Back at the motel...
With Jenny and Makoto...
"You kissed Leaf?" Jenny asked Makoto, after the robot explained what she did.
"He saved my life back there in the cave." Makoto said, looking at Jenny across from her on her bed. "You saved me by placing that battery, but if I fell down that trench...I'd probably be destroyed for good." Jenny nods her head.
"I see your point there. But really, you're in love with that Leaf boy? Really?" Makoto lays down onto her bed, before Jenny sat down onto her own. "All because he saved your life? No offense, but I don't think that Lois Lane and Superman was love at first sight...just saying." Makoto kept her eyes on the ceiling, imagining Leaf to herself.
"But he still saved my life, and after our talk at the gas station, I felt open about talking to him about what had happened to me before Esma took my battery out." Makoto looked horrified remembering that moment. "I...still feel angry, and bothered by remembering that I was not able to notice anything for a couple months, but I felt comfortable with talking to Leaf about what had happened, since...I feel safe whenever I am around him. He seems like I can tell him anything." Jenny cringed a little bit, before speaking once again.
"I'm not so sure he felt good about the whole kiss thing, you know? He really didn't seem too pleased by the fact that you kissed him out there when we left you guys alone."
"I've given him enough time for him to be alone..."
"He's with James right now."
"I meant I've left him alone to let that kiss sink in. Allow him to think about it." Makoto sat up, turning her head to face Jenny. "...He seemed like all he really needs is to think about what had happened. Then...if he's willing to, talk about it. He really did seem pretty freaked out, admittedly enough...but I felt like space is all he needs right now."
"...And you think now is a good time to talk to him?"
"Yes."
"I don't know, Makoto...I mean, you're a nice girl and all, but I think Leaf needs a little more time to get use to getting through something like that. Even more so, you DID kind of just kissed him without warning. He still probably feels rather shocked by what you've done." Makoto looks down.
"Maybe I should've kept that kiss to myself. I thought that he'd feel the same exact way."
The robot girl then stood up off of the bed, and walked over to the door out of the motel room. She walks opens the door, before looking behind herself, looking at Jenny, who was now just watching TV. Makoto shook her head, before deciding to finally heading out of the room to go talk to Leaf about what just happened.
Meanwhile...
With James and Leaf now...
The two boys decided to go to the roof since neither of them could really get any sort of sleep whatsoever. James was looking at the stars, with Leaf laying next to him, also looking at the stars as well. The elf just stared up at the sky, just enjoying the sight of these stars, before James finally spoke to the elf.
"Hey, dude...I'm sorry if I seemed pretty angry with you back there with Preston and Esma." James said. "I mean, we've been wanting to keep the magic secret from them, and...I can't really blame me or you for what happened. Esma just had to have a pistol, and Preston had to get prepared to kick my ass." The geeky goth smirked, before shaking his head. "Lets be honest here, I may look weak, but since I've been hanging out with Goth Boy for a majority of the time I was at my hometown, I would've kicked Preston's ass."
"Eh, I had to protect you guys somehow." Leaf said. "I mean...I couldn't really imagine what would've happened if I lost you guys now."
"I really didn't want you to use magic just so those two can't end up using that against you somehow." James sighed. "Truthfully...I guess I kind of owe you one, since you did save my life back there." Leaf chuckles.
"I guess Makoto owes me too." Leaf then sat up from the ground, looking at James. "But hey dude, I've felt confident about using my magic to protect myself and others. I don't think I can be in any sort of danger." Leaf then looks forward at the forest in front of them. "However, I guess it might be possible one of these days. I don't know."
"Maybe..." James then looks over to Leaf again. "Hey, Leaf...just curious...how was life back in the Forest of the Elves anyway? You've mentioned it a lot, and...I guess it's been pretty vague to me...what is it like to actually live there?"
Leaf looks down at his own feet. He closes his eyes for a couple moments, before looking over to the geeky goth he was sitting next to. He didn't want to be asked that kind of question, but since James is actually asking anyway, it's only fair to be honest with him now.
"Well...let's just say that...I'm probably the only elf out of all of those other ones to be kind of a lazy person..." Leaf said to the geeky goth. "...Well, not from the start, I mean. Before I ended up liking rock music, I was just like every other elf on my island."
"How did you end up liking rock n' roll music anyway?" James asked him. "I doubt those elves knew what that exactly was..."
