Disclaimer: And YOU think I own Chrono Trigger? Tch tch! Go read my 15 or so other disclaimers!
Author's Note: If you haven't noticed already, this is one monster of a chapter. That's my excuse for it being out late, anyway.
Oh, yeah: and here's a warning: *Sirens wail and alarm bell rings* This chapter might be classified as really cliche. Or at least that's what I thought, anyway. *Sighs* I must be getting soft. Well, here it is:
Lucca groaned as she felt the strong ray of sunlight hit her closed eyelids. It was morning...already? Heavens, it felt like she had gotten no sleep the previous night. She tried to roll over onto her side and throw the covers over her head so she could go back into another deep, dreamless slumber, but, well...her leg hit something.
As she opened her eyes and became fully conscious, the memories of the previous night flooded back to her in a rush. Ah, yes...and what a night it had been, she reflected unashamedly as she her eyes fell on Magus, whose head was barely peeking out of the covers. He was lying on his stomach, breathing lightly, apparently still dead to the world.
She stretched outwards in a cat-like manner, her hands hitting the bed's headboard gently. The room's nippy air felt sharp in contrast to the soft warmth of the blankets, so she quickly folded them behind her head, pulling the coverlets more closely over her and allowing herself to just lie in bed in kind of a feverish, happy stupor.
***
Magus grinned devilishly at his companion on the opposite side of the tub, his ripped, muscled arms crossed over his equally buff chest. "So...I take it we're not here just to get clean, are we?"
Lucca could only reply with an indistinct noise coming from the back of her throat, perhaps something akin to a low moan or growl. There were absolutely NO words that could describe what her intentions were. Or the absolute yumminess that was Magus at the moment.
His skin was slightly flushed, a patch of white bubbles slowly sliding down his cheek. His hair clung wetly to his neck, now a darker cyan than was usual but no less beautiful. She could only view a fraction of his chest area, as there was a thick layer of bubbles that smelled of freesia covering the entire tub, but what she could see was pleasing, wet and extremely well-developed. At the moment he was smirking at her, his lips slightly parted seductively...
She replied, upsetting the water so that he was hit by a bubble-filled wave, "Getting clean? Of COURSE that's what we're here for, you dope! Let's get going so we can have an early bedtime and we're all ready to fight monsters tomorrow!"
He splashed back. "You know, you're a terrible actor."
"Oh, really?"
"Of course. Now why don't you come over here?"
"No, YOU come over here. I shouldn't have to move!"
"You move!"
"No, YOU move!"
"Oh, all right, all right. You win..."
***
And that's how it STARTED, at any rate...
And it was all so strange. The events of the night previous were almost EXACTLY like the dream she had had with Crono, now roughly about a week ago. Almost EXACTLY, except for, well, two obvious things, being Number One: that Magus and Crono had switched places and that Number Two: a little more had went on this time. It had almost been like that dream had been a premonition of what was to come...
Well, no use thinking about it anymore, Lucca thought as she glared over at Magus, who had begun to snore. She decided to wake him up, as, going by the angle of the sun which was now watching them from a high point out of their eastern window, it was starting to get late.
"Magus?"
"Hmmmmmmm...?"
"Magus?"
"Mrrrrrrrghhhhhhhhh..."
"MAGUS!"
The third time she whomped him on the head with her pillow, causing him to fully wake up. He stared at her, blinking sleepily and looking very stoned. "Wha?"
"I think we'd better get up, or we'll have some unwelcome visitors knocking at your door soon!" she said to him testily, crossing her arms over her chest.
He lazily pointed to the bedside clock nearby. "Look, it's only eight o'clock. NOBODY will be up yet, least of all those two lovebirds next door. And besides, we were up until sunrise." He closed his eyes again, putting an arm around her waist and attempting to go back to sleep.
Lucca shut up. He DID have a point, after all. And as for getting more sleep, she wasn't arguing. Just as SHE was starting to drift off herself...
Magus sat up as if a shot had gone off. "Damn! I nearly forgot!"
"What?"
"Is one of my spellbooks lying on the floor near your side?"
"Yeah, here." With some effort as she was so lethargic, she produced the spellbook and handed it to him.
He hurriedly paged through the musty volume, muttering, "It had BETTER be in here...Oh, good. That's a relief." Squinting at one of the pages, which was written in some arcane, obscure language, he then unceremoniously placed his hand on her stomach and began to chant.
