Ha ha! Double digits! I didn't think I'd make it this far thanks fer all your support! Special thanks to Ihire and all others who've stuck with me through this!
Couldn't pick which the title shoulda been so it's up to you to chose which one you like better. Now to warn you, this chapter may be considerably confusing.
Disclaimer – I don't own…(you know what's coming)…Final fantasy! Errr, Chrono Cross!
*Insert Text here* - Memories
Insert Text here - Voices
(Insert text here) –Thought
~*~ Here ~*~ - Dream
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Chapter 10 – Leena is having a few bad days…Or
Chapter 10 – Things you wish you knew earlier…
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Locke strolled leisurely down the halls of Viper Manor. Serge, Kidd and most the others had retreated to the library, and since he couldn't go to Dragon Rider Central until he knew their plans, he contented himself to wander the many rooms of the Manor to which he was permitted access. He found the list of accessible rooms low, leading him to conclude he wasn't high on the trustworthy list, though it bothered him little.
Continuing on, he meandered on down a long hall, peering lazily into each room with an open door. In one there was a late rising dragoon struggling to put on his armor, in another there was a man singing to himself in front of a mirror. This disturbed Locke so he moved on quickly to see a peaceful man reading the latest book of the 'Bowen' Chronicles, a well known series of books based on a long lost military commander though it was greatly dramatized. Locke grinned. He knew how greatly dramatized it was, the hell the Dragon Rider's had gone through to stop the hell at General Bowen's battle field was insane. The green haired young man would often laugh himself asleep reading one of the epic novels. A loud turning of pages rolled Locke from his daydreams urging him to continue onto the next room where he was surprised to see Leena sitting quietly upon a couch.
Without much of a thought he strode into the room, the quiet tap of his steel-tipped leather boots signaling his presences causing Leena to look up. The Dragon Rider was quiet taken a-back when he saw her eyes were red and puffy as though she had just finished crying.
"What?" She said in a stale tone.
"Hey, are you ok?"
She said nothing for a long while, and almost made Locke believe she wouldn't say anything. Almost. "I'll live, if that's what you mean."
"Actually no," He replied kindly before sitting down on the table to sit directly across from her. "I mean are you ok? Being alive and ok are completely different things. Believe me I know."
"I'm sure you do."
"Common what's eating at you?"
"Why do you care?"
"Why wouldn't I?"
Having nothing in reply to this Leena looked at him a moment, searching his face and eyes for any signs of mock of criticism. When she found none she sighed and buried her face into her hands before rubbing her sore eyes. "My best friend…She was kil- found lifeless in the battle of Termina."
"Oh damn…Lisa died?"
Leena's head shot up instantly as she looked at him. "How did you know her name?"
Locke's hand instantly shot upwards to run through his greenish-blue hair. "Err, heard Glenn talking about it."
The village girl narrowed her eyes, obviously not buying it but letting it slip for now. "Yes well Lisa…Died. And I need to find someway to tell Phoenix…"
"Phoenix? That little girl from last night?"
Leena nodded and continued. "Yes. But on top of all of that, I miss my little sisters, Una and Mai. I don't know if they lived through the Arni massacre and now that mom's gone…"
Locke's mouth suddenly dropped open. Leena gave him the oddest look as if he were a rabbit eating horse or a chameleon crossed with an antelope. She allowed her eyes to narrow again. "Ok what aren't you telling me."
Catching himself to late the Dragon Rider snapped his mouth shut. "What do you mean?"
"How did you know about Lisa and why do you look so shocked just now! What connection do you have with my me and my family!" Locke allowed his hand to drift to the back of his neck, which he rubbed timidly while she gazed heatedly into the depths of his soul. "Tell me Damn you!" She yelled at him as she stood, her emotional state heightening her rage levels immensely.
"Well if you don't remember why should I tell you!" He retorted, also standing up.
"Remember what!"
Thrusting his hand into his pocket he pulled out a crumpled up piece of paper and slapped it into one of her hands. "Remember this!" Heatedly, she unfolded the worn paper and glared at its contents with fiery eyes. Slowly the angered look faded from her face as she stared at the sketch of a young girl riding happily on the back of an older boy, both smiling happily as though they'd be laughing if the picture could some how have audio.
*Leena waddled her way down the center of Arni, slowly making her way to the clearing near the chief's hut. Through her young eyes she watched as she approached a pair of three, two men, one smaller and thinner built than the other, a lean but muscular teen and a boy only a year or so older than herself. The larger man and the teen seemed to be fighting, one with a large double bladed weapon the other with a simple steel sword and wooden shield as the young boy mimicked the man with his own smaller wooden version of the double bladed weapon.
