true: Ness seemed to have that one 'hero' bone in his body that made him want to save everything and everyone. "I was… surprised that you answered like that."

"Like what?"

"You said 'of course'. So…" Lucas felt rather silly now, the redness spreading to his cheeks until he was pretty much crimson. "Oh, gods, I sound really stupid."

Ness gave him a lopsided grin. "Luke, c'mon, we're friends, aren't we? 'Course I'd catch you if you fell! That's why… I'm going to stay up here with you until you fall asleep!"

"… What?"

"You heard me!" Ness declared. "I'm not going to leave your side all night! You're just gonna have to suck it up and deal with me until you decide that you're going to go to sleep!"

"That might take a while."

"I'll wait for you."

Lucas's gaze softened considerably, and then without another word, he gestured for Ness to move, the Onett boy complying and scooting over to the part of the tree where all the branches met and formed a sort of bowl, the boy sliding inside and tucking his legs in, back leaning against a thicker branch. Lucas straddled the branch he had been on earlier and faced Ness, peering down at him curiously before snorting at how cute he looked. Ness, thinking that he was laughing at him, stuck his tongue out at his taller friend before crossing his arms, a hand gesturing for him to continue what he had been doing prior.

"You look cute." The words came out before Lucas could stop himself.

Ness gave him a wide eyed look. "What?"

"You heard me." Might as well just stay true to your word, Lucas. Don't take it back or he'll think you're a butt. "Keep that up and Richie might target you next."

"What?!"

"I'm just kidding." Lucas let himself slide down the branch so that he was sitting right next to Ness in the tiny space in the middle of the tree. It was rather cramped, due to Lucas's long-leggedness and Ness's stockiness. "Ness, move a bit, it's cramped."

"I was here first, you move!" Ness complained.

"Bah." Lucas stuck his tongue out at him, and Ness replied in turn, before the two boys began shifting, trying to find a comfortable position as Fuel's snores and Nichol's irritated grumbling continued to pierce the air. In the end, the most comfortable position had Lucas leaning against a particularly thick branch while Ness sat in between his legs, which kept them steady. Ness rested on his side, his head rested against Lucas's chest, his arms crossed over his knees and his legs tucked under his chin.

"This is so weird." Ness confessed.

Lucas raised an eyebrow. "This?"

"Yeah. This looks so…" He thought a bit. "… gay?"

"Well, we are happy, aren't we?" Lucas smiled at him brightly, all prior sad thoughts momentarily disappearing in the back of his mind as he grinned at their closeness. "Besides, you said you wouldn't leave until I fell asleep."

"I said I'd wait until you fell asleep in case you fell." Ness corrected. "But that works too, I guess. Now go to sleep."

"What if I don't want to?"

"Go to sleep, Luke."

"No, you go to sleep."

"I will when you will."

"Well, there's the dilemma. I won't until you will."

"WILL YOU TWO JUST GO THE HELL TO SLEEP?!" Angie roared from her spot, silencing the two in the tree instantly, both of them paling at the sound of her voice. Once they were sure she had fallen asleep again, they looked at each other, Ness's head inclining so that he could meet the gaze that Lucas cast downward.

"Well, you heard her. We should both get to sleep." Ness told him seriously.

Lucas rolled his eyes, but nodded a little. "Alright. Try not to move too much or we'll both fall out of the tree."

"I still think this is a really weird position to sleep in."

"This was the most comfortable position for the both of us in this cramped space."

"Still!"

Sighing and shaking his head good-naturedly, Lucas did what his mother did to silence any arguments between him and Claus by pressing a kiss to Ness's hair, inconspicuously breathing in the scent of the shampoo Alle had lent the raven haired boy. It was flowery and so unlike Ness that he wanted to laugh, but it wasn't pure floral: it had a little bit of 'Ness' in it too, which made him pensive. "Come on, Ness. Let's go to sleep. Better little than no sleep at all, right?"

"…" Ness was silent, and with a start, Lucas realized that he had already fallen asleep, the Onett boy's chest rising and falling slowly with each breath.

"… Heh. Goodnight, Ness." Lucas smiled into his friend's hair, and glanced around a little, as if checking for anyone looking, before wrapping his arms around Ness's torso securely, the shorter boy almost sighing at the contact.

Without another word, Lucas fell asleep as well, still breathing in the scent of Ness's hair.