Being a little scared, Lucca stopped him and shook off his hand. "WHAT are you doing, you idiot?"
"Hold still! And don't interrupt me this time! You don't want to hear the pitter-patter of little feet any time soon, do you?" He stared at her with raised eyebrows.
"Oh, well, in that case, keep going," she replied, putting his hand back.
No sooner had he performed the spell than there was a knock on the door. Lucca jumped and was suddenly starting to feel quite anxious, but Magus alleviated her fears. "Not to worry. I believe I asked for a wake-up call around now last night before you showed up."
The knock on the door was heard again, now more persistently. "Oh, I'll get it," Lucca said, throwing on Magus's bathrobe and stomping over to the door, which was located in a little alcove just out of sight of the bedroom. As she continued to wake up more and more she began to get more and more self-conscious in front of him and kind of wanted to leave...
She opened the door only to get the biggest surprise and embarrassment of her life. Marle.
Marle's face positively lit up the minute she spotted Lucca. The mussed hair, that tired expression, her LOCATION, that could only mean one thing...
Lucca knew that she had only seconds to defend herself. "It's not what you think!"
Marle cracked a wicked grin. "Sure it's not. How do you explain that robe you're wearing, then?"
Damn! Marle one point, Lucca zero! Lucca thought as she looked down at the giant plaid robe that she was wearing. "Oh, all right, all right!" she confessed, blushing scarlet. "It's EVERYTHING you think!"
"Everything?"
"Oh, shut up!"
"Is there a problem?" a voice suddenly cut in from behind Lucca. There stood Magus, fully-dressed, albeit a little haphazardly, his trademark scowl positively showing.
"Um---no..." Now it was Marle's turn to blush. "It's just that Crono wants us to leave now---and, oh hell!" she continued, breaking into a sunny grin. "I knew this would happen! I thought it was only a matter of time!"
"And?"
"And, and---congratulations!"
"For what? You seem awfully interested in something..."
"Oh, oh, never mind!" Marle waved it off, although the blood rushed to her head again. "Just get dressed, you two! We're leaving in half an hour!" She left, shutting the door behind her.
Magus turned away. "Hmpfh! I fail to notice why she was so excited."
Lucca rolled her eyes, still red. "She thinks she was responsible for this, that's why. And now you can bet on it that she'll tell everyone."
"Let her! I really don't care, as long as I don't have to endure her blank stare and empty-headed comments all day!"
Lucca couldn't help but suppress a snort.
***
Lucca sat on top of the small hillock, watching the day draw to a glorious close. The reddish-orange rays of the sun spread out all over the surrounding fields and wooden houses, basking them in the final warmth of the day. It was truly a beautiful sight to see. But perhaps her last sunset, as far as she knew...
It was almost their journey's end. Tomorrow they would head for the End of Time to question Gaspar one last time, then hop into the Epoch and arrive at 1999 A.D., the apocalypse. From there they would try to put an end to the evil that was Lavos once and for all. It was agreed that everyone that they would go straight there and not bother with the Black Omen; in theory if Lavos said sayonara, so would it. 1999 A.D. was the only other known way they could reach him, as he was burrowed deep into the ground at any other time period.
Lucca was nervous of course, this possibly final night, but also strangely calm. She would have her friends right there with her (especially Magus) no matter what happened She was prepared for anything.
Four days had passed since the incident with Marle, and they had completed several more quests. They now had the power of the Sun Stone and the Rainbow Shell, and Marle's unhappy relationship with her father had finally come to a quite "happy" end, thanks to Queen Leene. And it had to be mentioned that Marle had been surprisingly quiet about that whole morning, believe it or not. No one said anything about it, nor even seemed to know. Lucca was relieved at that, and despite what he had said, so was Magus. Maybe the satisfaction of knowing she had been right had been enough for Marle, perhaps not. Even so, it was kind of weird.
Right now she was back at her house again, or, to put it more specifically, on a hillock a short distance from her house. They had come back here for the night so that Lucca could tune up the Epoch for their final battle; it was pivotal that the vehicle was in good working order, as there might come the time that they would have to flee the area during or after the battle. She hadn't started the tune-up yet, but there would be plenty of time for that during the night; she wouldn't be able to sleep too much anyway, since a lot of thoughts about tomorrow weighed upon her head.