She continued to waddle along, right through the middle of the fight causing the large man's eyes to widen in fright as his weapon came down towards her. In the nick of time (though this all seemed comical to her at her age) the teen deflected the attack as the smaller man ran through the fray and snatched her up.
Confused she turned and looked at the man who had grabbed her to be met with the panicked face of her father. "Leena, Honey, are you alright?!" She nodded causing him a sigh in relief. "Oh thank Goddess!"
A timid voice drifted from below them "Mr. Miguel? Is Leena ok?"
"Yes Serge," came her father's reply "She's fine."
A small noise from the youth showed his joy as he scampered over to the other man who picked up the youth and placed him on his shoulders. "Nice scare you gave us there lil' Leena."
"Yeah!"
Turning her head in the direction of the voice, her young eyes caught that of the teen's dark green ones "Don't do that to me, what would I tell mom if Me or Wazuki had cut your head off?!"
Leena found this amusing and giggled. *
The village girl's memory fuzzed for a moment giving her a second to look up at locke.
*"Heya Leeeena, gonna go play with Sergy?"
"Yup!" Again her cheerful nearly 3-year-old self, she shuffled out the door of her family's hut and struggled down the ramp.
"Where ya meetin' him?" She soon found the teen was leaning on the ramp beside her as she struggled to get down.
"Opassa Beach!" She chirped happily
"I dunno, isn't Lizard Rock a dangerous place for Kids your age?"
She stood indignantly and crossed her arms "I'm nearly 3!" She held up 5 fingers to emphasize this. "And besides! Sergey is there! He'll protect me from those nasty old monsters!"
The teen chuckled. "I dunno some of those monsters are way bigger than Serge."
"Leo, stop bothering your sister!"
"Alright dad!" He called back into the house before turning to Leena again. "I'll tell you what squirt. What say I give you a ride to Opassa then you and Serge can handle yourselves from there huh?"
She nodded with the enthusiasm only a child as young as her could hold before hopping onto his back. He began to groan, complaining she was to heavy, and hit her ever so lightly against the side of the hut, forcing a giggle from her and a small laugh from him. *
Other such memories began to flood her mind, though they were few. Slow, gentle tears began to fill hers eyes once again as she looked up at Locke quietly. "You never did leave…"
"Huh?"
"You said…you'd take me to Opassa then leave me and Serge to handle ourselves…you never did leave."
"…No…you're right I didn't."
Leena nodded "But you did leave…" Her low voice rose sharply. "For 15 years without a damned word!"
Locke flinched heavily, that obviously hurt him more than he would have liked to express. "I didn't try to I…"
"Then what did you try to! Mom was heart broken without you and dad! WHY!"
"I wanted to help!" He replied in such away he sounded pleading yet stern. "When that panther attacked Serge I didn't know what to do! So I went with Wazuki and Dad to the Dead Sea!"
"But why didn't you come back, Leo!"
"Because I couldn't come back!" His sudden over emphasized step backwards caused him to accidentally flip the small table. "Because I didn't know where I was! Because I wasn't even in El Nido!" The Dragon Rider was completely unaware that his voice had risen to a very loud level.
Suddenly loud running steps came from down the hall only to have Glenn, Serge, Kidd and Karsh appear at the doorway. Looking in at the over turned table they immediately became wary.
"What the Hell is going on?!" Karsh said
Glenn, noticing the new tears in Leena's eyes immediately turned on Locke who had taken on an exaggerated stance through the heat of the conversation. "What did you do!?"
The Dragon Rider's green eyes flickered and flared. "I didn't do a damned thing!" He found himself staggering to the side as Leena pushed him away before taking off out the door through the small crowd of people. Regaining his balanced he saw Glenn give him a rage filled look before turning around and running off after Leena.
"What tha Hell happened?"
Locke's eye twitched as he slowly shifted to look at Kidd. His angry demeanor didn't last long however for it soon fell into a rueful one as he dropped back to sit on the floor and lean against the corner of the bed while looking towards the roof.
"Shore."
At the sound of his former last name Locke strayed his eyes from the roof to settle on the source. Serge.
"Shore I knew that was familiar."
"Remember me now, Sergey-Boy?"
Serge nodded lightly before dropping his gaze. "So…where've you been all this time."
Locke chuckled at the bitter irony that question brought to him. "Where haven't I been Serge…"
"I don't know…you tell me."
"That's a hell of a long story…"
~~~
Confusing? No? anyway that was chapter 10.
Now for my raging curiosity to set in. To any and all that review here are my questions:
"Who is your favorite pairing in Chrono Cross and why?"
and
"Who is your favourite character and why?
You don't have to answer these I'm just curious o.O