"That's where a cruise ship came in. I believe it's around...the fifties or seventies, or...whatever...when I ended up discovering a jukebox drifting off to our island. I, at first, thought it was some sort of box that the mermaids were giving us, but it really was a working jukebox. Then I listened to what was on it...Elvis Presley, Bruce Springsteen, Ozzy Osbourne, Fleetwood Mac, Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, Franki Valli, many more that...I forgotten. I was like...damn this is awesome...and it made me think...I wondered what else the humans had over here that was so cool, and awesome." James looks forward, shrugging a shoulder.
"All I can really say, if you were really around in the fifties...and...truthfully, I don't exactly know how long you are, but...I can tell you, you missed a lot of things while you were at that island."
"I know. I wish I was here sooner." Leaf looks up at the sky again. "Aside from the fact that there was that Morcubus guy, walking around with Esma and...whoever you said was with him as well...but...hey, at least he's in jail now. Thank God." Leaf chuckles a bit, looking down at the roof below him. "But still, I'm surprised that there's other things I've never heard of over here. I mean, Nirvana, Green Day, Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nickelback, Fall Out Boy...dang, I have a lot to look forward too around here." Leaf then looks over to James, frowning a bit. "But...that would be a...thing that made me...hated by the other elves..."
"What? You? Who would hate you?"
"I kind of ended up a rebel to the rest of the elves. They think me liking the human stuff around here, and being interested in what they were like made them see me as nothing more but a complete joke." The elf then stood up onto his own feet, pacing in front of the goth. "...I mean, just because I like to know what more there could be to you humans...then they mock and bully me...even my own crush...Petal...did I mention her to you?"
"You...never said you had a crush, like at all."
"Well, I lied, because I didn't want you to know what kind of life I had back then before I came here...I was an idiot to those other elves..." Leaf then looks up at the sky, frowning. "...Even Petal wanted nothing to do with me...she sided with the other elves..." The elf looks down at the geeky goth, glaring at him. "To be fair, I should've seen that coming...considering that she is...like the best student in her classes. Every time I tried to talk to her, she ignores me..."
"That's kind of like how Goth Boy saw me at first..."
"You had a crush on Goth Boy?"
"What?! NO! I mean..." James stood up off of the roof, before continuing to speak. "...I meant that he was kind of...like, a tough kid, you know? His father is a Navy Seal after all." The geeky goth then held up his hands. "My points is...I feel like the person I wish would just give me the light of day, also ignored me. Even though...I really only wanted to join to help me and Jenny out, but I still wanted to be his friend regardless." Leaf frowns.
"Damn. Sorry to hear, dude."
Leaf wanted to actually ask James about something that he and Jenny talked about back at the ski-resort. He didn't really know if telling James was really a good idea or not. Without giving it a second thought however, Leaf decided to ask the geeky goth about it anyway.
"Hey...can I ask about...your father?" Leaf asked. James seemed rather shocked, hearing Leaf say that.
"Wh-Why would you want to know about my father?" James asked, clearly shocked.
"Jenny kind of mentioned something about that, but...she didn't say anything because...she only is allowed to talk about your father, just as long as you're near her, and comfortable about it." James blinked a couple times, before shaking his head.
"No, Jenny's allowed to talk to others about him...it's just that...I rather not be near when I hear about him, because..." James sighed. "...I lost him..." Leaf frowned hearing that being said.
"H-How? Divorce?"
James looks at the forest, keeping his eyes on it, not even answering that question. All he can really do is stand there and think about what had happened before he even met Leaf.
James opens his eyes once again...
He noticed that he was a little younger now, about around the age of eleven. James was a little different, his hair was still black that's a little more combed, while his outfit was not how it is when he's older. His outfit was a red and black plaid flannel-jacket with a t-shirt with en electric guitar on the front, baggy dark blue jeans, and purple sneakers.
James was walking home from school, as it was just nearby. He was told by his mother to come home immediately after school, as she was wanting to tell him something that's urgent for him to hear. He walked until he finally got to his own house...he was horrified by what he was seeing...
He took notice that there were a police car and an ambulance parked outside his house. His mother was in tears, as she was talking to one of the police officers. The young geek didn't see his dad anywhere in the bunch of people who were there. He immediately ran for the house, wanting to know what happened.
"Mom! What happened?!" James shouts, running up to his mother. "Where's dad?!"
"James...dear...you're here." James's mother said. "...I'm so sorry to tell you dear, but...your father...he..." James's mother was close to tears, before holding onto her son's shoulders.
"W-Where is he?" His mother wipes a tear from her eye, before trying to speak to her son, through tears.
"I'm so sorry...he was just walking back home from work, and..." James's mother held onto her mouth, before she looks over to a stop sign that was broken. "I'm so sorry, James...but...he's gone..."