Although the others were planning on coming back to spend the night at some point, a lot of them had left to go somewhere at the moment. Crono, Marle, and Frog had headed up to Guardia Castle; for Crono and Marle it was to see her father, and for Frog it was to see the castle that he loved for perhaps one last time, since it was not practical to go back to 600 A.D. Ayla was sleeping on the living room sofa, as far as Lucca knew, and Robo was off buying some basic items for the fight tomorrow. And then there was Magus...
Lucca had no clue where Magus was. She was quite curious to know where the hell he had went, but he had dropped no hints about his destination when he had left. All he said was, "I shall be back tonight, but I have something I must do first..." It was quite mysterious. And annoying. They had had no "alone-time" ever since Porre, thanks to one-room inns, and Lucca was hoping that they might have some...
"Oy, Lucca!" a clear voice called from below the hill. Lucca started and turned around, only to see Crono coming up the hill behind her. (What is he doing here all alone?) she wondered, staring down at him curiously. She waited until he was within normal speaking distance to ask him about this.
"Oh, well, Frog got a little, um, carried away when we got to the Castle, so Marle's walking around giving him a tour," he replied, rolling his eyes as he sat down on the grass next to her. "And I wanted to speak to you anyway. I should have really said something a few days ago, but you know how busy we've been."
"Talk to me?" Lucca echoed curiously. "About what?" And she seriously had no clue. This comment from Crono had come suddenly out of the sky.
Crono blushed. "Well, um, I don't know how to start, but, um-"
"Well, you'll have to start," Lucca pointed out logically. "Otherwise I'll have no idea what you want." Suddenly, though, for some unknown reason a black feeling emerged from the pit of her stomach. He looked so nervous about saying what he was going to say... This wasn't going to be good, whatever it was...
"Well, ah, you remember the last time we were here? You know, about a week ago when you fixed the Epoch?" Lucca nodded at his question.
Crono cleared his throat anxiously. "Well, then, ah, the second day we were back...I saw something that maybe I shouldn't have. You might not know it, but that day around noon I came over to invite you to my house; we were having a picnic and we thought you might wanna come over and join us. Well, when I got close I saw something. You and Magus were, well, ---how should I put it--- flirting with each other viciously using a garden hose. You were both laughing and screaming and looking like you might start going at it at any minute, so-"
Lucca turned beet red. "Oh God, you saw that?! And I thought no one knew-"
Once Crono had started, he was able to explain himself quite well. "I knew I'd better not show myself or one of you'd probably disembowel me with the hose, so I ended up leaving you guys alone and going back to my house. I never said anything and I never told anyone, not even Marle, but I know it all the same, and I wanna know what exactly is going on." He crossed his arms and waited for her answer. Apparently he wasn't too happy with the whole affair, just as she thought he would be...
Lucca was completely speechless. "Uh...uh..."
Crono, however, was not going to stop anytime soon. "And that's not all," he added. "Four days ago, I believe, me and Marle were walking around in Porre enjoying the night, and I-well-saw you two again. You were at a cafe and literally sucking each other faces off. Marle didn't see it, but I did, and, uh, it looks like you two are pretty serious. You were halfway in his lap, and, well..." He trailed off, looking very uncomfortable but still a little angry.
Again, Lucca was totally speechless and couldn't utter a word in her defense.
Suddenly, though, Crono's mood changed. Switching from anger to just concern, he put a hand on her shoulder and said to her very softly, "Lucca, we've been friends ever since we were little, and I can't help but worry about you. I've gotten to know Magus and I know that he isn't what we thought he was at first, but I still don't know what kind of a person he really is for sure, and...I just- I just- I just worry over this. That one day when you were crying---I'm sure it has something to do with it all. Do you really want to be with someone that makes you cry? I don't know---I don't know anything. I'm just worried about you, that's all."
Ah, that was Crono. Making immediate assumptions again. Making the bold (or in this case, rather awkward) confrontation so he could figure out everything. Lucca had no idea where to start. Although Crono had some very good points about things that even she hadn't quite come to terms with yet, she still had to set the record straight with him.
"You don't have to worry about me, Crono" she replied quietly, putting her hands in her lap. "I know you're worried, but I'm able to take care of myself. If I thought my relationship with Magus was in any way bad for me, I would immediately back out. But it's not. In fact, it's better than I ever thought possible..."
"All right," Crono said, glancing sidelong at her, still looking a little concerned. "I believe you all the way when you say that. But I'll always be your friend, so you must promise me something." He drew up his knees to his chin. "You must promise me that if- that if - that if anything happens you call it quits. OK?" He looked over at her again intensely.
"Yes, I promise, Crono," Lucca said back softly, staring at him back. She couldn't believe the distrust that he held for Magus at the moment, but then again, he was just watching out for her. Like he always had... "I promise. And don't you go worrying every second about me!" she added, wagging her finger. "You don't need that burden! We've got enough happening, anyway..."
He looked skyward. "We sure do. I hope tomorrow will come out all right... Because if it doesn't-"
"Don't think about it, Crono! Just don't worry!" she exclaimed. "I know I can't do it myself, but---it doesn't hurt to try, does it? We're as ready as we'll ever be; we may as well just enjoy the moment while it's here!"
"I know, I know...But I was never able to do that; I've always worried too much about the future, Lucca. There've been a lot of things that I never did but should have done, things I did but shouldn't have done, and things I haven't even done yet and don't know whether I should do or not. And now I might never be able to do anything ever again..."
His slight lapse of gloominess was suddenly dispelled, however, when he smiled and recalled fondly, "You know, I have a lot of great memories of us back before this all happened. I remember the crush I used to have on you up until I met Marle---actually I had it awhile after I met Marle. That was maybe just a month ago, but it still feels like it's been such a long time." He sighed.
Lucca almost jumped out of her skin in shock. "You WHAT?!" she exclaimed. "And you're just telling me this NOW?! Why didn't you just say something? I don't bite or anything, you know!"
"Lucca, I wanted to; I WANTED to! It's just that-it's just that-it's just that I felt I COULDN'T. You only seemed interested in being friends with me. You seemed more interested in inventing stuff than in boys. Although I'm guessing that's now the opposite..." He gave her a wicked grin.
"Well, this is nice!" Lucca threw up her hands in exasperation. "I had a crush on you, too! That is, until I met Magus---well, I guess even after I met him. For the longest time we wouldn't even admit anything to each other; both of us aren't exactly the two most extroverted people in the world, you know."
Crono laughed. "This is so ironic. Here we are---spilling out each other's feelings to each other---and now it's too late. But Lucca, tell me something, will ya? You aren't -um - angry about me and Marle, are you?"
Lucca laughed herself but clearly saw his point. "Oh, you sounded so funny when you said that, Crono! No, no...no, I don't think so. You really don't have to worry about that. I'm not doing this because of you. I'm -well- I'm doing it for myself."
He gave her a wry grin. "Somehow I feel comforted when you say that. But just remember: I've been your best friend ever since we were practically in diapers and I don't want that to change anytime soon. Our lives maybe have changed a little, but yet everything is still the same between us. I don't want Magus to be the only man in your life, Lucca!"
Lucca rolled her eyes. "Geez, Crono, that was corny."
"I know, I know."
"Now c'mon, let's watch the sunset. I mean, we used to when we were kids, didn't we?"
***
~Earlier that night~
Truce Canyon showed golden in the light of the sun's last rays; there was hardly a stir throughout the whole wood with the exception of the stream that gurgled happily at the gorge's bottom. A light midsummer breeze rustled through the ancient trees, promising another cool, airy night that was perfect for just gazing at the stars. In the distance a morning dove called out plaintively.
Of course, all this beauty was lost upon a scowling Magus, who had arrived via Gate about five minutes ago. He leaned against an old, gnarled tree in the clearing, arms crossed and his forehead creased in concentration. He needed time to think, all by himself. He just hadn't gotten enough of that lately, it seemed...
(Although I'm not complaining about THAT, am I? Even though for the past two weeks I have been an utter fool and so unlike myself, I'm still not complaining. I must really love her, don't I?)
He sighed and looked down at the ground. (Love. I suppose that's what it is. Why ELSE would I be acting so strange? It's so frightening...it seems there's a part of me that I never even knew existed.)
(Of course I'd never admit that to HER. My pride would be on the line then, after all...)
He stared around at the trees and the clearing, as if clearly remembering something that had happened long ago. His eyes finally fell on the Gate, that same accursed Gate that had been the cause of his life changing forever.
(Ahhh, I remember it so clearly. I was so frightened that day. The first thing I saw was Ozzie standing there. He was clearly planning on eating me, but then my quick reflexes came into play and I ended up setting him on fire. My first spell... And everyone in Zeal was so adamant that I was a burden to the royal family, that I was unable to use magic... Too bad I was never able to prove them wrong.)