James looks over to the stop sign that his mother saw. It wasn't hard for James to put two and two together to know what had happened to his own father. The young gamer walked a couple steps over to the direction of the stop sign that was destroyed. He was visibly shocked and saddened by what had happened.
"No..." James said, softly, before tears started to come out of his eyes. "I...I can't believe this happened..." James backs up, before he placed his hands on his face, more tears coming out of his eyes as he was beginning to tear up heavily now.
"Son, we're sorry about what had happened to your father. But we're going to try to do everything we can to save him." A policeman said behind the young boy.
"Are...are you guys sure you can save him?" The policeman sighed, before placing a hand on his shoulder.
"We'll try. I promise."
The police hands James a badge that he was carrying in his pocket. It was pretty much a toy police badge, in hopes of making a child feel better. Sadly, for James, this was nice, but it wasn't making him feel better. He looks behind himself, just as the police car, and the ambulance took off.
"...My dad didn't make it..." James said. "They tried everything they could, but...it was too late..." Leaf was standing there, looking at his own friend with shock in his eyes.
"Dude...I'm so sorry..." Leaf said. "...I really wish I could bring him back, but it's impossible for me to do that." Leaf then walks up to the geeky goth, before patting him on his shoulders.
"Thanks dude...I miss him to this day..."
James reaches into his jacket pocket, pulling out the same exact police badge that he got from that moment in his life. He let's out a tear from his eye as it landed on the toy badge itself. James places the badge back into his pocket, as Leaf stared at the geeky goth with sadness in his eyes.
"I've kept the badge ever since the accident happened." James told him. "I know it's only a toy that...only kids would play with, but I only kept this badge because it reminds me of my own dad...or...the only reminder of my dad left." James kept his eyes on the roof again. "...I know it sounds dumb...but it really is the only thing that reminds me of my dad."
"It's not stupid." Leaf said. "If anything...anytime I hear Billy Joel's love songs...I'm reminded of Petel every time I hear them." James wipes a tear from his eye, before looking at the elf again.
"Hey dude..." Leaf looks at James again. "...I'm sorry about what had happened in the Forest of the Elves. You might've been a little...weird for me and Jenny to get use to, but...from the entire time you were here...you would've...pretty much proved those other elves wrong so far, in my opinion." Leaf smiled, looking at his new friend hearing that.
"Thanks..." Leaf looks down to the ground. "I just hope...Petal forgives me for...all that has happened." James blinked a couple times, before patting the elf on his back.
"I'm sure she will. She couldn't be angry at you for this forever." Leaf crosses his arms, sighing to himself.
"I hope not forever..." James looks up at the sky, seeing that it was nighttime still.
"It's getting pretty late, dude. We should probably get some sleep now." Leaf shrugs his shoulders.
"Nah, I think I should just go for a walk right now..." Leaf rubs the back of his head, before snapping his fingers, getting the two to be in front of their own motel room. "...You can get ready for bed all you want, but...I think I need to walk around and clear my head right now, if that's okay with you." James shrugs his shoulders, not seeing anything too wrong with this.
"I guess that's fine. Just don't be out too late, we have to drive first thing in the morning when we wake up. Who even knows where Preston and Esma are right now around here."
"Don't worry, if I see those guys, I'm using my magic to send them back to that town we were in before."
Leaf walks off to walk around the motel's parking lot, before James walked back into his own motel room. The geeky goth walked over to his own bed, laying down on it, and getting right to bed.
It was right about this time, Makoto stepped out of the motel room she and Jenny were in, and took notice of Leaf walking around the parking lot of the motel. Leaf was walking around the area by himself by the looks of it. Seeing that this seems like a good enough time than ever to try to talk to Leaf, Makoto decided to go up to the elf so that she can talk about the kiss she and him had before.
Leaf just stood by the street of the motel area, looking both ways, before the sound of walking was heard behind him. He turns around, thinking that it was either James or Jenny, but he turns around, surprised to see that Makoto was actually behind him instead. The elf raises an eyebrow, seeing the robot standing behind him.
"Can I help you, Makoto?" Leaf asked her. Makoto smiled a little bit, before finally asking the elf a question.
"Do you mind me being out here with you?" Makoto asked him. Leaf sighed, before looking to the street. It seemed pretty dangerous to be alone anyway, considering Preston and Esma now want him, James, Jenny, and the robot now that they took the metal from them.
"Alright. I don't see why not." Leaf looks behind himself. "But just don't kiss me again, alright?" Makoto stood there, smiling at the elf. She nodded her head, before the two of them began walking around the motel building area.