(My life might have been saved that day, but everything seemed to turn into such a nightmare after that. All those people killed, Ozzie using me for his own gain... Back then I never wanted to kill anyone! I was just interested in getting home, to save my sister from Lavos, but then that whole Mystic War debacle started and of course I was caught up in the middle. Curse my magic! Curse it! I almost wish I had been killed by Ozzie that day; instead of saving history I'll end up going down as the wizard who ruined it! )
(I really have no idea why she's wasted her time with a person like me. If I were her I wouldn't. But I suppose it doesn't even matter at this point anymore. We may not even exist twenty-four hours from now. And even if luck pulls us through and we DO survive, I have no idea what the future holds in store for me. But even I can tell that there's trouble brewing on the horizon...)
"Aha! I KNEW I'd find you here!" A loud male voice suddenly called out to him from nearby, breaking the stillness of the cool evening AND his solitude, he might add.
Very startled (although he'd never admit it in a million years), Magus whirled around only to see that a very frazzled-looking Crono was standing by the Gate watching him. Now how had HE gotten there undetected? Only a second ago had he been staring at that Gate...
Magus shook off his bewilderment and managed to say in his usual snobbish, arrogant tone: "Now just what are YOU doing here? If you're here to have a thought-provoking, life-changing conversation with me, then go somewhere else!"
Crono's cheeks reddened slightly but he stood his ground. "Um, no, Magus. No thought-provoking, life-changing conversations for me. But I DO wanna talk to you about something."
Magus tapped his foot impatiently. "Well, what is it? I'm listening!" Personally, he had no idea what the kid wanted, or what was that important that he actually had to hunt him down to talk about it...but he had to admit, this boy had guts. Even Ozzie had known better than to approach him while he was thinking or had gone off alone.
Crono scratched his head nervously but continued to come closer nonetheless. "Um, we-ell, I don't know how to start this, but -ah- oh hell, I'll just cut to the chase right now. What are you doing with Lucca?"
Magus inwardly groaned at this, but managed to counter swiftly, "And just what do you think I AM doing with Lucca?"
"Um---a lot of things."
"Like?"
"Um, like getting kicked out of restaurants for overt displays of affection."
Magus narrowed his eyes. "Listen, you spikey-haired nuisance, I have no idea how you know anything, but-"
Crono backed off. "Hey, don't get mad! You don't have to get all defensive! But just remember---I've known Lucca a lot longer than you have. I've been friends with her for ages. I feel like I have to watch out for her, you know?"
"And you're implying that I'm not capable of that?"
Crono gulped. Things were taking a most definite wrong direction... "No, no, I'm not saying that! Not at all! I'm just worried about her!"
"And what gives you cause to worry?"
He gulped again. "Well -ah- I dunno..." His sentence trailed off and he stood there uncertainly for a moment, but a few seconds later his courage seemed to have come back, as he suddenly burst out: "Oh, hell, I'll just tell you the truth! I am extremely worried about my best friend in the whole wide world because she is romantically involved with a guy who was responsible for almost wiping out the entire kingdom of Guardia back in 600 A.D.! There, that's why!"
Magus, who was a full six inches taller than Crono, looked down at him snootily with his long nose. "Hmpfh! Well, you don't have to worry about that, you little simpleton! Tell me something, does it LOOK like I want to go around murdering people at the moment?!"
"Well, you wanted the truth...uh, yes!" Crono was fully expecting a blast at this one. But, as he would prove later that night: once he started something, he wouldn't stop. Even if it meant bad things coming. Call it persistence, if you would.
Magus, however, didn't do anything but raise an eyebrow and reply bitingly, "Would you mind using your brains a tiny bit, as little as they may be? You are clearly not understanding my point. My point IS is that although I did do what you claimed, it's not entirely a reflection of my character at the same time."
"Huh?"
"Never mind!" he snapped. "It seems I can't explain, as my intelligence seems to drop just being near you! All I'm saying is that I have no diabolical scheme to tear Lucca away from you. I'm not planning on hurting her and I CERTAINLY am not using her!"
"Good."
"Good."
"Fine, then."
"Now are you about done? I was having a perfectly nice time until YOU showed up." Or as good a time as thinking about what he usually did could possibly be, he did not add.
Now completely satisfied, Crono swiftly left the area, climbing back into the Gate and heading back to his own era. And he was indeed completely satisfied. Although the previous conversation with Magus could very well be classified as "disastrous", it had served its purpose well. For one thing, the conversation, as stated before, WAS disastrous, but that was only because Magus had gotten defensive. Magus getting defensive or indeed showing any emotion (with the exception of when he was insulting someone) was a landmark indeed. Something had to be up. And then there was the fact that what few words he had said about the whole thing all seemed to be in earnest. Yes, Crono was being insulted at the same time, that could not be forgotten, but it was rare when Magus lied. He was usually either brutally honest or just remained silent.
Yep, Magus had it bad for Lucca. And now to go find Lucca...
***
It was now well past midnight, but Lucca continued to work doggedly on the Epoch. Everyone had stayed around to keep her company at first upon their returns, but slowly but surely they all had dropped off to bed, or, to put it more specifically, dropped off to her living room. The work was now almost done; she was now in the process of changing the oil, and once that was done, she'd be heading up to bed herself to get what little sleep she could. She wouldn't exactly be an asset to the group if she pulled an all-nighter, now would she?
Her original plans were altered greatly, however, when she became suddenly aware of someone lightly placing their hands upon her shoulders and kissing the nape of her neck with warm lips. "Greasy, aren't we?"
Lucca was surprised that Magus had finally come back; her supposition had been that as he hadn't come back earlier that evening, his return probably wouldn't be well until after she had retired for the night. Oh well...hehe...changes could be good, couldn't they?
She turned around to face him, putting her hands on her hips. "Where were YOU, Mr. Wizard? Off scaring children?"
"Hmpfh!"
"Never mind! Actually, I don't want to know. All I can say is that you sure took your time in getting here!"
"Oh, are we in a hurry? For what?" he teased, a small smile forming on his thin lips.
She smirked at him. "I'm sure you already know."
"I suppose I do."
"Shut up already!"
"It's so amusing when you get angry," he said lightly, albeit sounding a little muffled, perhaps because of the way he was nibbling on her lower lip.
Lucca was sick and tired of his baiting, and decided to take matters into her own hands. She tipped his head upwards and kissed him deeply, grabbing his shoulders and forcing him against her. This caused a crash of sorts, as the two then slammed against the hard metal outer shell of the Epoch. Lucca whimpered faintly; the wrench that had been grasped so tightly in her right hand clattered noisily to the ground, landing on top of the large toolbox sitting nearby.
She stood on tiptoe and kissed him again, a little more urgently this time, allowing him to slide his tongue silently into her mouth. All she could do in reply was to let out a small, indistinct noise and to allow one of her small, grease-spattered hands to upset his hair. Magus then responded in turn by letting one of his hands run down the length of her body and beginning to unbutton the top of her outer jacket.
Lucca panted after they broke the last kiss, "Eager, aren't we?"
He grinned rather slyly, and, taking her hand, began to lead her up the small stepladder that she used to fix things at a height. Her eyes widened as he pressed the large green button and allowed the clear, dome-like cabin roof to slide apart.
"No. No way in hell," was all she managed to choke.
"Why not?" he asked her, crossing his arms and perhaps even looking a little miffed.
"For crying out loud, we'll be flying in that tomorrow!" she exclaimed, wagging her finger at him, the events of a moment ago forgotten. She ran her hands through her hair in a nervous fashion as she then remembered to add, "And besides, I'm all greasy and-"
She trailed off when she noticed the extremely nasty smile that was beginning to spread all over his face.
"Ugh! You're a weird one, you know that? Still, we're not doing this here! I'd prefer the house, if you don't mind!"
"Epoch."
"House."
"Epoch."
"House."
"Epoch."
"IN THE HOUSE!! NOW!!"
He cringed as he rubbed his ears. "Well, considering that by now you have likely awoken half of the population for miles around, all right then, the house."
She gave him the thumbs-up. "There we go! And on our way up to my room, let's be careful not to wake up anyone sleeping, shall we?"
"You're not making me sleep on the floor again later, are you?"
"You are the biggest, most smartassed idiot I've ever met, you know that?" she said to him cheekily as they headed back to the house.
Author's Note: Yayyyyyy!!! Two chapters left (or at least that's what I'm planning at the moment). Has anyone predicted what might happen yet? I hope it's not too obvious.
Erm---ah---oh, yeah! And remember to review! Please? Pretty please? Otherwise I just might write some of that Sin and Lavos slash (and blatantly misspell it AND have no grammar and punctuation AND have a bad storyline). Hey, hey, just kidding! If I ever did that I officially give you permission to flame me. Really really!